“It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.”
'The older will serve the younger.' Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' — The citation of Malachi 1:2-3 proclaims the reversed order: Jacob, though younger, is loved (ἐγάπησα, egápēsa); Esau, the natural heir, is hated (ἐμίσησα, emisēsa). The language of love and hate is not emotional but covenantal: election and non-election, blessing and subordination.
Church Fathers on Romans 9:12
“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls, it was said to her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” What was the cause then why one was loved and the other hated? Why was it that one served, the other was served? It was because one was wicked, and the other good. And yet the children being…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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