Hatred ( ):

By: Kaufmann Kohler

Feeling of bitter hostility and antagonism toward others. It is intrinsically wrong when the good is hated, but it is proper to hate the evil. The Decalogue speaks of those that hate God (Ex. xx. 5; Deut. v. 9); so also Num. x. 35; Deut. vii. 10, xxxii. 41; Ps. lxxxiii. 3 (A.V. 2). To hate such persons is declared by the Psalmist to be meritorious (Ps. cxxxix. 21-22); for they are the wicked ones that "hate instruction" (Ps. 1. 17), "right" (Job xxxiv. 17), "knowledge" (Prov. i. 22, 29), and "him that rebuketh in the gate" (Amos v. 10). The prophet expressly admonishes men to "hate the eviland love the good," in order to "establish judgment in the gate" (Amos v. 15). God Himself hates whatever is abominable or morally perverse (Deut. xii. 31, xvi. 22; Isa. i. 14, lxi. 8; Amos v. 21; Hos. ix. 15; Zech. viii. 17; Mal. ii. 16; Ps. v. 6 [5], xi. 5; Prov. vi. 16). Likewise men should "hate evil" (Ps. xcvii. 10; Prov. viii. 13), "covetousness" (Ex. xviii. 21), "wickedness" (Ps. xlv. 8 [7]), especially "every false way" (Ps. cxix. 104), and accordingly the congregations of "evil-doers" (Ps. xxvi. 5) and "them that regard lying vanities" (Ps. xxxi. 7 [6]).

Hatred is unbrotherly where love should prevail, and therefore the Law says, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart" (Lev. xix. 17). This prohibition is not, as is often asserted with reference to Matt. v. 43 et seq. , confined to kinsmen ( see Brotherly Love ). Only idolaters and doers of evil are excluded from the universal law of love (Deut. vii. 2-10), whereas even an enemy's beast should be treated with kindness (Ex. xxiii. 5-6). One ought not to rejoice at the destruction of the man that hateth him (Job xxxi. 29; Prov. xxv. 21 et seq. ). The hatred most frequently denounced in the Psalms is that caused by no wrong-doing on the part of the hated and persecuted one (Ps. xxxv. 19, lxix. 5 [4], cix. 5). It was this hatred without reason which caused the brothers of Joseph to do evil (Gen. xxxvii. 4).

"Hatred without cause" ("sine'at ḥinnam") is therefore the rabbinical term for the vice of hatred: and the Talmud is emphatic in denouncing it. On its account the Second Temple was destroyed (Yoma 9b). It undermines domestic peace (Shab. 32b). It is equal in wickedness to any one of the three capital sins (Yoma 9b). To leave no doubt as to the extent of the prohibition of hatred, the Rabbis use the term "sine'at ha-beriyyot" (hatred of fellow creatures; see Creature ), and condemn such hatred as is detrimental to the welfare of mankind (Abot ii. 11). "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer," is Pharisaic as well as New Testament teaching (R. Eliezer in Derek Ereẓ Rabbah xiii. is prior to I John iii. 15). On the other hand, the Rabbis maintain the same sound view regarding the necessity of hatred of sin and of all things or persons of an evil character as that inculcated by the Old Testament. The impudent man who hates God should be hated (Ta'an. 7b). So should all those heretics and informers who alienate the people from their Father in heaven (Ab. R. N. xvi.; Shab. 116a), and he who is a wrong-doer in secret (Pes. 113b), for God Himself hates persons who lack modesty and purity of conduct (Nid. 16b) and indulge in lasciviousness (Sanh. 93a). Only those who deserve love are included in the command of love; those who are hated by God on account of their evil ways should be hated by men (Ab. R. N., after Ps. cxxxix. 21 et seq. ).