Hate

A word used in two different ways in the Bible. God hates evil, idolatry, unfairness, and religious pretending. Believers also should hate these things. Even though God hates these sins, He still loves the persons who do them, and Christians should too. Christ said we are to love our enemies. John says that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and is sinning.

Hate in the Bible is sometimes a word picture of turning away from something or someone. When God said He “hated” Esau, it meant that Esau and his descendants were not chosen by God as His special people. Jesus used hate as an exaggerated word to show us that we should not love someone more than we love God.