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( ἀãáðçôüò , sometimes ἠãáðçìÝíïò ; ἀãáðçôüò is also sometimes translated in English Version ‘dearly beloved’ [Rom_12:19] or ‘well beloved’ [16:5, 3Jn_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. Eph_1:6 ( ἠãáðçìÝíïò ); also 2Pe_1:17 ‘This is my beloved ( ἀãáðçôüò ) Son, in whom I am well pleased’ The latter is a quotation from the gospel story (cf. Mat_17:5).
(b) As applied to Christians the term is much more frequent. Sometimes it refers to their relation to God. ‘ ἀãáðçôïὶ èåïῦ is applied to Christians as being reconciled to God and judged by Him to be worthy of eternal life’ (Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, tr. Thayer , s.v. ἀãáðçôüò ). Cf. Rom_1:17, 1Th_1:4, Col_3:12 (the Gr. in the last two cases is ἠãáðçìÝíïò ). The commonest usage, however, is in reference to the mutual relations of Christians one to another; cf. Phm_1:16, 1Ti_6:2, ‘Hence they are often dignified with this epithet in tender address, both indirect (Rom_16:5; Rom_16:8, Col_4:14) and direct (Rom_12:19, 1Co_4:14, Heb_6:9, Jam_1:16, 1Pe_2:11, 2Pe_3:1)’ (Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, tr. Thayer ). Particularly noteworthy is the phrase ἀãáðçôὸò ἐí êõñßῳ (Rom_16:8). In the sub-apostolic literature we find similar usages. ἠãáðçìÝíïò 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 ἀãáðçôüò 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 ἀãáðçôüò ( ἠãáðçìÝíïò ) is in Isa_42:1. As a name of our Lord it is parallel with ἐêëåêôüò : 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 ἀãáðçôüò to describe Christ is, however, undoubtedly closely associated with the description of Christians as ἠãáðçìÝíïé èåïῦ . Cf. Harnack, Hist. of Dogma, Eng. 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.