TO HATE, is not always to be understood rigorously. It frequently signifies nothing more than a lesser degree of love. No one can serve two masters: for either he Luke xvi. 13.will hate the one, and love the other; that is to say, will neglect the service of the one, and attach himself to the other. And Solomon, He who spareth the rod, hateth his child. Fathers often spare their children out of an excessive love to them; ‘tis true indeed, this is not a proper instance of affection, to forbear correcting them. If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated; that Deut. xxi. 15.is to say, less beloved. Thus Jesus Christ says, that he who would follow him, must Luke xiv. 26.hate father and mother; that is to say, should love them less than his salvation, ought not to prefer them to God. He who loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul. And1 Psal. x. 16. Eph. v. 29.St. Paul, No one hateth his own flesh; himself, his life, his relations, &c.
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Footnotes
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Translators’ note. Thus our Author, according to his Vulgate, which herein agrees with the Septuagint, who translate this passage in the sense wherein it is here cited, ΄Ο δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν*. Our* English Version construes the original in another manner; The Lord alloweth the righteous, but him that delighteth in wickedness does his soul abhor. But perhaps the Reader may be of opinion, that the Greek and Latin Translations above mentioned may express more exactly the meaning of the Hebrew*, which runs thus;* יהוה צדיק יבחן ורשע ואהב חמס שנאה נפשו. ↩