Tout amour qui dépend d'une chose passagère —une fois la chose passée, l'amour passe; et (tout amour) qui ne dépend pas d'une chose passagère [comme l'amour des tsadikim et des sages] ne passe jamais. Qu'est-ce que l'amour qui dépend d'une chose passagère? Le niveau d'Amnon et Tamar, [Amnon aimant Tamar à cause de sa beauté]. Et (qu'est-ce que l'amour) qui ne dépend pas d'une chose passagère? L'amour de David et Jonathan [pour accomplir la volonté de leur Maître. Jonathan a dit à David (I Samuel 23:17): "Tu es le roi d'Israël et je serai ton vice-roi."]
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
ויאהב יצחק את עשו כי ציד בפיו ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב. We have an allusion here to the well-known statement in Avot 5,19 that any love which is based on something material will not endure once the object upon which it is based disappears, whereas love which is not based on something transient will endure. Isaac's love for Esau was founded on the material things Esau provided, and therefore it could not endure. This may well be the reason the Torah describes Isaac's love for Esau in the past tense, i.e. ויאהב, whereas Rebeccah's love for Jacob is described in the present tense, i.e. אוהבת, an ongoing love.
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Mesilat Yesharim
This love certainly must not be a "love which depends on something" (Avot 5:16). Namely, that one should love the blessed Creator, not because He bestows good to him and grants him wealth and success. Rather, it should be like the love of a son for his father, which is actually (mamash) a natural love, to which the son's nature compels and forces him to this. As scripture states: "is He not your Father, your Master?" (Devarim 32:6).
