Lover

LOVER [ISBE]

LOVER - luv'-er ('ohebh, 'ahebh): In the Old Testament 'ohebh, from 'ahebh, "to love," is sometimes "lover" in the sense of "friend," in the older English sense of the word (1 Ki 5:1, "Hiram was ever a lover of David"; Ps 38:11; 88:18; Lam 1:2); more frequently it has the meaning of "lover" in the special sense, sometimes in the evil sense of the word (Jer 22:20,22; 30:14; Ezek 16:33,36 f, etc.; Hos 2:5,7,10, etc.); `aghabh, "to love" (Jer 4:30), rea`, "companion" (Jer 3:1), and ahabhim, "loves" (Hos 8:9), are also translated "lovers" in this sense.

In the New Testament the simple word "lover" does not occur, but we have various compound words, philotheos "lover of God" (2 Tim 3:4); philagathos, "lover of good," and philoxenos, "lover of hospitality" (Tit 1:8); philautos, "lover of self" (2 Tim 3:2); philedonos, "lover of pleasure" (2 Tim 3:4).

In the Revised Version (British and American) we have, for "a lover of hospitality" (Tit 1:8), "given to"; for "covetous" (Lk 16:14; 2 Tim 3:2), "lovers of money"; for "not covetous" (1 Tim 3:3), "no lover of money"; for "despisers of them that are good" (2 Tim 3:3), "no lovers of good."

W. L. Walker