The Hebrew word translated as “hate” is SANE—but it’s crucial to understand that the way this word is perceived in the modern Western world is vastly different from how it functioned in biblical Hebrew. In contemporary English, “hate” is an emotionally charged word. It evokes intense feelings of hostility, disgust, loathing, or even a desire for harm. To say you “hate” someone today typically implies emotional fury, rage, or personal animosity. It’s a word associated with violence, division, and often deep psychological trauma.
But in biblical Hebrew, SANE carries a much different, broader, more functional, and much less emotional meaning. It frequently means to reject, to avoid, to ignore, or to turn away from. In other words, hate in the Hebrew Bible is more about rejection and avoidance than anger. It’s a posture of distance, not necessarily one of hostility. It describes what happens when someone or something is no longer chosen, welcomed, or drawn close—but pushed away, set aside, or left behind.
Though I’m a native Hebrew speaker and theologian, you don’t have to take only my word for it—even the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible explains SANE as rooted in avoidance:
The pictograph is a picture of a thorn, then is a picture of seed. Combined, these mean “thorn seed.” The thorn, (the seed of a plant with small sharp points) causes one to turn in directions to avoid them.
SANE comes from the imagery of a “thorn seed,” with the idea being that just as a thorn causes someone to turn aside to avoid getting pricked, to SANE someone is to turn aside from them—to avoid or reject.
Hate as Rejection: Election and Esau
Consider how Paul uses SANE in Romans 9:10–13, citing God’s words in Malachi 1: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated [SANE].” In context, this isn’t about God desiring Esau’s demise or torment. Rather, it reflects divine election. God chose Jacob, not Esau. God rejected (SANE) Esau in favor of Jacob. So in this scriptural usage, “hate” doesn’t mean animosity or loathing. It means: “I did not choose him.”
We also see this understanding in Paul’s logic in Ephesians 5:29: “No one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body.” While modern readers may object (e.g., “I hate my enormous nose!”), Paul is working with the Hebrew concept: to SANE your body would be to ignore it, not to feel emotional detestation. And no one actually ignores their body—we feed it, hydrate it, clothe it. We don’t SANE our bodies when it asks us to go to the toilet. We don’t reject or abandon it.
Hate as Avoidance: Jesus’ Shocking Command
This view of “hate” also sheds light on one of Jesus’ most provocative statements:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
(Luke 14:26)
To modern ears, this is unsettling. How could the Prince of Peace call us to hate our families? But Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, spoke within the framework of biblical thought. He wasn’t commanding emotional hostility. He was saying: choose me over them. Be willing to walk away from them, if necessary, in order to follow me.
As a Jew, I had to walk this out. When some family members discovered I believed in Jesus, they begged me to recant. I had to choose between their expectations and Christ. I didn’t “hate” them in the modern sense. I rejected their plea. That’s what Jesus meant.
God Hates Sinners? The Modern Misuse of Psalm 5:5
Some influential Reformed preachers insist that Psalm 5:5–6 proves that God hates sinners:
You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies; the bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest.
(Psalm 5:5–6)
From this, theologians like R.C. Sproul, Tim Conway, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and David Platt have built a disturbing theology: that God is furious with humans and abhors them until they accept Christ.
R.C. Sproul, wrote:
We always say the Cliché, “God Hates the sin, but he loves the sinner.” That’s nonsense! The Bible speaks of Him abhorring us, and that we’re loathsome in His sight, and He can’t stand to even look at us!
(Pastor R.C. Sproul)
Likewise, on his YouTube sermon, “God Hates the Sin and the Sinner,” popular reformed pastor Tim Conway explains his views of the gospel like this:
All of mankind are children of wrath. We are objects of the hatred of God by nature. We don’t deserve His love… God is not unjust to hate mankind. Because mankind is a hateful thing by nature. It ought to be hated.
(Pastor Tim Conway)
Similarly, Wyatt Graham, a director of The Gospel Coalition, defines the gospel in this way:
Jesus bore divine wrath at the cross for our sake and so protected us from it. This act implies that God hates humans since he would have poured wrath upon humans if not for the work of Christ’s cross.
Marco from Reading, Pennsylvania, wrote to ask reformed Baptist pastor John Piper. The question was answered by Piper in the “Ask Pastor John” podcast: “Pastor John, what do you make of the saying, ‘God loves the sinner, but hates the sin?’.” John Piper’s answered:
It is just not true to give the impression that God doesn’t hate sinners by saying, “he loves the sinner and hates the sin.” He does hate sinners.
Piper then quoted Psalm 5:5-6 to biblically back up his claim.
Likewise, pastor Mark Driscoll preached to his congregation the same motif:
The Bible speaks of God not just hating sin but sinners… Psalm 5:5, “You,” speaking of God, “hate all evildoers.” God doesn’t just hate what you do. He hates who you are!
And David Platt wrote:
Does God hate sinners? Listen closely to Psalm 5:5-6: “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; You hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.”
The logic of these fundamentalist preachers in quoting Psalm 5:5-6 goes something like this:
- Those who sin are sinners.
- Everyone sins.
- God hates sin.
- Therefore, God hates everyone.
But this interpretation is a complete misreading of both the language and the heart of Scripture. These preachers rely on English translations and anachronistic interpretations. They fail to understand what SANE truly means.
The Broader Context of Psalm 5
Mitchell Dahood, a leading Hebraist scholar, says Psalm 5 is about “repudiation of false gods when one was accused of idolatry.” Similarly, VanGemeren, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, explains that Psalm 5 is about God distinguishing Himself from pagan deities (who embody both good and evil):
Whereas other religions brought together good and evil at the level of the gods, God had revealed that evil exists apart from him.
So, with this context in mind, more accurate than “God hates us all” will be to say that God hates-ignores idol worshippers.
Thus, when Psalm 5 says, “You hate all who do wrong,” it doesn’t mean God emotionally loathes all sinners. It means He rejects idolatrous and evil behavior. In context, these “evildoers” are not merely people who sin occasionally. They are those who worship false gods and commit atrocities like child sacrifice.
It is not a hatred of humanity. It is a rejection of wicked systems, cultures, and spiritual rebellion.
SANE: The Absence of Blessings, Not the Presence of Rage
SANE is best understood like darkness or cold. Darkness isn’t a substance—it’s the absence of light. Cold isn’t a thing—it’s the absence of heat. Likewise, hate in the Hebrew sense is the absence of connection, blessings, affection, and relational engagement.
This is why anger and hate are not the same. When you love someone, you get angry at their self-destruction. You argue. You grieve. You intervene. But when you hate someone—biblically—you go quiet. You avoid. You let go.
The woman who hates her husband isn’t the one yelling; she’s the one who packed her bags and left without a word. She’s disengaged.
God Avoids Evil But Still Loves Sinners
If SANE is rejection, avoidance, and the withholding of blessings, then when Scripture says God “hates” evildoers, it means He turns away from their destructive ways. He withdraws His covering. He resists them. But this does not mean He stops loving them.
Jesus was God in flesh. And what did He do? He touched the unclean. He dined with sinners. He forgave prostitutes. He wept over murderers.
If God “hates” sinners in the Sproul, Piper, and other Calvinists claim, then Jesus wasn’t God. But He is God. And He loved sinners.
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8)
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
(1 Timothy 1:15)
Paul says God loved him while he was a sinner. So if God hates all sinners in the way fundamentalists preach, Paul should have never been saved.
God Is Love, Not Rage
This misunderstanding reveals a tragic distortion in much of modern fundamentalism: portraying God not as a loving Father, but as a raging tyrant.
But God is not wrath. God is not rage. God is love (1 John 4:8). And yes, He disciplines. Yes, He judges. But His aim is always redemption, never retribution for its own sake. God is no sadist. He withholds blessings from the wicked to call them back to Himself, not to smash them out of disgust.
Likewise, His Son didn’t tell us to loathe our enemies. He said:
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5:44–45)
Children imitate their Father. And if we are to love enemies, that’s because our Father loves enemies, too.
In conclusion, the word SANE does not mean to be filled with contempt or rage. It means to reject. To turn away. To avoid. And when God “hates,” it is not because He is unloving, but because He is love. He cannot participate in evil, and so He distances Himself from it.
But never confuse distance for indifference. God still longs for every sinner. He is not loathing them; He is longing for them. Consider Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son, especially verse 20:
“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20) The son is making his way home and his father spots him, not when the son is steps away from the estate but while he is still a significant distance off. Remarkably, it wasn’t a servant who noticed the returning figure and informed the father; the father himself saw. I can imagine in my mind how the father would rise every morning at 4:45 a.m., prepare meals, and journey for an hour to the closest mountain. After reaching the summit, he would position himself for the best possible view. Perhaps he even set up camp there, resolved not to descend until his son’s return. Numerous possibilities clouded the father’s thoughts: had his son perished, or had he found a different life elsewhere? Yet the father’s unwavering gaze betrayed his hope. Deep within, he believed his son would come back.
Eitan Bar, “God as Father”
Much like our Father in heaven, the prodigal’s father didn’t hate his son when he stubbornly lived in sin—he longed to see him.
Our Father doesn’t punch sinners in the face. He dies for them.
He doesn’t hate the world. He so loved it.
So let us reject the abusive doctrine that says God abhors people. Let us return to the Hebrew heart of Scripture and reclaim a God who loves, a Savior who embraces, and a Spirit who draws near—not because we are perfect, but because He is.
That’s the gospel. That’s grace. That’s SANE redefined.
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If you struggle to see God as your loving Father or to understand His love for sinners, I invite you to read my short book, “God as Father: Unveiling God’s Love for Sinners, Outcasts, Legalists and Jerks Through the Prodigal Son.”
If you enjoyed this article, I can guarantee you’ll love this book: “Lost in Translation: “Lost in Translation: 15 Hebrew Words to Transform Your Christian Faith“
