This text does not teach that God hated an unborn baby for no apparent reason, as some interpret it to mean.[111] Paul quotes from Genesis in Rom. 9:11–12 then quotes from Malachi in Rom. 9:13. Between these texts, from the first and last books of the Old Testament, is a period of more than 1500 years. Paul was providing a before and after statement, not a new interpretation of the Old Testament.
