Jealousy and Envy
W. Carl Ketcherside
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"Envy is a certain grief of mind conceived upon the sight of another's felicity, whether real or supposed, so that we see that it consists partly of hatred, and partly of grief." --South.
The careless student usually thinks of envy and jealousy as virtually synonymous. It is our intention to make a proper distinction in them. Envy is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:21); a product of that wisdom which is earthly, sensual and devilish (James 3:14); and a companion of confusion and every evil work (James 3:16).
It was envy which prompted his brothers to sell Joseph (Acts 7:9); envy which caused the Jews to deliver up Jesus (Matt. 27:18); and envy which promoted riotous mob violence at Thessalonica (Acts 17:5). Envy is always sinful. It proceeds from evil tendencies and produces evil consequences.
Jealousy, which comes from the same word as zealous, may be either good or evil, depending upon its object. God proclaimed himself to be a jealous God, and was actually referred to as the "Lord, whose name is Jealous" (Exo. 34:14). The apostle specifically declares that there is a "godly jealousy" (2 Cor. 11:2).
Jealousy is derived from zelotypia, a compound form consisting of zelos, and typia, to strike or fill. It means to be struck full of passion, or to be inflamed with intense desire or longing. God desires his people with just such a yearning.
Envy is from the Latin invideo. The last part is now used with reference to tapes showing action on television screens, for video means to see. The combined word means looking at from the wrong angle or from a contrary direction.
One is jealous of that which is his own, he is envious of that which belongs to another. He is jealous of his wife, he is envious of his neighbor's wife. Jealousy is always related to fear, for it is ever frightened at the prospect of losing what it claims and cherishes; envy is accompanied by suffering for it is pained to see another enjoy and experience what it covets for itself.
A jealous man may be pacified, an envious man can never be appeased or placated. The first has a definite object to be attained or retained, and a threat to his possession of it. So if a wife expresses detestation of one who is deemed a rival, the jealous husband may be satisfied by enjoyment of her person.
On the other hand, an envious person cannot stand for the object to know happiness. He revolts at enjoyment. He is sickened by the very sight of satisfaction. He has a morbid desire to know of the misery of the other. For this reason we think that when Dryden made the familiar statement, "Jealousy, the jaundice of the soul," he was actually speaking about envy. Jealousy may lift to noble heights, envy is always base and debasing.
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J. B. Phillips speaks more to our age by translating: "Let us live cleanly, as in the daylight, not in the 'delights' of getting drunk or playing with sex, nor yet in quarrelling or jealousies."
The Authentic Version renders it: "Let us conduct ourselves with daytime decorum, not in revels or carousals, not in sexual intimacy and licentiousness, not in wrangling and rivalry."