The ‘loving’ of Jacob seems to mean the acceptance of Jacob for a high (and painful) vocation; the ‘hating’ of Esau, his rejection. He is ‘turned down’, fails to ‘make the grade’, is found useless for the purpose. So, in the last resort, we must turn down or disqualify our nearest and dearest when they come between us and our obedience to God. Heaven knows, it will seem to them sufficiently like hatred. We must not act on the pity we feel; we must be blind to tears and deaf to pleadings.
