To hate is not always to be understood rigorously, but frequently
signifies merely a less degree of love. “If a man have two wives, one
beloved and another hated,” Deut. xxi, 15; that is, less beloved. Our
Saviour says that he who would follow him must hate father and mother;
that is, he must love them less than Christ, less than his own
salvation, and not prefer them to God. “Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated;” that is, have deprived of the privileges of his
primogeniture, through his own profanity; and visited him with severe
judgment on account of his sins.
signifies merely a less degree of love. “If a man have two wives, one
beloved and another hated,” Deut. xxi, 15; that is, less beloved. Our
Saviour says that he who would follow him must hate father and mother;
that is, he must love them less than Christ, less than his own
salvation, and not prefer them to God. “Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated;” that is, have deprived of the privileges of his
primogeniture, through his own profanity; and visited him with severe
judgment on account of his sins.