What Does It Mean to Hate What God Hates? (Proverbs 6:16)
Short answer
Proverbs 6:16–19 lists seven things the Lord hates: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict among brothers. To "hate what God hates" means letting your own heart's aversions line up with his: a settled, deliberate opposition to these specific patterns of sin, starting with self-examination rather than pointing outward at others.
Proverbs 6:16-19 offers one of the Bible's clearest and most concrete lists of what God cannot stand: "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him." The passage reads almost like an inventory, naming pride, lying, violence, scheming, and division. In a book so often filled with warm, encouraging wisdom, these verses are bluntly confrontational. To understand them, we need to read the list carefully, notice what comes first, and then ask the harder question: What does it actually look like for a person to hate these same things?
The seven things the Lord hates
The full list in Proverbs 6:17–19 names: a proud look (haughty eyes), a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet swift in running to mischief, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. Notice the structure: the introduction says "six things... yea, seven," a common Hebrew poetic device (the same "x, then x+1" pattern shows up in Amos 1–2 and Job 5:19) used to build toward a climax rather than to set a strict, literal count. It signals completeness and emphasis: this list captures the full, representative shape of what provokes God, not merely seven isolated infractions among many others he tolerates.
Why pride comes first, and lying comes twice
The list opens with "haughty eyes," pride, before it ever mentions violence or scheming, and it is worth noticing that lying appears twice, once as a lying tongue, once as a false witness. That is not accidental.
Pride and deceit function as root sins that generate many of the others: a proud heart convinces itself it is above the truth and above other people, which makes lying, scheming, and trampling others easier to justify. Proverbs 8:13 makes the connection explicit elsewhere: "the fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Pride sits at the head of both lists, treated as the sin from which so many others grow.
What "hate" means here, and what it does not
Hating what God hates is not the same as hating people. Scripture is careful to distinguish the two throughout: "Ye that love the LORD, hate evil" (Psalm 97:10) pairs love for God with hatred for evil, not for the people caught in it. Paul gives the New Testament version of the same instruction: "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (Romans 12:9).
The word describes a decisive, settled rejection in the will: refusing to make peace with a pattern of sin, treating it as genuinely repugnant rather than merely inconvenient, not personal contempt or cruelty toward anyone caught up in it. Jesus modeled exactly this combination: unsparing about sin, endlessly patient with sinners.
How to actually hate what God hates
The list is arranged, tellingly, from the inward (a proud look, a scheming heart) to the outward (feet running to evil, a false witness, sown discord), which suggests the starting point is self-examination rather than pointing outward first. Practically, hating what God hates means regularly checking your own heart in prayer for pride before looking for it in others; refusing to let a lie pass your own lips even when it would be easier than the truth; and taking the last item on the list seriously, since "one who sows discord among brothers" is easy to overlook but sits in the same list as violence and lying. Gossip, stirring division, and quietly undermining others within a church or family are treated by God with the same seriousness as more obviously dramatic sins, a sobering and useful corrective for anyone tempted to think of "hating evil" as only about the sins other people commit.
Key Bible verses
- These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. — Proverbs 6:16–19
- The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. — Proverbs 8:13
- Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. — Psalm 97:10
- Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. — Romans 12:9
Frequently asked questions
What are the seven things God hates in Proverbs 6:16–19?
A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet quick to run to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
Why does pride come first on the list?
Pride is placed first because it functions as a root sin: a proud heart that considers itself above the truth and above others makes lying, violence, and scheming to harm people easier to justify. Proverbs 8:13 similarly names pride first among what God hates.
Is it wrong for a Christian to hate anything?
No. Scripture repeatedly commands believers to hate evil (Psalm 97:10, Romans 12:9). What it forbids is hating people. The distinction is between a settled rejection of sinful patterns and personal contempt for the people caught up in them, which Scripture never sanctions.
What does "sows discord among brothers" mean today?
It describes deliberately stirring up conflict or division within a church, family, or community, through gossip, manipulation, or undermining others. Proverbs 6:19 places it in the same list as violence and lying, treating it with unexpected seriousness.