Discover The Word

“Love does not envy” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

IDEA: The danger of envy is that it destroys relationships and even leads to murder.

What do you know about the seven deadly sins (besides practicing them)?

It’s strange that some notorious sins don’t make the list, and other sins that seem more mild do make the list. One of the sins is envy.

[the sins are: anger, covetousness, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, and sloth.]

I. What exactly do we mean by “envy”?

The English word envy is from the Latin words invidia, meaning “to look with ill-will or malicious intent” at another person. It is close to the words resent, begrudge.

The Hebrew word translated envy in the Old Testament has the sense of burning. Then it became the color produced in the face by a deep emotion, so it could come to mean ardor, zeal, jealousy.

In the New Testament two words are translated as envy:

The word zelos (used in 1 Corinthians 13:4) is used in the good sense as zeal and in the bad sense as envy, as in John 2:17 and Colossians 4:13.

The word phthonos is also translated as envy and always appears in the bad sense. It is the spirit that crucified Jesus Christ, Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10.

II. Think of episodes in the Bible in which envy played a part, and you can sense its destructive power: