Various scriptures in the Bible make it clear that God hates sin. For example, Proverbs 6:16-19 states,
These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.
[Note: When we quote Scripture in this article, we use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible, except when we are quoting a source that uses a different translation.]
Proverbs 6:16-19 deals primarily with sinful actions (“things”) that God hates. Many other abominations to God are found in the Bible, a number of which are mentioned in Deuteronomy 7:25; 12:31; 18:10-12; 27:15 and Proverbs 3:32; 12:22; 16:5. But, does God hate the people who engage in such behavior and, perhaps, even some people who do not?
There are a number of scriptures in the Bible that proclaim God’s love for mankind. John 3:16a says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. . . .” Romans 5:8 proclaims, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And, 1 John 4:16 declares, “[W]e have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. . . .” These verses, particularly the last one, indicate that the essence of God’s nature is to love.
However, other scriptures seem to declare God’s hate for certain people. Malachi 1:2-3 contains the statement, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have hated.” And, Psalm 5:5 asserts, “You [God] hate all workers of iniquity.” Furthermore, Psalm 11:5 states, “The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.” So, should we believe that God does not necessarily love everyone, and that He may even hate some people?
With regard to Malachi 1:2-3, John W. Haley, M.A., on page 97 of his book entitled Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, says, “The word ‘hate’ is used here, as often in scripture, in the sense of to love less. If one person was preferred to another, the former was said to be ‘loved,’ the latter ‘hated.’”
Allen Bowman, Ph.D., expresses a similar belief. On page 139 of his book entitledIs the Bible True?, he explains the meaning of Malachi 1:2-3, as follows:
[W]e must realize that the word “hate” in this statement, just as in one of Jesus’ statements concerning would-be disciples, is a comparative one. “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” (Luke 14:26). Just as Jesus says that the disciple must love Him more than those nearest and dearest to him among mortals, so does Paul tell us (as Malachi did), that God preferred Jacob to Esau as the ancestor of His chosen people.
Strong’s Concordance of the Bible notes that, in Malachi 1:2-3, the Hebrew word sane, which is translated as hate in English, represents an emotion that can range from “intense hatred” to “set against.” In other words, it does not necessarily mean “hate” in the sense that we generally would interpret that word.
Also, with regard to Malachi 1:2-3, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says, “Romans 9:10 ff. suggests that the “hating” [of Esau] consisted of God’s perpetuating the line of the Chosen People through Jacob rather than through Esau, and giving Esau a position subordinate to that of his brother. . . .”
Norman Geisler, Ph.D., and Thomas Howe, M.A., provide a different perspective as to the meaning of Malachi 1:2-3. On page 323 of their book entitled When Critics Ask, they assert,
God was not speaking about the person Esau, but of the nation that came from him, namely, Edom. So God is not expressing hate toward any person here.
Further, the nation Edom was deserving of God’s indignation for their “violence against your brother Jacob [Israel]” (Obad. 10). They sided with Israel’s enemies, blocked the way of their escape, and even delivered up those who remained (vv. 12-14).
As for Psalm 5:5 and Psalm 11:5, which we previously quoted, Strong’s Concordance of the Bible indicates that the same Hebrew word (i.e., sane) that we previously discussed in regard to Malachi 1:2-3 is used in both of these scriptures in Psalms. Therefore, the word “hate” in those scriptures does not necessarily have the meaning that we ordinarily would attribute to it.
Geisler and Howe provide further insight with regard to Psalm 5:5 and Psalm 11:5. Although the following comments on page 235 of their previously-mentioned book were intended to address specifically the meaning of Psalm 5:5, the comments seem to be applicable to Psalm 11:5 also:
The difficulty arises when we wrongly assume that God hates in the same way men hate. Hatred in human beings is generally thought of in terms of strong emotional distaste or dislike for someone or something. However, in God, hate is a judicial act on the part of the righteous Judge who separates the sinner from Himself. This is not contradictory to God’s love, for in His love for sinners, God has made it possible for sin to be forgiven so that all can be reconciled to God. . . . God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Probably the most important thing to understand in regard to the nature of God’s hate is that, if He did hate in the same way that people hate, He would want those whom He hates to perish, rather than repent, which is a crucial step in their attaining eternal salvation. But, as 2 Peter 3:9 indicates, God does not want anyone to perish, which infers that He loves everyone, although not necessarily to the same extent.
Conclusion
In light of the foregoing considerations, we believe that the nature of God’s “hate” is very different than that of the hate which people express. And, although the Bible makes it sufficiently clear that God loves everyone, it also indicates that God does not have the same degree of love for every person. [For additional perspective regarding why God’s love is not the same for every person, click on “Is God’s Love the Same for Everyone?”]