Expert: Todd Tyszka - 11/3/2010

Question
Hi I was wondering if you could tell me please if in Malachi 1:3 the hebrew word did not mean hate in the sence we use today,but rather it meant to love less.Is there scriptual or linguistic proof of this? thank you

Answer
Hi Jack,
Thanks for the excellent question. The Hebrew word used in Malachi 1:3 for what is commonly translated "hate" is according to Strong's concordance, שָׂנֵא(pronounced sane') and means "to hate, be hateful." According to Gesenius's lexicon, it occurs throughout the Old Testament and means "to hate," whether persons (such as in Ps. 5:6; 31:7; Deut. 22:13; 2 Sam. 13:15, 22) or things (such as Is. 1:14; Ps. 11:5; Prov. 1:22). However, it is sometimes rendered "to love less" (e.g. see Gen. 29:30, 31; Prov. 13:24; and Luke 14:26 compared to Mt. 10:87). We also have to look at the context and historical significance to understand God's heart when he said this. A simple Google search yields tons of writings on this subject but in summary, Esau, known also as Edom, whose descendants were the Edomites, hated Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, there was war between the nation of Israel and Edom. The context of this is stated to be the “land” (Malachi 1:3) and of a “wicked people” (Malachi 1:4). This was written long after Esau had died. So it wasn't just about Esau, even though the birthright issue was a big deal (read Heb 12:6).

There's also apparently an example of a Jewish idiom called "antithetical parallelism." This shows not hatred of Esau’s descendants, but the differential between the degree of love given to Jacob and withheld from Esau. If one person was preferred over another, they were said to be "loved" while the other was "hated." This apparently has historical proof from treaties of this time period which used the words for love and hate to mean chosen or rejected.

An interesting aspect of this is that God knew he would choose Jacob and not Esau, that he would "love Jacob" and "hate Esau" before they were even born. In fact, from the beginning of time. God is omniscient, He knows everything, and I believe God knows everything that might happen regardless of what we choose (molinism). God knew everything that would happen in his foreknowledge. So could God hate someone before they were even born? I believe the answer is yes. God is love but the Bible doesn't say he loves everyone the same, just that he loves the world collectively. Did he hate Esau with the hate we think of? That is uncertain but I don't think it was an emotional hatred for him as a person. I think God hated his sin but especially what his descendants would become as enemies of Israel. Esau's actions had a lot of negative repercussions throughout history!

Well, thanks for the excellent question and I encourage you to research these things on the Internet. You will find a lot of different opinions and arguments out there but make sure always believe the Word of God and use that as your standard to judge.

Best,
Todd

Note: I revised my answer to fix some typos