hat, ha'-tred (verb, sane', "oftenest," saTam,Ge 27:41, etc.; noun, sin'ah; miseo): A feeling of strong antagonism and dislike, generally malevolent and prompting to injury (the opposite of love); sometimes born of moral resentment. Alike in the Old Testament and New Testament, hate of the malevolent sort is unsparingly condemned (Nu 35:20;Ps 109:5;Pr 10:12;Tit 3:3;1 Joh 3:15), but in the Old Testament hatred of evil and evil-doers, purged of personal malice, is commended (Ps 97:10;101:3;139:21,22, etc.). The New Testament law softens this feeling as regards persons, bringing it under the higher law of love (Mt 5:43,14; compareRo 12:17-21), while intensifying the hatred of evil (Jude 1:23;Re 2:6). God himself is hated by the wicked (Ex 20:5;Ps 139:21; compareRo 8:7). Sometimes, however, the word "hate" is used hyperbolically in a relative sense to express only the strong preference of one to another. God loved Jacob, but hated Esau (Mal 1:3;Ro 9:13); father and mother are to be hated in comparison with Christ (Lu 14:26; compareMt 10:37).
SeeENMITY.
James Orr