NIV

NIV

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Strong's
Red Letter
The Blue Letter Bible

Lexicon :: Strong's H157 - 'āhaḇ

Choose a new font size and typeface
אָהַב
Transliteration
'āhaḇ
Pronunciation
aw-hav'
Listen
Part of Speech
verb
Root Word (Etymology)
A primitive root
Dictionary Aids

TWOT Reference: 29

Strong’s Definitions

אָהַב ʼâhab, aw-hab'; or אָהֵב ʼâhêb ; a primitive root; to have affection for (sexually or otherwise):—(be-) love(-d, -ly, -r), like, friend.


KJV Translation Count — Total: 208x

The KJV translates Strong's H157 in the following manner: love (169x), lover(s) (19x), friend(s) (12x), beloved (5x), liketh (1x), lovely (1x), loving (1x).

KJV Translation Count — Total: 208x
The KJV translates Strong's H157 in the following manner: love (169x), lover(s) (19x), friend(s) (12x), beloved (5x), liketh (1x), lovely (1x), loving (1x).
  1. to love

    1. (Qal)

      1. human love for another, includes family, and sexual

      2. human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep, wisdom

      3. human love for or to God

      4. act of being a friend

        1. lover (participle)

        2. friend (participle)

      5. God's love toward man

        1. to individual men

        2. to people Israel

        3. to righteousness

    2. (Niphal)

      1. lovely (participle)

      2. loveable (participle)

    3. (Piel)

      1. friends

      2. lovers (fig. of adulterers)

  2. to like

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
אָהַב ʼâhab, aw-hab'; or אָהֵב ʼâhêb ; a primitive root; to have affection for (sexually or otherwise):—(be-) love(-d, -ly, -r), like, friend.
STRONGS H157: Abbreviations
אָהֵב 216 verb love
Qal Perfect אָהֵ֑ב Genesis 27:9 + 7 times; אָשֵהבּ Genesis 27:14; אָהַב Genesis 37:3 + 3 times; אֲֵֽֽֽהבָךָ Deuteronomy 15:16; 3rd person feminine singular אָֽהֲבָה Songs 1:7 +, etc.; Imperfect (־הָ֑ב) יֶאֱהַב Proverbs 3:12 +; 1st person singular אֵהָ֑ב Proverbs 8:17 (compare Ew§ 192 d Ges§ 68. 1); וָֽאֹהַב Malachi 1:2; וָאֹהֲבֵהוּ Hosea 11:1; אֹהֲבֵם Hosea 14:5; וָאֹהֲבֵם Psalm 119:167; 2nd person masculine plural תְּאֵהֲבוּ Proverbs 1:22 (compare KöI p. 394 Ges§ 63 R 2); תֶּאֱהָ֑בוּ Zechariah 8:17; תָּאֱהָבוּן Psalm 4:3; Imperative אֱהַב־ Hosea 3:1; אֱהָבֶהָ Proverbs 4:6; אֶהֱבוּ Psalm 31:24; Amos 5:15; אֱהָ֑בוּ Zechariah 8:19; Infinitive construct אֱהֹב Ecclesiastes 3:8; אַהֲבָה Deuteronomy 10:12 +; אֲהֲבַת Micah 6:8 + etc.; compare also below n. אהבה below; Participle אֹהֵב (אוֺהֵב) Deuteronomy 10:18 + 26 times; feminine construct אֲהֻבַת Hosea 3:1 is probably active compare BaNB 174 ff; suffix אֹהֲבִי Isaiah 41:8 etc.; feminine אֹהֶ֫בֶת Genesis 25:28; אֹהַ֫בְתִּי Hosea 10:11 etc.; Passive participle אָהוּב Nehemiah 13:26; אֲהוּבָה Deuteronomy 21:15 (twice in verse); Deuteronomy 21:16. — love (mostly with accusative, followed by לְ + object Leviticus 19:18, 34; 2 Chronicles 19:2 (late), followed by בְּ Ecclesiastes 5:9; absolute Ecclesiastes 3:8 & see below), (affection both pure & impure, divine & human); —
1. human love to human object; absolute, opposed to hate שָׂנֵא Ecclesiastes 3:8; of love to son Genesis 22:2; Genesis 25:28; Genesis 37:3, 4; Genesis 44:20 (JE) Proverbs 13:24; so also 2 Samuel 13:21 Greek Version of the LXX Ew Th We, compare Dr, of David's loving Amnon; never to parent, but mother-in-law Ruth 4:15; of man's love to woman; wife Genesis 24:67; Genesis 29:20, 30 (compare Genesis 29:18):32 (JE), also Deuteronomy 21:15 (twice in verse); Deuteronomy 21:16; Judges 14:16; 1 Samuel 1:5; 2 Chronicles 11:21; Esther 2:17; Hosea 3:1; Ecclesiastes 9:9; but also Genesis 34:3 (J) Judges 16:4, 15; 2 Samuel 13:1, 4, 15 (where of carnal desire) 1 Kings 11:1 compare 1 Kings 11:2; Hosea 3:1; רֵעַ א׳ loving a paramour, see BaNB 176; woman's love to man 1 Samuel 18:20 (so 1 Samuel 18:28 MT, but read וְבִי כָל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֹהֵב אֹתוֺ Greek Version of the LXX We Dr) Songs 1:3, 4, 7; Songs 3:1, 2, 3, 4 (5 times subject נַפְשִׁי); compare also figurative of adulterous Judah Jeremiah 2:25; Isaiah 57:8; Ezekiel 16:37; of love of slave to master Exodus 21:5 (JE) Deuteronomy 15:16; inferior to superior 1 Samuel 18:22 compare 1 Samuel 18:16; love to neighbour Leviticus 19:18 (וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֺ֑ךָ), particularly to stranger Leviticus 19:34 (both P), Deuteronomy 10:18, 19; love of friend to friend 1 Samuel 16:21; 1 Samuel 18:1, 3; 1 Samuel 20:17 (twice in verse); Job 19:19; Proverbs 17:1 compare 2 Samuel 19:7 (twice in verse); 2 Chronicles 19:2; see also Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 16:13; compare Proverbs 15:12; see especially Participle below.
2. less often of appetite, object food, Genesis 27:7, 9, 14 (JE); drink Hosea 3:1; Proverbs 21:17; husbandry 2 Chronicles 26:10; compare figurative of Ephraim Hosea 10:11 followed by infinitive; length of life Psalm 34:13; of cupidity Hosea 9:1; 1 Samuel 1:23; Ecclesiastes 5:9 (twice in verse); of love of sleep Proverbs 20:13 compare figurative of sluggish watchmen (followed by infinitive) Isaiah 56:10; also with object abstract wisdom (personified), knowledge, righteousness, etc. Proverbs 4:6; Proverbs 8:17, 21; Proverbs 12:1; Proverbs 22:11; Proverbs 29:3; Amos 5:15; Micah 6:8 (infinitive || infinitives) Zechariah 8:19, compare Proverbs 19:8 קֹנֶה לֵב אֹהֵב נַפְשׁוֺ; object folly, evil, etc., Micah 3:2; Micah 4:3; Psalm 11:5; Psalm 52:5; Psalm 52:6; Psalm 109:17; Proverbs 1:22; Proverbs 8:36; Proverbs 17:19 (twice in verse), compare Proverbs 18:21; Zechariah 8:17, compare כֵּן א׳ Amos 4:5; Jeremiah 5:3, followed by Infinitive Hosea 12:8; Jeremiah 14:10, especially of idolatry Hosea 4:13 (where strike out הֵבוּ compare Kö1. p. 395) Jeremiah 8:2.
3. love to God Exodus 20:6 (JE) elsewhere Hexateuch only Deuteronomy 5:10; Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 7:9 + 9 times Deuteronomy + Joshua 22:5; Joshua 23:11; also Judges 5:31; 1 Kings 3:3; Nehemiah 1:5; Daniel 9:4; especially in (late) Psalm 31:24; Psalm 116:1; Psalm 145:20, but usually followed by name, law, etc. of י׳ Psalm 5:12; Psalm 26:8; Psalm 40:17; Psalm 69:37; Psalm 70:5; Psalm 97:10; Psalm 119:47 + 11 times Psalm 119; compare Isaiah 56:6; compare also of love to Jerusalem Isaiah 66:10; Psalm 122:6.
4. especially Participle אֹהֵב =
(a) lover, Lamentations 1:2 (figurative of Jerusalem);
(b) friend Hiram of David 1 Kings 5:15, compare Jeremiah 20:4, 6; Esther 5:10, 14; Esther 6:13; Psalm 38:12 (|| רֵעַ) so Psalm 88:19 [Psalm 88:18], Proverbs 14:20; also Proverbs 18:24; Proverbs 27:6; Abraham of God Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chronicles 20:7.
5. of divine love...
Niph. Participle plural הַנֶּאֱהָבִים 2 Samuel 1:23 lovely, loveable of Saul & Jonath. (|| הַנְּעִימִם).
Pi. Participle plural suffix (־בָ֑י) מְאַהֲבַי Hosea 2:7 + 3 times; (־בָ֑יִח) מְאַהֲבַיִח Jeremiah 22:20 + 6 times; מְאַהֲבֶיהָ Hosea 2:9 + 4 times
1. friends Zechariah 13:6;
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

BLB Scripture Index of Brown-Driver-Briggs

Genesis

22:2; 24:67; 25:28; 25:28; 27:7; 27:9; 27:9; 27:14; 27:14; 29:18; 29:20; 29:30; 34:3; 37:3; 37:3; 37:4; 44:20

Exodus

20:6; 21:5

Leviticus

19:18; 19:18; 19:34; 19:34

Deuteronomy

4:37; 5:10; 6:5; 7:8; 7:9; 7:13; 10:12; 10:18; 10:18; 10:19; 15:16; 15:16; 21:15; 21:15; 21:16; 21:16; 23:6

Joshua

22:5; 23:11

Judges

5:31; 14:16; 16:4; 16:15

Ruth

4:15

1 Samuel

1:5; 1:23; 16:21; 18:1; 18:3; 18:16; 18:20; 18:22; 18:28; 20:17

2 Samuel

1:23; 12:24; 13:1; 13:4; 13:15; 13:21; 19:7

1 Kings

3:3; 5:15; 10:9; 11:1; 11:2

2 Chronicles

2:10; 9:8; 11:21; 19:2; 19:2; 20:7; 26:10

Nehemiah

1:5; 13:26; 13:26

Esther

2:17; 5:10; 5:14; 6:13

Job

19:19

Psalms

4:3; 5:12; 11:5; 11:7; 26:8; 31:24; 31:24; 33:5; 34:13; 37:28; 38:12; 40:17; 45:8; 47:5; 52:5; 52:6; 70:5; 78:68; 87:2; 88:18; 97:10; 99:4; 109:17; 116:1; 119; 119:47; 119:167; 122:6; 145:20; 146:8

Proverbs

1:22; 1:22; 3:12; 3:12; 4:6; 4:6; 8:17; 8:17; 8:21; 8:36; 9:8; 12:1; 13:24; 14:20; 15:9; 15:12; 16:13; 17:1; 17:19; 18:21; 18:24; 19:8; 20:13; 21:17; 22:11; 27:6; 29:3

Ecclesiastes

3:8; 3:8; 3:8; 5:9; 5:9; 9:9

Song of Songs

1:3; 1:4; 1:7; 1:7; 3:1; 3:2; 3:3; 3:4

Isaiah

41:8; 41:8; 43:4; 48:14; 56:6; 56:10; 57:8; 61:8; 66:10

Jeremiah

2:25; 5:3; 8:2; 14:10; 20:4; 20:6; 22:20; 22:20; 22:22; 30:14; 31:3

Lamentations

1:2; 1:19

Ezekiel

16:33; 16:36; 16:37; 16:37; 23:5; 23:9; 23:22

Daniel

9:4

Hosea

2:7; 2:7; 2:9; 2:9; 2:12; 2:14; 2:15; 3:1; 3:1; 3:1; 3:1; 3:1; 3:1; 4:13; 9:1; 9:15; 10:11; 10:11; 11:1; 11:1; 12:8; 14:5; 14:5

Amos

4:5; 5:15; 5:15

Micah

3:2; 4:3; 6:8; 6:8

Zechariah

8:17; 8:17; 8:19; 8:19; 13:6

Malachi

1:2; 1:2; 2:11

Word / Phrase / Strong's Search

Strong's Number H157 matches the Hebrew אָהַב ('āhaḇ),
which occurs 211 times in 195 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

Page 1 / 4 (Gen 22:2–1Sa 18:16)

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 22:2 - Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 24:67 - Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 25:28 - Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 27:4 - Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 27:9 - Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 27:14 - So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:18 - Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:20 - So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:30 - Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:32 - Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[fn] for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:3 - His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 37:3 - Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[fn] robe for him.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 37:4 - When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:20 - And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
Unchecked Copy BoxExo 20:6 - but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Unchecked Copy BoxExo 21:5 - “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’
Unchecked Copy BoxLev 19:18 - “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Unchecked Copy BoxLev 19:34 - The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 4:37 - Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 5:10 - but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 6:5 - Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 7:9 - Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 7:13 - He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 10:12 - And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 10:15 - Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 10:18 - He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 10:19 - And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 11:1 - Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 11:13 - So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 11:22 - If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him—
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 13:3 - you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 15:16 - But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you,
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 19:9 - because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the LORD your God and to walk always in obedience to him—then you are to set aside three more cities.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 21:15 - If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 21:16 - when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 23:5 - However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 30:6 - The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 30:16 - For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 30:20 - and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Unchecked Copy BoxJos 22:5 - But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJos 23:11 - So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 5:31 - “So may all your enemies perish, LORD! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had peace forty years.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:16 - Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.” “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 16:4 - Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 16:15 - Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”
Unchecked Copy BoxRth 4:15 - He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 1:5 - But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:21 - David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 18:1 - After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 18:16 - But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.

Search Results Continued...

1. Currently on page 1/4 (Gen 22:2–1Sa 18:16) Gen 22:2–1Sa 18:16

2. LOAD PAGE 2 1Sa 18:20–Psa 119:48

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NIV
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NIV

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan