SolaScriptura
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Esau I have Loved Less
This verse in Romans 9:13, is one that is much used, or rather, misused, by some of the so called "reformed", to try to “prove”, that while God LOVES only the ELECT, He actually HATES the NON-ELECT.
Not only does Paul not mean this, as is very clear in the passage, and the use of the Greek word for “hate”; but, Scripture actually shows, that God BLESSED Esau, and PROTECTED his descendants!
The Amplified Bible reads exactly what the Greek in the context is actually saying:
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (held in relative disregard in comparison with My feeling for Jacob). [Mal. 1:2, 3.]”
And, the Contemporary English Version, published by the American Bible Society:
“That's why the Scriptures say that the Lord liked Jacob more than Esau”
And, the New Living Translation:
“In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau”
In the first place, the actual context that Paul here quotes from Malachi 1:2-3, is clear:
“(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” – NASB
It is clear, that it is God’s “eklogḗ”, that is, “CHOICE, or SELECTION, or PREFERENCE, that “The older shall serve the younger”. That is Esau, who was the First-Born, who by wickedness, sold his “Birth Right”, was to SERVE his younger twin, Jacob. NOTHING in this CONTEXT, speaks of SALVATION!
Paul says at the start of verse 13, AS IT IS WRITTEN, which is quoting the passage in Malachi, for the purpose of showing what this “hate” really means, God PREFERRING Jacob over Esau, who was clearly a wicked person.
Secondly, it is absurd to argue from the passage in Romans, that Paul is saying that God actually HATED Esau, as in to DETEST him. It is very clear from other teachings in the Bible, that, when we have LOVE as contrasted with HATE, that no more than PREFERENCE is meant.
In Genesis 29:31, we read of Leah, “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated” (KJV), and verse 33, “Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated”. The Hebrew word is “sânêʼ”, which is the same word used in Malachi 1:3, “but I have hated Esau”. The LXX uses the Greek word “miséō”, which is used for “sânêʼ”. Paul uses this word in Romans 9:13. English Versions like the NASB, HCSB, NKJV, NLT, use “UNLOVED”, in the passage in Genesis, and the NIV, ERV, BBE, “NOT LOVED”, etc. Showing that the Hebrew and Greek does not always have the meaning “HATE”.
In Luke 14:26, Jesus says, “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (KJV). Same Greek word is used here, “miséō”. In Matthew’s account, it reads different, “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (10:37).
Jesus makes this point in John 21, where He says to Peter:
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs” (verse 15, see to verse 17)
When Jesus says to Peter, “do you love Me MORE than these”, He uses the highest Greek word for LOVE (agapáō, “to esteem one highly). When Peter says, “You know that I love You”, he uses the Greek, “philéō”, which is, “dear to”. The emphasis here is “pleíōn” (more than), which is used of HIGHER degree.
God says that we are not to HATE anyone, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15), where the Greek for HATE is the same as in Romans 9:13.
Thirdly, it is clear from the context of Malachi, where we read, “But Esau I have hated” (1:3), that Esau here is not referring to the person, but rather, to his descendants, “the Edomites”, as verse 4 goes on to say, “Even though Edom has said”. The Prophecy in this passage of the doom of the Edomites, is recorded as fulfilled in history as in 1 Maccabees 5:65; and by John Hyrcanus; see Joseph Antiquities, Book. 13 c. 9. s. 1.
Fourthly, we read in Genesis 27:39, Isaac speaking to Esau;
“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: "Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above”
Which is a BLESSING pronounced on Esau, by God, through Isaac! IF, as some argue, that God HATES/DETESTS the person Esau, when God would not have BLESSED him! In verse 28, we read of the BLESSING Isaac pronounces on Jacob;
“Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine” (NKJV, KJV)
Clearly Jacob’s BLESSING is MORE than that of Esau, which is what is meant by, “Esau I have loved LESS”.
Some English Versions have tried to make the BLESSING of Esau, into a CURSE, by MISTRANSLATING the Hebrew to read
“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high” (ESV)
In BOTH verses we have the SAME Hebrew preposition “min”, which is correctly translated in Versions like the KJV, as “OF”, as a BLESSING. This is the reading of all of the English Versions before the KJV (Coverdale, Bishops, Geneva, Great). There is no justification in the Hebrew, to make the SAME preposition “partitive”, in verse 28, and “privative”, in verse 39, other than for “theology”!
The Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), the Old Syriac, Latin Vulgate, read as the KJV.
Fifthly, we read in Deuteronomy, “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land”
God comments the Israelites not to ABHOR the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word used here, “taw-ab'”, is stronger than the HATE in Malachi 1:3, which is “sânêʼ”
This is clear that God did indeed BLESS Esau and his descendants, even though they were wicked.
The evidence as I have shown, is very clear, that when we read of God HATING Esau, it is to be understood as LOVE LESS, or BLESS LESS, than Jacob.
This verse in Romans 9:13, is one that is much used, or rather, misused, by some of the so called "reformed", to try to “prove”, that while God LOVES only the ELECT, He actually HATES the NON-ELECT.
Not only does Paul not mean this, as is very clear in the passage, and the use of the Greek word for “hate”; but, Scripture actually shows, that God BLESSED Esau, and PROTECTED his descendants!
The Amplified Bible reads exactly what the Greek in the context is actually saying:
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (held in relative disregard in comparison with My feeling for Jacob). [Mal. 1:2, 3.]”
And, the Contemporary English Version, published by the American Bible Society:
“That's why the Scriptures say that the Lord liked Jacob more than Esau”
And, the New Living Translation:
“In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau”
In the first place, the actual context that Paul here quotes from Malachi 1:2-3, is clear:
“(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” – NASB
It is clear, that it is God’s “eklogḗ”, that is, “CHOICE, or SELECTION, or PREFERENCE, that “The older shall serve the younger”. That is Esau, who was the First-Born, who by wickedness, sold his “Birth Right”, was to SERVE his younger twin, Jacob. NOTHING in this CONTEXT, speaks of SALVATION!
Paul says at the start of verse 13, AS IT IS WRITTEN, which is quoting the passage in Malachi, for the purpose of showing what this “hate” really means, God PREFERRING Jacob over Esau, who was clearly a wicked person.
Secondly, it is absurd to argue from the passage in Romans, that Paul is saying that God actually HATED Esau, as in to DETEST him. It is very clear from other teachings in the Bible, that, when we have LOVE as contrasted with HATE, that no more than PREFERENCE is meant.
In Genesis 29:31, we read of Leah, “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated” (KJV), and verse 33, “Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated”. The Hebrew word is “sânêʼ”, which is the same word used in Malachi 1:3, “but I have hated Esau”. The LXX uses the Greek word “miséō”, which is used for “sânêʼ”. Paul uses this word in Romans 9:13. English Versions like the NASB, HCSB, NKJV, NLT, use “UNLOVED”, in the passage in Genesis, and the NIV, ERV, BBE, “NOT LOVED”, etc. Showing that the Hebrew and Greek does not always have the meaning “HATE”.
In Luke 14:26, Jesus says, “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (KJV). Same Greek word is used here, “miséō”. In Matthew’s account, it reads different, “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (10:37).
Jesus makes this point in John 21, where He says to Peter:
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs” (verse 15, see to verse 17)
When Jesus says to Peter, “do you love Me MORE than these”, He uses the highest Greek word for LOVE (agapáō, “to esteem one highly). When Peter says, “You know that I love You”, he uses the Greek, “philéō”, which is, “dear to”. The emphasis here is “pleíōn” (more than), which is used of HIGHER degree.
God says that we are not to HATE anyone, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15), where the Greek for HATE is the same as in Romans 9:13.
Thirdly, it is clear from the context of Malachi, where we read, “But Esau I have hated” (1:3), that Esau here is not referring to the person, but rather, to his descendants, “the Edomites”, as verse 4 goes on to say, “Even though Edom has said”. The Prophecy in this passage of the doom of the Edomites, is recorded as fulfilled in history as in 1 Maccabees 5:65; and by John Hyrcanus; see Joseph Antiquities, Book. 13 c. 9. s. 1.
Fourthly, we read in Genesis 27:39, Isaac speaking to Esau;
“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: "Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above”
Which is a BLESSING pronounced on Esau, by God, through Isaac! IF, as some argue, that God HATES/DETESTS the person Esau, when God would not have BLESSED him! In verse 28, we read of the BLESSING Isaac pronounces on Jacob;
“Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine” (NKJV, KJV)
Clearly Jacob’s BLESSING is MORE than that of Esau, which is what is meant by, “Esau I have loved LESS”.
Some English Versions have tried to make the BLESSING of Esau, into a CURSE, by MISTRANSLATING the Hebrew to read
“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high” (ESV)
In BOTH verses we have the SAME Hebrew preposition “min”, which is correctly translated in Versions like the KJV, as “OF”, as a BLESSING. This is the reading of all of the English Versions before the KJV (Coverdale, Bishops, Geneva, Great). There is no justification in the Hebrew, to make the SAME preposition “partitive”, in verse 28, and “privative”, in verse 39, other than for “theology”!
The Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), the Old Syriac, Latin Vulgate, read as the KJV.
Fifthly, we read in Deuteronomy, “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land”
God comments the Israelites not to ABHOR the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word used here, “taw-ab'”, is stronger than the HATE in Malachi 1:3, which is “sânêʼ”
This is clear that God did indeed BLESS Esau and his descendants, even though they were wicked.
The evidence as I have shown, is very clear, that when we read of God HATING Esau, it is to be understood as LOVE LESS, or BLESS LESS, than Jacob.
