Samekh

I hate those who are double-minded, but I love Your Law.  Psalm 119:113  NASB

סֵֽעֲפִ֥ים שָׂנֵ֑אתִי וְֽתוֹרָֽתְךָ֥ אָהָֽבְתִּי

I hate those who harbor iniquitous thoughts, but Your Torah I love.

סִתְרִ֣י וּמָֽגִנִּ֣י אָ֑תָּה לִ֜דְבָֽרְךָ֗ יִחָֽלְתִּי

You are my protection and my shield; I hoped for Your word.

ס֣וּרוּ מִמֶּ֣נִּי מְרֵעִ֑ים וְ֜אֶצְּרָ֗ה מִצְו‍ֹ֥ת אֱלֹהָֽי

Go away from me, you evildoers, and I shall keep the commandments of my God.

סָמְכֵ֣נִי כְאִמְרָֽתְךָ֣ וְאֶֽחְיֶ֑ה וְאַל־תְּ֜בִישֵׁ֗נִי מִשִּׂבְרִֽי

Support me as Your word, and I shall live, and do not put me to shame because of my hope.

סְעָדֵ֥נִי וְאִוָּשֵׁ֑עָה וְאֶשְׁעָ֖ה בְחֻקֶּ֣יךָ תָמִֽיד

Sustain me and I shall be saved, and I shall constantly engage in Your statutes.

סָלִיתָ כָּל־שֹׁגִ֣ים מֵֽחֻקֶּ֑יךָ כִּי־שֶׁ֜֗קֶר תַּרְמִיתָֽם

You trampled all who stray from Your statutes, for their deceit is false.

סִגִ֗ים הִשְׁבַּ֥תָּ כָל־רִשְׁעֵי־אָ֑רֶץ לָ֜כֵ֗ן אָהַ֥בְתִּי עֵֽדֹתֶֽיךָ

As dross, You cut off all the wicked of the earth; therefore I love Your testimonies.

סָמַ֣ר מִפַּחְדְּךָ֣ בְשָׂרִ֑י וּמִמִּשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ יָרֵֽאתִי

My flesh bristles from fear of You, and I dread Your judgments.   (all Chabad)

Righteous Hate

śānēʾ is the Hebrew verb “to hate, to be hateful.”  We need to know exactly how it is used if we’re going to reconcile our usual aversion to hatred as evil with this biblical text.  But before we jump into that discussion, we should notice something about the syntax.  “I hate” is not in the first position in this verse.  The position of priority is assigned to “those who are double-minded” (NASB) or “those who harbor iniquitous thoughts” (Chabad).  The focus of the verse is not on the psalmist’s reaction.  It’s on the existence of these despicable people.  What are they like?  It’s captured in just one word: sēʿēp.  What’s even more interesting is that this is the only place in Scripture where this word is used.  So how do we know what it means?  Well, there are some other similar consonantal forms.  Judges 15:8, Isaiah 17:7, Ezekiel 31:6, Isiah 10:33 all use these consonants to speak about branches of trees or clefts in rock.  Furthermore, 1 Kings 18:21 uses the form sĕʿippâ to describe divided opinion.  So, we assume that there was a Hebrew root that had something to do with divisions, and therefore, this is translated “double-minded,” that is, with divided loyalties.  But notice that the Chabad translation is entirely different.  “Iniquitous thoughts” only hints at divided loyalties.  Nevertheless, because this is a hapax legomenon, the Chabad translation can follow one traditional view, the NASB another.  But in both cases, these people, however they are characterized, are deliberately opposed to God’s Torah.

Now śānē.   “The verb śānē and its derivatives have the root meaning ‘to hate.’ It expresses an emotional attitude toward persons and things which are opposed, detested, despised and with which one wishes to have no contact or relationship. It is therefore the opposite of love. Whereas love draws and unites, hate separates and keeps distant. The hated and hating persons are considered foes or enemies and are considered odious, utterly unappealing.”^[1]  Van Groningan’s remark highlights exactly the opposition in this verse.  Hate and love stand as polar opposites.  It is the separation, the division caused by these people that the psalmist detests, and he detests this attitude with precisely the same deliberate division that they cause.  It’s almost as if the poet employs a sophisticated Hebrew pun: “I am divided over what you divide.”  And then he follows with “I am united with what Torah unites.”

We have plenty of division in our modern world, enough to make us react in the same way.  Is our reaction itself evil?  Is hatred a sin?  Well, I suppose that depends on the reality of the pun.

Topical Index: hate, śānē, double-minded, sēʿēp, hapax legomenon, Psalm 119:113

^[1] (1999). 2272 שָׂנֵא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 880). Moody Press.