'Loved' in the Bible

Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah's tent. He took her as his wife and loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it.

Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban for seven more years.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.

Moreover, because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power

Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, and they both bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.

Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father's procreative power -- to him should go the right of the firstborn.

But he would give a double portion to Hannah, because he especially loved her. Now the Lord had not enabled her to have children.

When David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life.

Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life.

But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he was the one leading them out to battle and back.

Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it pleased him.

When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,

Jonathan once again took an oath with David, because he loved him. In fact Jonathan loved him as much as he did his own life.

Saul and Jonathan were greatly loved during their lives, and not even in their deaths were they separated. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. She gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child

Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel, for he loved agriculture.

Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin!

And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she met with his loving approval more than all the other young women. So he placed the royal high turban on her head and appointed her queen in place of Vashti.

He loved to curse others, so those curses have come upon him. He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.

So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated -- no one knows what lies ahead.

What they loved, as well as what they hated and envied, perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.

"Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: 'This is what the Lord says: "I have fond memories of you, how devoted you were to me in your early years. I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

In a far-off land the Lord will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.

therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness.

He will not respect the gods of his fathers -- not even the god loved by women. He will not respect any god; he will elevate himself above them all.

When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness. I viewed your ancestors like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season. Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame -- they became as detestable as what they loved.

Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain; I myself put a fine yokeon her neck. I will harness Ephraim. Let Judah plow! Let Jacob break up the unplowed ground for himself!

When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son, and I summoned my son out of Egypt.