What did Spinoza mean by the intellectual love of God?

In the philosophy of Benedict de Spinoza, the "intellectual love of God" (amor Dei intellectualis) represents the culmination of human intellectual activity and the highest form of blessedness.12

This concept is deeply connected to Spinoza’s rationalist framework, where God is understood as the single, infinite substance that constitutes all of nature. Because everything that exists is a modification of God, human freedom is achieved by cultivating the intellect to understand the world as it truly is—as a system of necessary laws.132

The intellectual love of God is characterized by:

• Seeing from the aspect of eternity: This involves an intuitive understanding of things in their existence as modes and attributes of eternal substance, rather than as isolated, transitory events.12
• Rational-mystical experience: It is not an emotional attachment in the traditional sense, but a form of deep, rational insight. By understanding the system of which one is a part, an individual transcends the "bondage" of irrational emotions like envy, hate, or guilt.32
• Unity with nature: It reflects the realization that humans are part of a larger, divine unity, leading to a state of peace and freedom found through the application of reason.32