Here is an interesting verse on this topic and some explainations by commentaries. As it is written
and forever remains written, “d]'>[
d]Jacob I loved (chose, protected, blessed), but e]'>[
e]Esau I hated (held in disregard compared to Jacob).” Romans 9:13 amplified
Esau I have hated (v.
13):
This does not mean God did not love Esau. Rather, God foresaw the wickedness Esau would choose and hated it. Likewise, God foresaw Jacob's faith and obedience and knew Jacob would serve His purposes.
Orthodox Study Bible
Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology.
Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Quoted from
Mal. 1:2,
3. Actual emotional hatred for Esau and his offspring is not the point here. Malachi, who wrote this declaration more than 1,500 years after their death, was looking back at these two men—and by extension the nations (Israel and Edom) that came from their loins. God chose one for divine blessing and protection, and the other He left to divine judgment.
NKJV MacArthur Study Bible
Loved . . . hated (Gen. 25:23; Mal. 1:2, 3) are not matters of emotion; they are matters of the Father’s will. In the papyri (ancient secular writings dating to biblical times), the expressions “loved” and “hated” are used of a man who could afford to adopt only one of two twin orphaned boys. He was said to have “loved” the one he adopted and “hated” the one he did not adopt. Here all that is signified is that Jacob was blessed and Esau was not.
King James Study Bible Notes
hated: Actually God made provision for Esau (see
Gen. 27:39;
36;
Deut. 23:7).
Hated is an idiom where the opposite is used to express a lesser degree. For example,
Gen. 29:30 says Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, but the next verse (literally translated) says that Leah was hated. What Paul is saying is that Esau was not the object of God’s electing purpose.
NKJV Study Bible
Copyright ©1997, 2007 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.