What does "Esav soneh l'Ya'akov" mean?

Question

There is this famous statement (B"R 78:9): "Esav Soneh l'Ya'akov."

Although the Torah tells us that Esav bore a grudge (Genesis 27:41) in his heart and showed great animosity in wanting to kill Ya'akov, the word soneh isn't used.

But I still would like to know what Esav Soneh Ya'akov means, because in the story of Yosef and his brothers it seems to mean despised (Genesis 37:4-5,8), whereas in the story of Rachel and Leah (Genesis 29:31-33) it seems to mean something like abhor/revulsion or something similar.

It seems to mean 'to feel intense dislike' for someone/something, more than it does mean 'to feel intense anger or hostility' towards someone/something.

So what does שׂנא mean? How should one define such a term?

Answer 1

The Malbim in his Yair Ohr explains the difference between the 3 words שונא,אויב,צר.

A שונא = a person(enemy) who hates someone in their heart only.

A אויב = a person(enemy) who doesnt inflict harm personally for his name sake,but is happy when someone else does it.

A צר = a person(enemy) who inflicts bad on others with their actions.

It seems from this explanation that esav had hatred for Yaakov in his heart,but did not reach the other levels of an enemy at that point .

Text of the Yair Ohr:

Answer 2

It seems that our Sages took the example of Yossef and his brothers for a model for שונא

בראשית לז ד

וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכָּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָכְל֖וּ דַּבְּר֥וֹ לְשָׁלֹֽם׃

Bereshit p37 4

And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him.

משנה סנהדרין ג ה

האוהב והשונא (פסולים לעדות).... שונא, כל שלא דבר עמו שלשה ימים באיבה.

Mishna Sanhedrin p3 5

The friend and the hater (are disqualified to give testimony)...The hater - Whoever didn't talked three days with him, due to hate.

So that's the minimum for שונא, obviously, שנאה can take more severe forms. Also, like stated before, I agree that the proper translation to שנאה is hatred.

Answer 3

In terms of your question "what does Esav soneh Ya'akov means", a Times of Israel article by R' Jonathan Muskat outlines 3 approaches re: this statement (2nd & 3rd approach are similar):

1) "The halacha is Esav will always hate Yaakov"

Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 2:77) writes:

כי צריך לידע שהשנאה לישראל מכל האומות היא גדולה גם ממלכיות שנוהגין בטובה, וכבר אמרתי על הלשון שהביא רש”י בפירוש החומש… על קרא דוישקהו אמר רשב”י הלכה היא בידוע שעשו שונא ליעקב דמה שייך זה להלכה, דהוא כמו שהלכה לא משתנית כך שנאת עשו ליעקב לא משתנית דאף אלו שנוהגות באופן טוב שנאתן גדולה בעצם,׳

“for we have to realize that hatred of the Jews by all nations is actually great, even in the nations that behave well [toward Jews]. I have already explained concerning Rashi’s language in his Torah commentary… on the word וישקהו: Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai says: “It is a well-known halacha that Esav hates Yaakov. And why is the word halacha relevant here? It is because just as halacha never changes, so also Esav’s hatred of Yaakov never changes. Even in those [nations] that behave well [toward Jews], their hatred [of Jews] is actually strong.”

This position is echoed by Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer (Even HaAzel, Melachim 5:1)-- as cited in this article-- who also applies this principle to all non-Jews.

2) "Esav's descendants aren't always bad"

(statement could also be referring to Esav the person, not the nation)

Netziv

׳גם יעקב נתעורר עליו לשעה זו אהבה לעשו. וכן לדורות בשעה שזרע עשו מתעוררים ברוח טהרה להכיר את זרע ישראל ומעלתם, אז גם אנחנו מתעוררים להכיר את עשו כי אחינו הוא

“At that moment love for Esav awakened in Yaakov as well. Similarly, whenever Esav’s descendants genuinely acknowledge Yisrael’s greatness, Yisrael reciprocates with feelings of brotherhood.”

The Netziv explicitly states that the descendants of Esav are not always bad. While they may sometimes exhibit hatred towards us, most of the time they don't and in those cases we shouldn't suspect them of trying to harm us.

3) "Eisav always hates us is NOT the halacha"

Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin in Teshuvot Ivra #116 writes:

׳ועוון פלילי מצד אותם המטיפים הפטפטנים שדורשים תמיד ‘הלכה הוא שעשו שונא ליעקב’, והשנאה עולמית. זה נגד האמת ונגד חז”ל והמקרא, שעשו גופא לא הי’ רשע תמיד ושנאתו פסקה על ידי הנהגה מתאמת וכמו עשו הראשון כן הם ג”כ דורותיו שהכנעה מביאה לשלום, וזהו שאמר בן זומא (אבות פ”ד מ”א) ‘איזהו מכובד המכבד את הבריות’, כונתו גם נגד האומות, כשמכבדים אותם ואומרים להם אוהבי אתה הם נעשים לאוהבים על ידי זה ולהפך כשאומרים שונא אתה נעשים לשונא וזהו מעשים בכל יום׳

“It’s criminal those who constantly chatter and expound that it is a halacha that Esav hates Yaakov and the hatred is eternal – this is against the truth, against our Sages and the Torah, for Esav himself was not always a wicked person and his hatred stopped after appropriate behavior. Just like with regard to the first Esav, so, too, with regard to his generations, humility leads to peace. This is what Ben Zoma says, “Who is honored? One who honors created beings.” The intent of this is also for the other nations. When we honor them and say to them you are my friend then they become friendly to us. The opposite is also true. When we say that we hate them, then they become hateful [to us] and this happens all the time.”