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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Romans 9:13 - 9:13
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Paul quotes Mal 1:2.
But Esau I hated (ton de Esau emisēsa). This language sounds a bit harsh to us. It is possible that the word miseō did not always carry the full force of what we mean by “hate.” See Mat 6:24 where these very verbs (miseō and agapaō) are contrasted. So also in Luk 14:26 about “hating” (miseō) one’s father and mother if coming between one and Christ. So in Joh 12:25 about “hating” one’s life. There is no doubt about God’s preference for Jacob and rejection of Esau, but in spite of Sanday and Headlam one hesitates to read into these words here the intense hatred that has always existed between the descendants of Jacob and of Esau.