All verses are quoted from the NASB anything in [square brackets] is added by me for clarity.

Some people when reading the book of Romans think that God hated the person Esau. However I would like to show that this is to misunderstand what Paul has written. Let us first read the relevant text -

"for though the twins [Jacob & Esau] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, `THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.' Just as it is written, `JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.'" Romans 9:11-13

Now this passage reads as if both of the quoted verses about Jacob and Esau were written before they were born, but this is not the case.

"Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children [Jacob & Esau] struggled together within her; and she said, `If it is so, why then am I this way?' So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, `Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.'" Genesis 25:21-23

Notice that it is the first quote that Paul uses, that is said before Jacob and Esau are born. Also note that the prophecy that God gives Rebekah here, is about two nations. They are the nations of Israel and Edom, as we shall see later.

"and Esau said to Jacob, `Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.' Therefore his name was called Edom." Genesis 25:30 (cf. Genesis 36:1, 8 & 19)

Here we see that Esau was called Edom. Edom means "red".

"These then are the records of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir." Genesis 36:9

And here we see that Esau is the father of the Edomites.

"So he said to him, `What is your name?' And he said, `Jacob.' He said, `Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.'" Genesis 32:27 & 28 (cf. Genesis 35:10; 46:8 & 1 Kings 17:34)

And here we see that Jacon was renamed "Īsrael". So both of the twins, Jacon and Esau, have alternative names - Israel and Edom. So where does the "hating Esau" verse come from?

"The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. `I have loved you,' says the LORD. But you say, `How have You loved us?' `Was not Esau Jacob's brother?' declares the LORD. `Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.' Though Edom says, `We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins'; thus says the LORD of hosts, `They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever.'" Malachi 4:1-4

Here we see that it is in the book of Malachi where God declares this. Malachi is the last book of the old testament. Esau the person, is long dead by this time. Also from the context we can see that "Esau" means "Edom", as it refers to Edom (the nation) in this quote, right after speaking about "hating Esau". Also the passage is an oracle to the nation of Israel (not the person Jacob who is long dead by this time).

More evidence that God did not hate the person Esau (rather the nation Edom), is found in learning about the person Easu.

"But Esau said, `I have plenty, my brother [Jacob]; let what you have be your own.'" Genesis 33:9

Esau had plenty (ie. he was rich), thus he had no need to serve Jacob.

"Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. For their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock." Genesis 36:6 & 7

Again we see that Esau had plenty and didn't need to serve Jacob. In fact I could not find any verse in the bible that speaks of Esau, the person, serving Jacob. But in Genesis 33:8 & 13-15, Jacob calls Esau, "my lord". Also in Genesis 33:3 Jacob bows down to Esau, the person, seven times.

"And the LORD spoke to me [Moses], saying, `You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, and command the people, saying, "You will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession."'" Deuteronomy 2:2-5

God gave Esau an inheritance, that "his children" could inherit. His children formed the nation of Edom. And we see in this verse above, that Israel is commanded not to provoke Edom.

"Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel." Genesis 36:31

Then it continues to list these kings in the following verses (32-43). It's not until the time of the first king of Israel (Saul) and then David after Saul, that Edom gets attacked by Israel.

"He [David] put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the LORD helped David wherever he went." 2 Samuel 8:14

So we have seen that there is no record of the person Esau serving the person Jacob, but Paul is speaking about the nations of Israel and Edom.

"that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal." Hebrews 12:16

But don't get the wrong idea, Esau the person was still a "godless" person.

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