Beloved (ἀ γα π ητός, sometimes ἠ γα π ημένος; ἀ γα π ητός is also sometimes translated in EV [Note: V English Version.] ‘dearly beloved’ [Romans 12:19 ] or ‘well beloved’ [16:5, 3 John 1:1 ])
In the NT outside the Gospels ‘beloved’ is found as (a) a description of Christ, (b) a description of Christians.
(a) For the first usage, cf. Ephesians 1:6 (ἠ γα π ημένος); also 2 P 1:17 ‘This is my beloved (ἀ γα π ητός) Son, in whom I am well pleased’ The latter is a quotation from the gospel story (cf. Matthew 17:5).
(b) As applied to Christians the term is much more frequent. Sometimes it refers to their relation to God. ‘ἀ γα π ητο ὶ θεο ῦ is applied to Christians as being reconciled to God and judged by Him to be worthy of eternal life’ (Grimm-Thayer [Note: rimm-Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, tr. Thayer.], s.v. ἀ γα π ητός). Cf. Romans 1:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, Colossians 3:12 (the Gr. in the last two cases is ἠ γα π ημένος). The commonest usage, however, is in reference to the mutual relations of Christians one to another; cf. Philemon 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:2, ‘Hence they are often dignified with this epithet in tender address, both indirect (Romans 16:5, Romans 16:8, Colossians 4:14) and direct (Romans 12:19, 1 Corinthians 4:14, Hebrews 6:9, James 1:16, James 1:1 P 2:11, 2 P 3:1)’ (Grimm-Thayer [Note: rimm-Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, tr. Thayer.]). Particularly noteworthy is the phrase ἀ γα π ητ ὸ ς ἐ ν κυρί ῳ (Romans 16:8). In the sub-apostolic literature we find similar usages. ἠ γα π ημένος is used of Christ in Barn. 3.6; 4.3, 8, (some place this work in the 1st cent. a.d., though a 2nd cent. date is more usual). In 1 Clem., which is generally admitted to be of the 1st cent., we have ἀ γα π ητός of the relation of Christians to God (8.5); while in the same epistle it is also found of the mutual relation of Christians to one another, and was a mode of address: ‘beloved’ (1.1, 5 etc.). Cf. also Barn. 4.1-9.
Origin and significance of the above usage .-In reference to Christ the origin of the term ἀ γα π ητός (ἠ γα π ημένος) is in Isaiah 42:1 . As a name of our Lord it is parallel with ἐ κλεκτός : both belong to the original Messianic stratum of early Christian theology, which, when set in opposition to the later developed ‘pneumatic’ Christology, receives the name of ‘adoptianist.’ Such opposition is, however, not necessary, as is shown by the occurrence of the term in Ephesians along with a highly developed Christology.
The use of ἀ γα π ητός to describe Christ is, however, undoubtedly closely associated with the description of Christians as ἠ γα π ημένοι θεο ῦ. Cf. Harnack, Hist. of Dogma, Eng. tr. [Note: r. translated, translation.], London, 1894-99, i. 185, note 4, where it is pointed out that ‘Barnabas, who calls Christ the “Beloved,” uses the same expression for the Church.’
As regards the usage in reference to the mutual relation of Christians one to another, the only points which need comment are its frequency, and the evidence this affords of the spirit of brotherhood which characterized the Primitive Church.
Robert S. Franks.