Proverbs 23:17

23:17 Do not let your heart envy ¹  sinners,

but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord ²  all the time.

Proverbs 24:1

24:1 Do not envy evil people, ³ 

do not desire ⁴  to be with them;

Proverbs 24:19-20

24:19 Do not fret because of evil people

or be envious of wicked people,

24:20 for the evil person has no future, ⁵ 

and the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ⁷ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ⁸  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁹ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 37:7-9

37:7 Wait patiently for the Lord! ¹⁰ 

Wait confidently ¹¹  for him!

Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, ¹² 

a man who carries out wicked schemes!

37:8 Do not be angry and frustrated! ¹³ 

Do not fret! That only leads to trouble!

37:9 Wicked men ¹⁴  will be wiped out, ¹⁵ 

but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 73:3

73:3 For I envied those who are proud,

as I observed ¹⁷  the prosperity ¹⁸  of the wicked.

Galatians 5:21

5:21 envying, ¹⁹  murder, ²⁰  drunkenness, carousing, ²¹  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

[23:17]  ¹ tn The verb in this line is אַל־יְקַנֵּא (’al-yÿqanne’), the Piel jussive negated. The verb means “to be jealous, to be zealous”; it describes passionate intensity for something. In English, if the object is illegitimate, it is called “envy”; if it is correct, it is called “zeal.” Here the warning is not to envy the sinners. The second colon could use the verb in the positive sense to mean “but rather let your passion burn for the fear of the Lord.”

[23:17]  ² tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”

[24:1]  ³ tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.

[24:1]  ⁴ tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.

[24:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “there is no end [i.e., future] for the evil.”

[24:20]  ⁶ sn The saying warns against envying the wicked; v. 19 provides the instruction, and v. 20 the motivation. The motivation is that there is no future hope for them – nothing to envy, or as C. H. Toy explains, there will be no good outcome for their lives (Proverbs [ICC], 449). They will die suddenly, as the implied comparison with the lamp being snuffed out signifies.

[37:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ⁸ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[37:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Be quiet before the Lord!”

[37:7]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text has וְהִתְחוֹלֵל (vÿhitkholel, Hitpolel of חִיל, khil, “writhe with fear, suffer”) but this idea fits awkwardly here. The text should be changed to וְתוֹחֵל (vÿtokhel; Hiphil of יָחַל, yakhal, “wait”). It appears that the Hebrew text is the product of dittography: (1) the initial וה (vav-he) is accidentally repeated from the preceding word (יְהוָה, yÿhvah) and (2) the final lamed (ל) is accidentally repeated (note the preceding lamed and the initial lamed on the following form, לו).

[37:7]  ¹² tn Heb “over one who causes his way to be successful.”

[37:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “Refrain from anger! Abandon rage!”

[37:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for evil men.” The conjunction כִּי (ki, “for”) relates to the exhortations in v. 8; there is no reason to be frustrated, for the evildoers will be punished in due time.

[37:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “cut off, removed.”

[37:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and those who wait on the Lord, they will possess the land.”

[73:3]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here depicts the action as continuing in a past time frame.

[73:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “peace” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).

[5:21]  ¹⁹ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ²⁰ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ²¹ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).