Did God Really Hate Esau?

[CHESTERTONRULES]

“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated . . .”
The question is fundamental. The answer is, firstly, that the verb s-n-‘, which usually means “to hate,” has a different meaning in biblical Hebrew when contrasted with the verb “to love.” Then it means not “hated” but “loved less intensely, less intimately.” That, as Ramban and Radak point out, is what it means in the passage: “Jacob cohabited with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah . . . When the Lord saw that Leah was hated [senuah] . . .” Leah was not hated;she was merely less loved. That too is its meaning in Deuteronomy: “If a man has two wives, one loved, the other hated
[senuah] . . .” Here again, the meaning is not “hated” but “less loved.”

chiefrabbi.org/thoughts/toldot5765.pdf

 

[SedesDomi]

“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated . . .”
The question is fundamental. The answer is, firstly, that the verb s-n-‘, which usually means “to hate,” has a different meaning in biblical Hebrew when contrasted with the verb “to love.” Then it means not “hated” but “loved less intensely, less intimately.” That, as Ramban and Radak point out, is what it means in the passage: “Jacob cohabited with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah . . . When the Lord saw that Leah was hated [senuah] . . .” Leah was not hated;she was merely less loved. That too is its meaning in Deuteronomy: “If a man has two wives, one loved, the other hated
[senuah] . . .” Here again, the meaning is not “hated” but “less loved.”

chiefrabbi.org/thoughts/toldot5765.pdf

Does God play favoritism?

 

[eichenb2]

What are words used in Hebrew and what are the range of meanings?

 

[Robert_Sock]

chabad.org/asktherabbi/default_cdo/jewish/Ask-the-Rabbi.htm

Since we’re dealing with the old testament you may want to ask a Rabbi!

 

[brkn1]

“…:yet I loved Jacob,”
“And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.” (Malachi 1:2-3)

By the declaration of God’s resulting destruction of Esau’s land and heritage, God sure seems to indicate a “hating” sort of hate towards Esau.
A “loved less intensely” hate seems to be more than a stretch according to these verses.

 

[SedesDomi]

“…:yet I loved Jacob,”
“And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.” (Malachi 1:2-3)

By the declaration of God’s resulting destruction of Esau’s land and heritage, God sure seems to indicate a “hating” sort of hate towards Esau.
A “loved less intensely” hate seems to be more than a stretch according to these verses.

Which is why I believe these verses should be interpreted psycho-spiritually, or allegorically, or metaphysically, or ascetically.