Linda you can't make up meaning to scripture. You have to rightly divide between the literal and the spiritual, which you are not doing. You know that Jesus would never command us to hate our mother and father so you CHANGE the definition of hate to make it fit.
God is trying to show you something in this verse and your changing the meaning of the verse instead of believing it literally word for word. You're totally missing the message that God is trying to tell you.
You may as well argue that "I am the door" implies that the Lord has hinges. Part of good interpretation is recognizing hyperbole if it is present. When will you literally pluck out your eyes?
[/quote]The bible says hate and it LITERALLY means hate.[/quote]
"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. "
You are wrongly dividing the word.
You should say, "The Bible says μισέω, and thus we must consider the range of meaning of miseō in the scripture to determine its meaning."
BDAG Lexicon:
μισέω . . . depending on the context, this verb ranges in mng. from ‘disfavor’ to ‘detest’. The Eng. term ‘hate’ generally suggests affective connotations that do not always do justice esp. to some Semitic shame-honor oriented use of μ.=שנא (e.g. Dt 21:15, 16) in the sense ‘hold in disfavor, be disinclined to, have relatively little regard for’.
1. to have a strong aversion to, hate, detest
2. to be disinclined to, disfavor, disregard in contrast to preferential treatment (Gn 29:31; Dt 21:15, 16) Mt 6:24; Lk 16:13. τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ J 12:25 or ἑαυτοῦ [self] Lk 14:26. Ro 9:13 (Mal 1:2f)."
believe every single word in the bible and never change it to fit your preconceived ideas.