Love and hate as opposites

Are "love" and "hate" opposites?

Modern psychology would challenge that claim. However, when "love" and "hate" are used in the Bible, side by side, modern psychology is not relevant. Neither are contemporary definitions. Some appropriate questions are the following. The context is the time of the GNT (Greek New Testament).

What does the word "love" mean? Is there more than one word for "love"?
What does the word "hate" mean? Is there more than one word for "hate"?
When used together (i.e., in the same verse or adjacent verses), does the idea of opposite fit?

Paul's laundry list of sins in the "last days" continues to the next verse.

2 Timothy 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, [kjv]

αστοργοι ασπονδοι διαβολοι ακρατεις ανημεροι αφιλαγαθοι [gnt]

The Greek for "without natural affection" uses one of the four Greek words for love as "motherly love" but in the negative.

agape - devotion love
eros - physical love
philos - friendship love
storge - motherly love

The ancient Greek word "στοργή" ≈ "love, affection" as in a love of a mother for a child. This word does not appear in the GNT or LXX (Septuagint).

This idea of a female (good) vs. male (not good) appears in several verses in this chapter.

More: 2 Timothy 3:1-12 Silly women in the she shed

Book	Spoken by Jesus	Same meaning	Status
Matthew	not (family > Jesus)	family ≤ Jesus	correct
Luke	not (family > Jesus)	family < Jesus	incorrect

Correct logic: Matthew writes down and reports what Jesus spoke.

You should "love" Jesus.
Your family must be "less than or equal to" Jesus. (correct)
You must not "love" (nor condone) the worldly part of your family that are against God more than Jesus.

The incorrect logic goes as follows. Luke reports what was remembered.

You should "love" Jesus.
Your family must be "less than" Jesus. (incorrect)
The opposite of "love" is "hate" (two choices).
Therefore, you must "hate" your family. (incorrect)

More: Do not no way use double negatives

More: The shock and awe deception

Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. [kjv]

ο φιλων πατερα η μητερα υπερ εμε ουκ εστιν μου αξιος και ο φιλων υιον η θυγατερα υπερ εμε ουκ εστιν μου αξιος [gnt]

Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. [kjv]

ει τις ερχεται προς με και ου μισει τον πατερα εαυτου και την μητερα και την γυναικα και τα τεκνα και τους αδελφους και τας αδελφας ετι τε και την ψυχην εαυτου ου δυναται ειναι μου μαθητης [gnt]

Now we have a context for the verse in Luke about "hate" and the verse in Matthew about "love". What do each of these verses mean and how do they relate?

The key to the connection is to understand the logical meaning "more than" in Matthew 10:37. The Greek word is that of "over" which has the same logical meaning as "more than".

More: Do not no way use double negatives

More: The shock and awe deception

Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. [kjv]

οπως γενησθε υιοι του πατρος υμων του εν ουρανοις οτι τον ηλιον αυτου ανατελλει επι πονηρους και αγαθους και βρεχει επι δικαιους και αδικους [gnt]

There are different Greek words for what as translated as "evil".

Jesus uses the Greek word for "oppression" for "evil". Is "oppression" an opposite of "good"?
Aristotle uses the Greek word for "bad" for "evil". Jesus uses this word for the "harmed".

English: The contrary of good must be evil, and this can be proved by induction. (Loeb#325, p. 97)

Greek: Ἐναντίον δέ ἐστιν ἀγαθῷ μὲν ἐξ ἀνάγκης κακόν, τοῦτο δὲ δῆλον τῇ καθ' ἕκαστον ἐπαγωγῇ, … Aristotle: Categories [14a]

More: Matthew 5:45-46 Rain on the just and unjust

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. [kjv]

ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου και μισησεις τον εχθρον σου [gnt]

5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? [kjv]

εαν γαρ αγαπησητε τους αγαπωντας υμας τινα μισθον εχετε ουχι και οι τελωναι το αυτο ποιουσιν [gnt]

The Greek word for "reward" can be, in context, a play on words with the Greek word for "hate" or "hatred".

... what reward have you ...
... what hate have you ...

The Greek word for "reward" can be, in context, a play on words with the Greek word for "hate" or "hatred".
The ancient Greek word "μισθός" ≈ "wages, pay, recompense, reward". This word is related to the German word "Miete" ≈ "rent".

The ancient Greek word "μισέω" ≈ "hate" and is from "μῖσος" ≈ "hatred, hate" and appears to be pre-Greek in origin.

The "s" sound and the "th" sound are close enough to be used as the basis for a play on words.

Social media site for Christians with a lisp: faith-book.
Lisp: A thlap in the faith.

Related sounds: "s", "t", "th", "z", "tz", "j". Modern Greek uses "τζ", which in English corresponds to "ts" or "tzs", for foreign words that start with the English "j" sound. These letter combination is not found in the LXX or GNT.

More: Matthew 5:45-46 Rain on the just and unjust

Matthew 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? [kjv]

εαν γαρ αγαπησητε τους αγαπωντας υμας τινα μισθον εχετε ουχι και οι τελωναι το αυτο ποιουσιν [gnt]

Jesus uses the "heathen" or "ethnics" to refer to the "sea" of "humanity" or "fish" and uses the "publicans" collectively to refer to both the "birds" or "eyes" and the "pigs" or "hands".

The ancient Greek word "μισθός" ≈ "wages, pay, recompense, reward" and, as a play on words, "μῖσος" ≈ "hatred, hate".

If you love them which love you, what reward have you?
If you love them which love you, what hate (for others) have you?

Can you imagine what a "hateful" "bird" or false "leader" or "eye" might be like? They would always have the faithful under a "watch" or "prison" as if in a "cage".

More: Revelation 18:1-24 Cagey birds and the end of Babylon

More: Matthew 5:13-16 Animal crackers

More: Matthew 5:45-46 Rain on the just and unjust

The same word for "love" is used for what men (by nature) love. It appears that the Apostle John is purposely making this distinction.

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [kjv]

αυτη δε εστιν η κρισις οτι το φως εληλυθεν εις τον κοσμον και ηγαπησαν οι ανθρωποι μαλλον το σκοτος η το φως ην γαρ αυτων πονηρα τα εργα [gnt]

12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. [kjv]

ηγαπησαν γαρ την δοξαν των ανθρωπων μαλλον ηπερ την δοξαν του θεου [gnt]

The idea that "Love" is god is that of love of anything other than Jesus and God is a "god" rather than Jesus and God. Love as a total devotion can be considered as a "desire".

God's desire is that man desire (love) God.
Man's (natural) desire is that God desires (loves) man (such that man is in control and gets to do what is desired).

More: Love is the only way

Ecclesiastes 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. [kjv]

αγαπων αργυριον ου πλησθησεται αργυριου και τις ηγαπησεν εν πληθει αυτων γενημα και γε τουτο ματαιοτης [lxx]

In English, one says things like "I love pizza", "I love football", etc. "Agape love" is usually taken as meaning an unconditional form of love.

A better definition is that of being totally devoted to something, is in "totally devoted" "to" "football", etc. This same idea is found in many Bible verses in the GNT and LXX.

One could add examples such as the following.

He that loveth "golf", ...
He that loveth "football", ...
And so on.

More: Love is the only way

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. [kjv]

5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; [kjv]

Would a "bird" "go after" you?
Who might "hate" you as an "enemy"?
Why might they "hate" you as on "enemy"?

Some words were added to Matthew 5:44 (from other verses elsewhere).

... pray for those that persecute or go after you.
... put forward a wish for those who pursue or go after you.

What "wish" are we to put forward? How about in the upcoming Lord's Prayer?

More: Matthew 5:43-44 Love your enemies

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [kjv]

12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. [kjv]

Is the parallelism between these two verses more evident now? Do you see the pattern?

The words "love" and "hate" are used as opposites.
The words "lose" and "keep" or "guard" are used as opposites.

More: Conditional logic

More: John 12:20-30 Conditionally fallen grain of wheat

What is needed to "keep life into eternity" ? Check the next verse. It continues with "if ...".

verse	seed	then part ‑ true/yes	else part ‑ false/no
12:24	the‑J	(yes) fallen against sand	(no) not fallen against sand
12:24	the‑J	dies (having fallen)	dies (not having fallen)
12:24	the‑J	bears much fruit (later)	remains alone in this world
12:25	a‑you	(yes) hates life ‑ this world	(no) loves life ‑ this world
12:25	a‑you	keep life into eternity if ...	loses life (in prison)

The use of negation is difficult for students of programming to learn and use. It appears to have been especially difficult for translators, theologians, etc.

More: Conditional logic

More: John 12:20-30 Conditionally fallen grain of wheat

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. [kjv]

ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου και μισησεις τον εχθρον σου [gnt]

This statement is not in the OT (Old Testament). It was, however, found in the writings of the Essenes in the DSS (Dead Sea Scrolls). Thus, the people would have heard of this.

Are "love" and "hate" opposites? In what ways?
Is there something between "love" and "hate"? What might that be?
Love: total devotion for or to something
Opposite of love: total disdain or lack of concern for or to something.

Who is your "neighbor"? Who is your "enemy"?

The ancient Greek word "πλησίον" ≈ "near, neighbor". A "neighbor" is someone who is "near" according to some "nearness" criteria.

More: Like a good neighbor, Jesus is there

More: Matthew 5:43-44 Love your enemies

The Greek word translated as "enemy" has a primary meaning of "hate".

Do people who display a sign saying that hate has no home here (or something similar) have any hate towards those they consider hateful?
A hateful movement can be appealing to people who are hateful because it allows them to be hateful while feeling good about it.

This paradox is related to the toleration paradox in that some people consider hate anything that they do not agree with. In that sense, they are as hateful as those that they claim to hate (though they do not want to use that word).

Saying: One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist. [Star Wars example]

More: Paradox lost: a way to tolerate paradise

More: Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 KP2 Parable of the wheat and tares

More: Matthew 5:43-44 Love your enemies

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon. [kjv]

ουδεις δυναται δυσιν κυριοις δουλευειν η γαρ τον ενα μισησει και τον ετερον αγαπησει η ενος ανθεξεται και του ετερου καταφρονησει ου δυνασθε θεω δουλευειν και μαμωνα [gnt]

The ancient Greek word "μισέω" ≈ "hate" and is from "μῖσος" ≈ "hatred, hate" and appears to be pre-Greek in origin.
It is the source of the first part of the English word "misogynist" as someone who "hates" "women". Jesus says that the world will "hate" his followers because the world "hates" Jesus (and God). The church is the bride of Christ who is the groom. Does this make the (people in the) "world" that of a "misogynist"?

More: Matthew 6:24 A wealth of logical ideas on mammon

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon. [kjv]

The ancient Greek word "αγάπη" ≈ "totally devoted to, love" from which we get the word "agape".
The ancient Greek word "ἔφαγον" ≈ "eat, devour"

The ancient Greek word "φᾰ́γῃ" ≈ "eat, devour" (third person singular active subjunctive).

More: Love is the only way

More: John 21:24-25 Giving way to the gospel writing style of John

More: Matthew 6:24 A wealth of logical ideas on mammon

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon. [kjv]

abstract attitude	hate [reward]	love (devoted to)
concrete action	ignore (despise)	hold in front
masters	God	mammon (self‑sufficiency)

It appears that hate [reward] and ignore (despise) go together.
It appears that love (devoted to) [not eat] and hold in front go together.

The word "mammon" appears to be a play on several words.

More: Matthew 6:24 A wealth of logical ideas on mammon

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. [kjv]

ει ο κοσμος υμας μισει γινωσκετε οτι εμε πρωτον υμων μεμισηκεν [gnt]

15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. [kjv]

ει εκ του κοσμου ητε ο κοσμος αν το ιδιον εφιλει οτι δε εκ του κοσμου ουκ εστε αλλ εγω εξελεξαμην υμας εκ του κοσμου δια τουτο μισει υμας ο κοσμος [gnt]

Can the "universe" "hate"? Saying: Statistics means nothing to a rock.

The ancient Greek word "μισέω" ≈ "hate" and is from "μῖσος" ≈ "hatred, hate" and appears to be pre-Greek in origin. It is the source of the first part of the English word "misogynist" as someone who "hates" "women". Jesus says that the world will "hate" his followers because the world "hates" Jesus (and God). The church is the bride of Christ who is the groom. Does this make the "world" a "misogynist"?

If the "(people in the) world" loves it's own, is it possible to "out-love" the "world" without becoming of the "world"?

More: Revelation 18:1-24 Cagey birds and the end of Babylon

More: John 21:24-25 Giving way to the gospel writing style of John

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? [kjv]

εαν τις ειπη οτι αγαπω τον θεον και τον αδελφον αυτου μιση ψευστης εστιν ο γαρ μη αγαπων τον αδελφον αυτου ον εωρακεν τον θεον ον ουχ εωρακεν ου δυναται αγαπαν [gnt]

1 John 4:20

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KJV: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Greek: εαν τις ειπη οτι αγαπω τον θεον και τον αδελφον αυτου μιση ψευστης εστιν ο γαρ μη αγαπων τον αδελφον αυτου ον εωρακεν τον θεον ον ουχ εωρακεν πως ου δυναται αγαπαν

Romans 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. [kjv]

ερρεθη αυτη οτι ο μειζων δουλευσει τω ελασσονι [gnt]

9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. [kjv]

καθαπερ γεγραπται τον ιακωβ ηγαπησα τον δε ησαυ εμισησα [gnt]

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. [kjv]

τι ουν ερουμεν μη αδικια παρα τω θεω μη γενοιτο [gnt]

The Greek word translated as "elder" is that of "greater".
The Greek word translated as "younger" is that of "lesser".

Romans 9:12

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KJV: It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

Greek: ερρηθη ερρεθη αυτη οτι ο μειζων δουλευσει τω ελασσονι

Romans 9:13

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KJV: As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Greek: καθως καθαπερ γεγραπται τον ιακωβ ηγαπησα τον δε ησαυ εμισησα

Romans 9:14

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KJV: What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

Greek: τι ουν ερουμεν μη αδικια παρα τω θεω μη γενοιτο

Hebrews 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. [kjv]

ηγαπησας δικαιοσυνην και εμισησας ανομιαν δια τουτο εχρισεν σε ο θεος ο θεος σου ελαιον αγαλλιασεως παρα τους μετοχους σου [gnt]

Hebrews 1:9

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KJV: Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Greek: ηγαπησας δικαιοσυνην και εμισησας ανομιαν δια τουτο εχρισεν σε ο θεος ο θεος σου ελαιον αγαλλιασεως παρα τους μετοχους σου

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