What does it mean that God “hated” Esau?

Explanation:

Paul quotes from Malachi 1:2–3 where it says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. At first it sounds like Paul is saying God was positively angry with Esau, and emotionally against him, but this is not likely what Paul has in mind.⁴ To understand Paul it is helpful to notice that in Jewish writing, the verb to hate was sometimes used to indicate an opposite. For example, in the Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy 21:15, the writer refers to a man with two wives, one he loves and the other he hates. Our English translations capture this by saying the man had two wives, one was loved and the other unloved. In other words, the context suggests not that the man emotionally despised the second wife, but that he did not love her.

Likewise, in Proverbs 13:24 we read that whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him. The idea is that the one who does not love his son does not discipline him, while the one who loves his son does.⁵

In the same way, the quote from Malachi uses an antithesis to highlight the fact that Esau did not receive the same treatment as Jacob. Jacob was loved and Esau was unloved.

Counterargument:

There are passages where God hates things in the sense that he positively despises them. For example, in Zechariah 8:17 God warns against devising evil against each other and making false oaths, for God hates these things. Clearly, the meaning here is not that God simply withholds his love from the notion of devising evil against each other, but that he positively despises such behaviour.

The above argument contends that Paul uses a typical Jewish antithesis to illustrate opposites. That is, however God treats Jacob, he treats Esau oppositely. Likewise, we can deduce that however God treats Esau he treats Jacob oppositely. And we know from Zechariah 8:17 that God’s hatred has to do with God positively despising certain things. So likely God positively despised Esau, which implies that he positively loved Jacob.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that it arrives at Paul’s meaning in the wrong way. For the focus of Paul’s thought is on Jacob in Romans 9:13, not on Esau, so it is more appropriate to understand what it means that God loves Jacob, which will then help us discern what it means that he hated Esau. So what does it mean that God loved Jacob? It means that God chose Jacob (see interpretation 1, argument 2). Of course, if hate is the opposite of love, and love means that God chose Jacob, then hate means that God did not choose Esau. So God hating Esau does not mean that God positively despised him, but that he did not choose him.

Explanation:

We can understand what Paul means by noticing that his point here is to explain how God’s election works. Specifically, election works in the sense that God gives his undeserved grace to whomever he pleases, not based on human merit or ethnicity. We know this because Paul explains in Romans 9:11 that before the twins had done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose of election might stand, God loved Jacob and hated Esau. What does it mean based on the context that God loved Jacob? It means that God chose Jacob even before he had done anything good or evil. Of course, if God loving Jacob means that he chose him, that God hated Esau means that God overlooked Esau, that is, rejected him.

Counterargument:

While it helps to look at the context of Romans 9:13 to understand what Paul means, it also helps to look at the context of Malachi 1:2–3. And what we learn from Malachi 1:1–14 is that God hated Esau in the sense that he laid waste his country and tears down what Edom rebuilds. That is, God hated Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, and he demonstrates this hatred by taking action against them. That implies that God positively despised Esau’s descendants.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument falls short for two reasons. First, the context of Malachi 1:2–3 does not determine Paul’s meaning in Romans 9:13. Rather, the context of Romans 9:13 plays the role of determining Paul’s meaning when he quotes from Malachi 1:2–3. Further, although we can take the context of Malachi 1:2–3 into account to determine Paul’s meaning, that God tore down the Edomites does not mean that God positively despised them. Rather, the whole context of Malachi 1:2–3 opens with Israel questioning whether God loved them. God then explains that he loved Jacob but hated Esau, before stating how he tore down the Edomites. The point is that God offered his protection to Israel as his chosen people, but not the Edomites. Thus, God loved Israel in the sense that he chose them, just as Paul explains he chose Jacob in Romans 9:13. Of course, the opposite of being chosen by God is being rejected. So, God hated Esau in the sense that he rejected him.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be.

Explanation:

Paul quotes from Malachi 1:2–3 where the prophet writes that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. We can detect what it means that God hated Esau by noticing that some Jewish writers use the verb to hate to refer to someone being loved less. For example, we learn in Genesis 29:30–31 that Jacob was married to both Rachel and Leah, but he loved Leah less. We then learn that when God saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. In this example the verb to hate means to love less. We find something similar in Luke 14:16 where Jesus says that anyone who does not hate his own father, mother, children and so on, cannot be his disciple. In this example, to hate has to do with loving less. Likewise, when Paul quotes from Malachi 1:2–3 that God loved Jacob and hated Esau, it means that God loved Jacob and he loved Esau less.⁶

Counterargument:

The context suggests it is better to take love and hate as opposites, rather than to take hate as meaning to love less.⁷ Paul’s point here is to explain how election works. It works in the sense that God’s choice to elect has nothing to do with one’s deeds or ethnicity. Rather, God shows his underserved grace to whomever he pleases. God’s showing his undeserved grace to Jacob is what it means that God loved Jacob. On the other hand, the context suggests that it is not that God loved Esau less, but that as opposed to being chosen, Esau was rejected. That supports Paul’s intent here, which is to explain how election works.

Response to counterargument:

If we take it that God loved Jacob and loved Esau less, this explains the fact that Jacob was elected by God and Esau was not. The one loved less was not elected, but the one loved more was. Thus, it is entirely consistent with the fact that Paul is explaining how election works, that he loved Esau less.

The weakness of this view is that it does not bring out the strength of Paul’s point here. To be loved by God implies one is showered with blessing, and to be loved less by God still implies blessing, just not as much. Degrees of blessing is not the intent here; rather, Paul is conveying the fact that God’s election is completely unmerited. The difference between being chosen or rejected brings out the unmerited election of God more clearly than that God loves and loves less.