I would like to know the true meaning of the word “hate”, as is found in Malachi. The text is speaking of G-d loving Jacob and hating Esau. In Shemot 20: 4 G-d speaks of the punishment of the children of those who hate him. Are these the same word in Hebrew? And what is the meaning that is intended in Hebrew?
Hi! Interesting question. Whenever the Torah talks about G-d in an anthropomorphic way, we understand that it refers to the way he relates to the world. That’s the closest we can come to really understand him. Now, G-d’s purpose in having this world, his “desire”, is to be able to give to us and do good for us. He “loves” (I’m going to drop the quotes from now on) anyone who will help him do that and will cooperate with his plan for
doing kindness for us, and he hates those who frustrate it. Thus, he loved Abraham perhaps more than anyone – Abraham was the human being through which his whole plan is actualized. Esau, on the other hand, given the greatest advantages in the world, growing up in the central pivot point of G-d’s plan for the world, decided not to cooperate, eventually to leave the family, and indeed to become the focus of humanity’s resistance to G-d’s kingship.
Best wishes,
Michoel Reach