[poet]

That exchange has always fascinated me. Feleo, Agopi and Eros are the three Greek words for love. Yeshua was really asking Peter " do you Agopi me"? which is the all consuming love of Yahweh and as you know, Peter replied as a friend (feleo) (I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly.)

What is striking about that exchange is the fact Peter was asked three times. If a man or woman were to ask that of their respective mate three times in a row, it would be aggravating. The fact that Peter walked away grieved ( at the end of the exchange) said to me that Yeshua made Peter aware of the fact that he (Peter) did not recognize Him as the Son of Yahweh at that point in time.

It's very difficult to literally translate from certain languages, for example YHWH which is the Hebrew name for the Creator has no vowels, therefore, the closest we can come up with is Yahweh.

[lockeliberty]

I deleted a part of the article that had to do with differing translations because I did not want this thread to devolve into a war about the best translation. However, the author makes some interesting observations on different translations. click on the link and you can find it.

gotta get to bed. That exchange between Peter and Jesus is fascinating and worthy of much contemplation. Good speaking with you again.

[lockeliberty]

After rereading the text again I noticed I got the ordering of the greek words wrong. Here is the commentary for my NASB study Bible:

"The Greek word for 'love' in Jesus' first two questions is different from the word for 'love' in His third question, which is the same word Peter uses in all three answers. It is uncertain whether a distinction in meaning is intended since John often made slight word variations, apparently for stylistic reasons. Also, no distinction is made between these two words elsewhere in this Gospel. In this passage, however, they occur together, and the variations seem too deliberate to be explained on stylistic grounds.The 'love' in Jesus' first two questions (agapao) refers to a love in which the entire personality, including the will is involved. The 'love' in Jesus' third question and in Peters answers (phileo) refers to spontaneous natural affection or fondness in which the emotion plays a more prominent role than will. Whatever interpetation is adopted, the important thing is that in so serious a matter as the reinstatement of Peter, the great question was whether he loved Jesus."

It appears to me that Peter believed the word phileo was a stronger word for love than the word agapeo. He was grieved when Jesus asked him the third time whether he phileo Jesus because he had already answered him twice before that he phileo Jesus. Perhaps what Jesus was trying to teach Peter was the first great commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul.