Explanation of the word “hate” in Luke 14:26

Have you ever wondered what this passage means?  Are we really to HATE everyone, just so we can “follow Yeshua?”

Luke 14:25 And while going, large crowds were with him. He turned and said to them, 26. He who comes to me and does not hate his father and his mother and his brothers and his sisters and his wife and his children and even himself, is not able to be a disciple to me. 27. And he who does not take up his stake and comes after me, is not able to be a disciple to me. (AENT).

The Aramaic word "sa'ne" (as in "saw-knee), means "to hate", "to be ugly", "to be an enemy", "to make hateful". But the understanding of the word is not our modern English understanding of "hate."

So the verse is more about someone choosing YHWH over their families if their families are "sa'ne" toward YHWH by their unbelief. In other words it's better for the believer to turn to YHWH and from their unbelieving families. Notice the verse includes the person himself! If that person is "sa'ne" toward YHWH he, too, cannot be a disciple.

 

So, while the word "hate" is actually an accurate translation of the Aramaic word "sa'ne", it also depends upon the context of the subject at hand. 

 

In Luke 14:26, the word doesn't mean you're to actually loathe your parents, etc. Rather, it refers to "hating" their unbelief enough to leave them to follow Yeshua.

So, while the word "hate" is actually an accurate translation of the Aramaic word “sna”, it also depends upon the context of the subject at hand.  In Luke 14:26, the word doesn't mean you're to actually loathe your parents, etc.  Rather, it refers to "hating" their unbelief enough to leave them to follow Yeshua.