“What Does the Bible Say About Hate?”

Matthew 5:21–22 (NASB)

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Is it a sin to hate people?

Leviticus 19:17–18 (NASB)

17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

Matthew 5:43–45 (NASB)

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

1 John 2:9–11 (NASB)

9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 3:15 (NASB)

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 4:20 (NASB)

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Titus 3:3 (NASB)

3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Does God Hate people?

Malachi 1:2–3 (NASB)

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; 3 but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

HATE, verb transitive [Latin odi, for hodi.]

1. To dislike greatly; to have a great aversion to. It expresses less than abhor, detest, and abominate, unless pronounced with a peculiar emphasis.

How long will fools hate knowledge? Proverbs 1:22.

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you. Luke 6:22.

HATE, noun Great dislike or aversion.

Hebrew: שָׂנֵא sânêʼ

The Hebrew word for hate is “sane”. It can be used as a verb or a noun. It is the primary word translated “hate” in the OT and it is translated that way about 75% of the time. But, it can also be translated unloved, turned against and enmity. When used as a noun it can be translated enemy or foe.

In Scripture, it can be used as a comparison that means to loves less.

Proverbs 13:24 (NASB)

24 He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

Luke 16:13 (NASB)

13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Luke 14:26 (NASB)

26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

So how do we make sense of passages like these…

Psalm 5:5 (NASB)

5 …You hate all who do iniquity.

Hosea 9:15 (NASB)

15 All their evil is at Gilgal; Indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels.

Both Psalms and Hosea are using poetic language. It is like God is using hyperbole for the sake of illustration.

Other uses could be God saying that these people are His enemies of He has become their enemy because of their sin. But that doesn’t mean He also doesn’t love them and want them to repent and be saved.

Ezekiel 33:11 (NASB)

11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

And in Jacob and Esau’s case, God is using the term as a contrast. Jacob is loved in that he recieved the blessing as the people of God. Esau was hated, or loved less in that he wasn’t chosen to be the father of God’s people. And in Malachi especially, it is clear that God is saying that Edom has become His enemy and He will destroy them.

Other things to consider… (if we have time)

Romans 9:10–13 (NASB)

10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Romans 9:21–26 (NASB)

21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. 25 As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’ ” 26 “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Ephesians 2:3 (NASB)

3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.