Hebrew Word Study – Distance Oneself – Sane’ שְׂנֵאֽ Sine Nun Aleph
Psalms 25:19: “Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.”
I am now sure how many of us can relate to this Psalm when reading it at its face value. I mean I really don’t know if I have any enemies that hate me with a cruel hate. I daresay that many of you reading this also cannot point to an enemy that hates you with cruel hate.
If the Psalmist is indeed David then as a king he would have had enemies that hated him with a cruel hate. You cannot assume a leadership role, particularly as the leader of a nation without someone being offended by your decisions and even jealous of your position such that they grow to hate you. That just comes with the territory.
Hatred comes when someone offends you or does not do what you want them to do. But what is hatred really? Our English word carries various degrees of hatred. However, the Hebrew word used for hatred is sane’ which your lexicon tells you means hate. Rabbi Samson Hirsch, however, a nineteenth-century linguist and Hebrew scholar points out sane’ also means to reject or distance yourself. He also shows that it can mean to weaken. If someone rejects you or distances themselves from you they will weaken you in the sense you no longer have their support. The more support you have the stronger you are. If you are in the hospital and no one visits you it is much harder to recover than if you have a string of visitors encouraging you and supporting you. The word sane’ which we translate as hate could then be applied to you if you show no support for a friend or relative when they are in need. In the Biblical sense, you are showing hatred to that person who needs you and your support. By sane’ withdrawing and rejecting someone you have a responsibility to is hating that person and you are weakening that person.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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You may not consider yourself an enemy of that person but then again let’s look at the word for enemy. It is the word oyev. It sounds a little like the Yiddish word Oy vey which means oh woe and has a Germanic origin rather than Semitic. However, there are Orthodox Rabbis who will argue that Ov vey is not of a Germanic origin but a Hebrew origin for oy which is woe, and vey which is the Aramaic word for woe. Regardless, the word for the enemy does carry the idea of woe or dismay. An oyev enemy is someone who brings you misery or woe.
So, for example, if you have a friend or relative in the hospital and you stay away and do not visit that person you are bringing woe and dismay to that person and you fit the Biblical definition of an enemy oyev. By doing this you are distancing yourself or rejecting that person which is sane’ the Biblical definition of hatred. That person can lay in his hospital bed and believe that you are his enemy who hates him with cruel hate.
But let’s make this more personal. Maybe you feel you cannot relate to this verse because you do not feel you have enemies who hate you with cruel hate. Note the word cruel is chamas which is a damaging sane’ rejection and distancing. You may have people who bring you sadness and woe because they distance themselves from you. If so they are the Biblical equivalent of a sane’ enemy who damages you with a damaging rejection that just weakens you spiritually. They may be the last to admit that they are your enemy and hate you with a cruel hate but by the specific Hebrew words used here, they really do.
Having said this I think we all can now be related to this study verse on some level. We have all had people who brought us woe (enemy, oyev) and distanced themselves from us when we really needed them (hate, sane’) and it really did damage (chamas cruel) us. So what do we ask God to do? The Psalmist is not asking God to destroy them, let them know how cruel they are and punish them. He only asks that God consider them
The word consider is a word already used in this Psalm which was rendered as look. It is the word ra’ah which means to see with physical and/or spiritual eyes. The Psalmist is indicating where he wants God to direct His attention and that is to those who are bringing him sorrow by their rejection which is damaging his peace of mind.
If you are a pastor you may relate very well to this. There are people in your church who will just criticize you for everything you do. You cannot sneeze without that person talking about it, discussing the reasons behind it, the style and probably saying he could do it better. Of course, they will never admit to being your enemy and hating you with a cruel hate, but such people will weaken you. What is your cry to God? To destroy them, humiliate them? The Psalmist only wanted God to focus on what they were doing to him and how they were weakening him.
From the previous verses, we learn that the Psalmist knows what it is that will deliver him from those who are weakening him with their criticism. That is the panah, the presence of God. The presence of God in our lives does solve a lot of problems.
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
My two oldest children have disowned me ,in other words they want nothing to do with me and my younger adult son only reaches out to me when he needs money. I haven’t been the prefect father and I’ve made some bad choices but I’ve repeatedly asked for their forgiveness for anything I’ve done that hurt them or offended them. However no reply is what i have gotten I can relate to the distancing and rejection and it definitely has robbed me of my peace and even the peace of our home. I’m no t with their mother I’ve remarried. I do find it hard to believe they hate me that much but after reading your explanation of this scripture I can now see that they do! I just don’t understand they weren’t raised this way. I’ve been offended by friends and family but I found forgiveness for them and didn’t hate them even at this level. I give God the glory for that.
Thank you for your honesty. I have not seen my son for twenty two years. His bitterness is rooted from his mother’s hatred for me. I wrote him a letter asking him to forgive me. This is the second letter asking his forgiveness and me taking full responsibility. He finally responded with an email saying he has no ill feelings and we would have to get together. This brought many tears of joy. I responded that would be great. Unfortunately I have not heard back from a week ago. This could have been his way of revenge. No matter what, I refuse to let any person or circumstance rent a space in my head causing misery. For all these years my wife said she cannot understand how I have dealt with this like I have. It is easy to be joyful when things are great but maturity is shown in choosing peace when things are not peaceful.
Sane’. I have experienced and am still experiencing true hate and rejection in the most intense ways from people who I believed were closest to me and obligated to care for me in vulnerable times. This put some real words to what I’ve been experiencing and I am grateful I stumbled upon this word study.
Interestingly, I am reading Psalm 24 in The Passion Translation just as I’m reading your Word study. Here’s a part of it:
“Go and rescue the perishing! Be their savior! Why would you stand back and watch them stagger to their death? And why would you say, “But it’s none of my business”? The one who knows you completely and judges your every motive is also the keeper of souls—and not just yours! He sees through your excuses and holds you responsible for failing to help those whose lives are threatened.”
Proverbs 24:11-12 TPT
Very sobering and convicting. I get stuck in the thought of doing something that has the greatest impact toward another and end up just thinking about it.
I really appreciate the light you shed on hate.
Is that the same hate as ” God hated Esau?
Hallelujah. Reminds me of Jeremiah 20:7+ and the word of knowledge I believe that is not my imagination but nothing less than Holy Spirit that is manifesting, little by little the last 10 years. What a sense of humor our God who is three in one has.
Looking forward to the day I can honestly say come and follow me instead of pointing people to the source.
It’s so hard not to be selfish in todays world since we cannot say we do not love money. Atleast I and so many in my circle who cannot provide for our families any other way.
Believing what will bring deep healing and rest as a nation is born that doesn’t need money/currency anymore. Being our ultimate rest and spelt out time and time again in different ways as we plan and prepare, giving thanks waiting for our King to return.
I am an old woman now, feeling isolated & alone as my pool of friends diminishes. I relate to this passage as you explain it but the Presence of God continues to lift me up. Thank you for helping me understand better why I feel as I do
Know that you are never alone, and always loved. There is no distance in prayer…so I pray that you will feel His presence forever and always…
May His Blessings be upon you in the Name of Jesus ✨💕
Thank you for timely commentary!
All very affirming!
Truly a timely and insightful piece. Thank you for your diligence to share what you’ve learned; all of your thoughts are edifying to the right people at the right time.
Good lesson. I’ve also understood that hate also means “prefer something else”. Can you confirm this to be right or wrong? I shall make sure I’ll be a supportive member of the congregation.
I am an old woman now, feeling isolated & alone as my pool of friends diminishes. I relate to this passage as you explain it but the Presence of God continues to lift me up. Thank you for helping me understand better why I feel as I do
I love this definition!
Thanks Could you comment on the word “sanctify”
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