1 Corinthians 12:28-30

12:28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues. 12:29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? 12:30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they? ¹ 

1 Corinthians 13:4

13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.

Numbers 11:28-29

11:28 Joshua son of Nun, the servant ²  of Moses, one of his choice young men, ³  said, ⁴  “My lord Moses, stop them!” ⁵  11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? ⁶  I wish that ⁷  all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

¹ sn The questions in vv. 29-30 all expect a negative response.

² tn The form is the Piel participle מְשָׁרֵת (mÿsharet), meaning “minister, servant, assistant.” The word has a loftier meaning than the ordinary word for slave.

³ tn The verb is בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”); here the form is the masculine plural participle with a suffix, serving as the object of the preposition מִן (min). It would therefore mean “[one of] his chosen men,” or “[one of] his choice men.”

⁴ tn Heb “answered and said.”

⁵ sn The effort of Joshua is to protect Moses’ prerogative as leader by stopping these men in the camp from prophesying. Joshua did not understand the significance in the Lord’s plan to let other share the burden of leadership.

⁶ tn The Piel participle מְקַנֵּא (mÿqanne’) serves as a verb here in this interrogative sentence. The word means “to be jealous; to be envious.” That can be in a good sense, such as with the translation “zeal,” or it can be in a negative sense as here. Joshua’s apparent “zeal” is questioned by Moses – was he zealous/envious for Moses sake, or for some other reason?

⁷ tn The optative is expressed by the interrogative clause in Hebrew, “who will give….” Moses expresses here the wish that the whole nation would have that portion of the Spirit. The new covenant, of course, would turn Moses’ wish into a certainty.