Hate, Hatred
Hate, Hatred
hat, hatred (verb, , sane’, oftenest, , satam, Gen 27:41, etc.; noun, , sin’ah; , miseo): A feeling of strong antagonism and dislike, generally malevolent and prompting to injury (the opposite of love); sometimes born of moral resentment. Alike in the Old Testament and New Testament, hate of the malevolent sort is unsparingly condemned (Num 35:20; Psa 109:5; Pro 10:12; Tit 3:3; 1Jo 3:15), but in the Old Testament hatred of evil and evil-doers, purged of personal malice, is commended (Psa 97:10; Psa 101:3; Psa 139:21, Psa 139:22, etc.). The New Testament law softens this feeling as regards persons, bringing it under the higher law of love (Mat 5:43, Mat 5:14; compare Rom 12:17-21), while intensifying the hatred of evil (Jud 1:23; Rev 2:6). God himself is hated by the wicked (Exo 20:5; Psa 139:21; compare Rom 8:7). Sometimes, however, the word hate is used hyperbolically in a relative sense to express only the strong preference of one to another. God loved Jacob, but hated Esau (Mal 1:3; Rom 9:13); father and mother are to be hated in comparison with Christ (Luk 14:26; compare Mat 10:37). See ENMITY.