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Bible verses about jealousy and envy

Proverbs 14:30 — envy rots the bones — is where most lists start, and it is below in full. So are Joseph’s brothers, the envy that handed Jesus over, and something English cannot do: in both Greek and Hebrew, the word for jealousy is also the word for zeal. This page covers jealousy and envy together, and says what “a jealous God” means in the passages that use it.

12 passages · World English Bible & King James · public domain

  1. Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,1 Corinthians 13:4 · World English Bible

    Love doesn't envy — the same verb Paul used one verse earlier for desiring the best gifts.

    King James

    Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

  2. But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.1 Corinthians 12:31 · World English Bible

    Covet earnestly the best gifts. Zeal, pointed the right way.

    King James

    But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

  3. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you in marriage to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.2 Corinthians 11:2 · World English Bible

    Godly jealousy: jealousy for someone, not of them.

    King James

    For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

  4. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.James 3:14-16 · World English Bible

    Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition — zeal gone sour.

    King James

    But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

  5. Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.Galatians 5:26 · World English Bible

    Provoking one another, envying one another. Envy runs both ways.

    King James

    Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

  6. For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.Matthew 27:18 · World English Bible

    For envy they had delivered him. Pilate could see it.

    King James

    For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

  7. His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.Genesis 37:11 · World English Bible

    His brothers envied him. The start of the pit and the sale.

    King James

    And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

  8. The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.Proverbs 14:30 · World English Bible

    Envy rots the bones — a heart at peace is life to the body.

    King James

    A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

  9. Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?Proverbs 27:4 · World English Bible

    Who can stand before jealousy? The King James says envy; it is one Hebrew word.

    King James

    Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

  10. Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.Psalms 37:1 · World English Bible

    Don't fret because of evildoers. The envy of watching the wrong people do well.

    King James

    Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

  11. for you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.Exodus 34:14 · World English Bible

    Whose name is Jealous — a word used only of God, and always about other gods.

    King James

    For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

  12. Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learnt in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learnt the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.Philippians 4:11-12 · World English Bible

    I have learnt the secret. Contentment described as something learnt.

    King James

    Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

One verb, two verses apart

But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.1 Corinthians 12:31 · World English Bible
Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,1 Corinthians 13:4 · World English Bible

Open the King James on these two in the list above: covet earnestly the best gifts, and then charity envieth not. It is the same Greek verb both times, zeloo (2206), which the lexicon glosses “to be zealous, to be jealous, to desire earnestly”. Paul tells them to burn for the greater gifts, and one verse later says that love does not burn that way. The word is heat. What it is pointed at decides what it is.

For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you in marriage to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.2 Corinthians 11:2 · World English Bible

Here Paul uses it of himself, and calls it godly. Jealousy for someone — that they not be taken — rather than jealousy of them.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.James 3:14-16 · World English Bible

And the noun, zelos (2205), at its worst. The King James says bitter envying, the modern rendering bitter jealousy, paired with selfish ambition.

The other word: envy

For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.Matthew 27:18 · World English Bible

This is a different word, phthonos (5355), glossed “ill-will (as detraction), i.e. jealousy (spite)”. It occurs nine times, and where zelos can be good or bad, phthonos turns up in the lists of vices — Romans 1:29, Galatians 5:21, Titus 3:3. Pilate could see it. It is the envy that would rather the other person did not have the thing, whether or not you get it.

Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.Galatians 5:26 · World English Bible

Joseph’s brothers

His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.Genesis 37:11 · World English Bible

The envy that led to the pit and the sale. When Stephen retells the story centuries later, the verb he uses is zeloo again (Acts 7:9). How it ends is on our page on betrayal, where Joseph says you meant evil against me.

Envy rots the bones

The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.Proverbs 14:30 · World English Bible
Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?Proverbs 27:4 · World English Bible

Both verses use one Hebrew word, qin’ah (7068), which the lexicon glosses “ardor, zeal, jealousy” — so Hebrew, like Greek, uses one word for the heat and the jealousy. The translations cannot agree which English word to spend on it: at Proverbs 27:4 the King James says envy and the modern rendering says jealousy.

Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.Psalms 37:1 · World English Bible

The envy of watching the wrong people do well. Psalm 73, on our page about doubt, is the same complaint at full length.

“A jealous God”

for you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.Exodus 34:14 · World English Bible

The adjective here is qanna (7067), and it is used only of God — six times, at Exodus 20:5, twice in Exodus 34:14, and Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9 and 6:15. In every one of the six, the sentence is about worshipping other gods. The word names a claim to undivided loyalty, the same shape as Paul’s jealousy for the Corinthians above, rather than the envy that wants what someone else has.

The other direction

Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learnt in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learnt the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.Philippians 4:11-12 · World English Bible

I have learnt the secret. The passage does not describe contentment as a feeling Paul happened to have. It describes something learnt, across having and not having.

What this page is not

It is a set of passages with their context, not counsel. If jealousy in a relationship has turned into control — checking, restricting, frightening — that is recognised as a warning sign, and in the US the National Domestic Violence Hotline can help. Our pages for anger and money carry more on the envy of what other people have.

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The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 14:30

A heart at peace is life to the body. The second half you already know.

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Questions

What does the Bible say about jealousy and envy?

Proverbs 14:30 says envy rots the bones, James 3:14-16 pairs bitter jealousy with selfish ambition, and Galatians 5:26 warns against envying one another. The New Testament word for jealousy, zelos, also means zeal, so 2 Corinthians 11:2 can speak of a godly jealousy; phthonos, envy, appears in the lists of vices.

What does 'a jealous God' mean?

The Hebrew word, qanna, is used only of God, six times, and every one is in a sentence about worshipping other gods. It describes a claim to undivided loyalty rather than envy of what someone else has.

Is jealousy a sin in the Bible?

The Greek and Hebrew words for jealousy also mean zeal, and Scripture uses them for good and bad things. What the texts condemn is jealousy as spite and rivalry — envy that begrudges someone else what they have. This page does not counsel; it sets out what the passages say.

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