Bible Dictionaries
Hate

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

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," Deuteronomy 21:15; 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.

Bibliography Information
Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Hate'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​wtd/​h/hate.html. 1831-2.