Romans 9:13 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes

As it is written — With which word in Genesis, spoken so long before, that of Malachi agrees. I have loved Jacob — With a peculiar love; that is, the Israelites, the posterity of Jacob. And I have, comparatively, hated Esau — That is, the Edomites, the posterity of Esau. But observe, This does not relate to the person of Jacob or Esau Nor does it relate to the eternal state either of them or their posterity. Thus far the apostle has been proving his proposition, namely, that the exclusion of a great part of the seed of Abraham, yea, and of Isaac, from the special promises of God, was so far from being impossible, that, according to the scriptures themselves, it had actually happened. He now introduces and refutes an objection. Malachi 1:2-3.