Genesis 37:11

37:11 His brothers were jealous ¹  of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said. ² 

Genesis 37:1

Joseph’s Dreams

37:1 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, ³  in the land of Canaan. ⁴ 

Genesis 18:7-11

18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ⁵  who quickly prepared it. ⁶  18:8 Abraham ⁷  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ⁸  before them. They ate while ⁹  he was standing near them under a tree.

18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, ¹⁰  in the tent.” 18:10 One of them ¹¹  said, “I will surely return ¹²  to you when the season comes round again, ¹³  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ¹⁴  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ¹⁵  18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ¹⁶  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ¹⁷ 

Psalms 106:16

106:16 In the camp they resented ¹⁸  Moses,

and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 27:4

27:4 Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming, ²⁰ 

but who can stand before jealousy? ²¹ 

Ecclesiastes 4:4

Labor Motivated by Envy

4:4 Then I considered ²²  all the skillful work ²³  that is done:

Surely it is nothing more than ²⁴  competition ²⁵  between one person and another. ²⁶ 

This also is profitless – like ²⁷  chasing the wind.

Isaiah 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ²⁸ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ²⁹ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ³⁰ 

Mark 15:10

15:10 (For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) ³¹ 

Acts 5:17

Further Trouble for the Apostles

5:17 Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees ³² ), ³³  and they were filled with jealousy. ³⁴ 

Acts 7:9

7:9 The ³⁵  patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold ³⁶  him into Egypt. But ³⁷  God was with him,

Acts 13:45

13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, ³⁸  and they began to contradict ³⁹  what Paul was saying ⁴⁰  by reviling him. ⁴¹ 

James 4:5

4:5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, ⁴²  “The spirit that God ⁴³  caused ⁴⁴  to live within us has an envious yearning”? ⁴⁵ 

[37:11]  ¹ sn Joseph’s brothers were already jealous of him, but this made it even worse. Such jealousy easily leads to action, as the next episode in the story shows. Yet dreams were considered a form of revelation, and their jealousy was not only of the favoritism of their father, but of the dreams. This is why Jacob kept the matter in mind.

[37:11]  ² tn Heb “kept the word.” The referent of the Hebrew term “word” has been specified as “what Joseph said” in the translation for clarity, and the words “in mind” have been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[37:1]  ³ tn Heb “the land of the sojournings of his father.”

[37:1]  ⁴ sn The next section begins with the heading This is the account of Jacob in Gen 37:2, so this verse actually forms part of the preceding section as a concluding contrast with Esau and his people. In contrast to all the settled and expanded population of Esau, Jacob was still moving about in the land without a permanent residence and without kings. Even if the Edomite king list was added later (as the reference to kings in Israel suggests), its placement here in contrast to Jacob and his descendants is important. Certainly the text deals with Esau before dealing with Jacob – that is the pattern. But the detail is so great in chap. 36 that the contrast cannot be missed.

[18:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the young man.”

[18:7]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”

[18:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:8]  ⁸ tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:8]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.

[18:9]  ¹⁰ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.

[18:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ¹² tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ¹⁵ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[18:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “days.”

[18:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

[106:16]  ¹⁸ tn Or “envied.”

[106:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the holy one of the Lord.”

[27:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “fierceness of wrath and outpouring [= flood] of anger.” A number of English versions use “flood” here (e.g., NASB, NCV, NLT).

[27:4]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “jealousy” here probably has the negative sense of “envy” rather than the positive sense of “zeal.” It is a raging emotion (like “anger” and “wrath,” this word has nuances of heat, intensity) that defies reason at times and can be destructive like a consuming fire (e.g., 6:32-35; Song 8:6-7). The rhetorical question is intended to affirm that no one can survive a jealous rage. (Whether one is the subject who is jealous or the object of the jealousy of someone else is not so clear.)

[4:4]  ²² tn Heb “saw.”

[4:4]  ²³ tn Heb “all the toil and all the skill.” This Hebrew clause (אֶת־כָּל־עָמָל וְאֵת כָּל־כִּשְׁרוֹן, ’et-kol-’amal vÿ’et kol-kishron) is a nominal hendiadys (a figurative expression in which two independent phrases are used to connote the same thing). The second functions adverbially, modifying the first, which retains its full nominal function: “all the skillful work.”

[4:4]  ²⁴ tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:4]  ²⁵ tn The noun קִנְאַה (qin’ah, “competition”) has a wide range of meanings: “zeal; jealousy; envy; rivalry; competition; suffering; animosity; anger; wrath” (HALOT 1110 s.v.; BDB 888 s.v.). Here, as in 9:6, it denotes “rivalry” (BDB 888 s.v. 1) or “competitive spirit” (HALOT 1110 s.v. 1.b). The LXX rendered it ζῆλος (zhlos, “envy; jealousy”). The English versions reflect this broad range: “rivalry” (NEB, NAB, NASB), “envy” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, MLB, NIV, NJPS), and “jealousy” (Moffatt).

[4:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”

[4:4]  ²⁷ tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[26:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[15:10]  ³¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[5:17]  ³² sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

[5:17]  ³³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[5:17]  ³⁴ sn Filled with jealousy. In Acts, the term “jealousy” (ζήλος, zhlos) occurs only here and in Acts 13:45. It is a key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage (1 Macc 2:24; 1QH 14:13-15; m. Sanhedrin 9:5). It was a zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of the faith.

[7:9]  ³⁵ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:9]  ³⁶ tn The meaning “sell” for the middle voice of ἀποδίδωμι (apodidwmi) is given by BDAG 110 s.v. 5.a. See Gen 37:12-36, esp. v. 28.

[7:9]  ³⁷ tn Though the Greek term here is καί (kai), in context this remark is clearly contrastive: Despite the malicious act, God was present and protected Joseph.

[13:45]  ³⁸ sn They were filled with jealousy. Their foolish response to the gospel is noted again (see Acts 5:17). The same verb is used in Acts 7:9; 17:5.

[13:45]  ³⁹ tn The imperfect verb ἀντέλεγον (antelegon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect in the logical sequence of events: After they were filled with jealousy, the Jewish opponents began to contradict what Paul said.

[13:45]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “the things being said by Paul.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:45]  ⁴¹ tn The participle βλασφημοῦντες (blasfhmounte") has been regarded as indicating the means of the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as a finite verb (“and reviled him”) in keeping with contemporary English style. The direct object (“him”) is implied rather than expressed and could be impersonal (“it,” referring to what Paul was saying rather than Paul himself), but the verb occurs more often in contexts involving defamation or slander against personal beings (not always God). For a very similar context to this one, compare Acts 18:6. The translation “blaspheme” is not used because in contemporary English its meaning is more narrowly defined and normally refers to blasphemy against God (not what Paul’s opponents were doing here). The modern term “slandering” comes close to what was being done to Paul here.

[4:5]  ⁴² tn Grk “vainly says.”

[4:5]  ⁴³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:5]  ⁴⁴ tc The Byzantine text and a few other mss (P 33 Ï) have the intransitive κατῴκησεν (katwkhsen) here, which turns τὸ πνεῦμα (to pneuma) into the subject of the verb: “The spirit which lives within us.” But the more reliable and older witnesses (Ì⁷⁴ א B Ψ 049 1241 1739 al) have the causative verb, κατῴκισεν (katwkisen), which implies a different subject and τὸ πνεῦμα as the object: “The spirit that he causes to live within us.” Both because of the absence of an explicit subject and the relative scarcity of the causative κατοικίζω (katoikizw, “cause to dwell”) compared to the intransitive κατοικέω (katoikew, “live, dwell”) in biblical Greek (κατοικίζω does not occur in the NT at all, and occurs one twelfth as frequently as κατοικέω in the LXX), it is easy to see why scribes would replace κατῴκισεν with κατῴκησεν. Thus, on internal and external grounds, κατῴκισεν is the preferred reading.

[4:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Interpreters debate the referent of the word “spirit” in this verse: (1) The translation takes “spirit” to be the lustful capacity within people that produces a divided mind (1:8, 14) and inward conflicts regarding God (4:1-4). God has allowed it to be in man since the fall, and he provides his grace (v. 6) and the new birth through the gospel message (1:18-25) to counteract its evil effects. (2) On the other hand the word “spirit” may be taken positively as the Holy Spirit and the sense would be, “God yearns jealously for the Spirit he caused to live within us.” But the word for “envious” or “jealous” is generally negative in biblical usage and the context before and after seems to favor the negative interpretation.