The verb μισεω (miseo) means to hate, and is the source of the many English "miso-" words such as misanthrope and misogyny, but strangely enough, no Greek derivations of this verb made it into the New Testament.

The opposite of our verb μισεω (miseo), to hate, is αγαπαω (agapao), to love, as demonstrated in statements like: "love (αγαπαω, agapao) your neighbor and hate (μισεω, miseo) your enemy" (Matthew 5:43), and "Jacob I loved (αγαπαω, agapao), but Esau I hated (μισεω, miseo)" (Romans 9:13).

Neither of these are mere feelings or emotions. As we fully explore in our article on the derived noun αγαπη (agape), this word αγαπη (agape) describes a converging force whereas μισεω (miseo) relates to a diverging force, a force that makes and enlarges space between elements, a force that diminishes knowledge shared between elements (see our article on the Hebrew verb ידע, yada', to know), and ultimately leads to rejection and expulsion. Hence, instead of discussing his feelings, God submits that he made Jacob converge, and thus the Israelites become more one, whereas he made Esau diverge and thus the Edomites become less one so that they ultimately disintegrated as a family and disappeared. The Israelites, obviously, are still with us and going strong.

Since the Bible is mostly concerned about salvation and humanity's path toward oneness, our verb μισεω (miseo) is used a mere 41 times in the New Testament (see full concordance), while the verb αγαπαω (agapao) occurs 142 times, the noun αγαπη (agape) an additional 116 times, and the associated adjective αγαπητος (agapetos), 62 times.