In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
- KJV As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
- BSB So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
- NKJV As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
- NASB Just as it is written: “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Scripture sums up God's choice with the words, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. God set his covenant love on Jacob's line by sovereign grace.
Overview
Paul cites Malachi 1:2-3 to confirm God's electing purpose. In Hebrew idiom, loved and hated often express preference and rejection rather than emotional hatred, so the contrast highlights God's choosing of Jacob's line over Esau's. Faithful interpreters note that Malachi speaks of the nations descended from the two, yet Paul applies the principle to individual election as well. Either way, the point stands: God's saving love is freely given, not earned.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mal 1:2–3“I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;
- Deut 21:15If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated;
- Gen 29:31Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
- Gen 29:33She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Simeon.
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
- Prov 13:24One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
- Matt 10:37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
- John 12:25He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.