Tag Archives: envy

Edward Taylor, Meditation 33

16 Friday Apr 2021

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Meditation 33

My Lord, my life, can envy ever be

A golden virtue? Then would God I were 

Top full thereof until it colors me

With yellow streaks for thy dear sake, most dear

Till I be envious made by’t at myself,                                         5

As scarely loving thee, my life, my health.

Oh! What strange charm encrampt my heart with spite

Making my love gleam upon a toy?

Lay out cartloads of love upon a mite?

Scarce lay a mite of love on thee, my Joy?                                 10

Oh, lovely thou, shalt not thou loved be?

Shall I ashame thee thus? Oh! Shame for me!

Nature’s amazed, Oh monstrous thing, quoth she,

Not love my life? What violence doth split

True love and life, that they should sundered be?                   15

She doth not lay such eggs, nor on them sit.

How do I sever then my heart with all

It powers whose love scare to my life doth crawl.

Goly lined out a paradise in power

Where e’ery seed a royal coach became                                      20

For Life to ride in, to each shining flower.

And made man’s flower with glory all ore flame.

Hell’s ink-faced elf black venom spt upon

The same and killed it. So that life is gone. 

Life thus abused fled to the golden ark,                                    25

Lay locked up there in mercy’s seat enclosed.

Which did incorporate it whence its sparke

Enlivens all things in this ark enclosed. 

Oh, glorious ark! Life’s store-house full of glee!

Shall not my love safe locked up lie in thee?                            30

Lord ark my soule safe in thyself, whereby

I and my life again may joined be.

That I may find what once I did destroy

Again conferred upon my soul in thee.

Thou art this golden ark, this. Living tree                                35

Where life lies treasured up for all in thee.

Oh! Graft me in this tree of life within

The paradise of God, that I may live.

Thy life make live in me. I’ll then begin 

To bear thy living fruits, and them fort give.                                                   40

Give me my life this way; and I’ll bestow

My love on thee, my life, and it shall grow.

Stanza One:

My Lord, my life, can envy ever be

A golden virtue? Then would God I were 

Top full thereof until it colors me

With yellow streaks for thy dear sake, most dear

Till I be envious made by’t at myself,                                         5

As scarely loving thee, my life, my health.

Summary:

This poem beings with an address to God, whom the poet calls, “My Lord, my life”. That theme of life will run through-out the poem. The theme of “envy” will be used ironically, as noted by calling envy – a sin – a “golden virtue”.  He is expressing a desire that he be filled with envy at himself because he “scarcely” love God who is his life.

At this point in the poem, the exact nature of the envy is difficult to ascertain. What do have is a jarring introduction where he wishes (would God I were) to filled with envy against himself.

Notes:

One striking question is the use of the word “yellow” for envy:

The explanation for the use of ‘yellow’ is given thus:

There is a disease in the body, called the yellow jaundice,† which makes the persons look yellow all over: this springs from the overflowing of the gall, which, overspreading the whole man, makes it lifeless, listless. Covetousness is the yellow jaundice of the soul, which arises from the overflowing of the heart with love to yellow gold, by which a Christian is dulled and deadened.

James Nichols, “How May We Get Rid of Spiritual Sloth”, Rev. Mr. Simmons, Puritan Sermons, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Richard Owen Roberts, Publishers, 1981), 440. Envy being a form of covetousness. 

We are more familiar with envy being “green” from Shakespeare:

Iago:


O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But, O, what damned minutes tells he o’er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!

The concept of envy:

The basic concept is one desiring something. 

“Not to envy the prosperity of the wicked.” John Lightfoot, The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot, ed. John Rogers Pitman, vol. 7 (London: J. F. Dove, 1822), 349. It arises from discontentment, “thy discontentedness usually breeds envy at it.” Jeremiah Burroughs, “Sermon IX,” in The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (London: W. Bentley, 1651), 112. It also has the sense of being unhappy at the happiness of another, “Pride is impatient of reproof, and envy looketh with an evil eye upon their privileges and advantages in Christ.” Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 10 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 377.

Envy springing from discontentment then creates discontentment in the one on experiencing envy:

Envie is a squint-eyed foole, Job 5:2. Envie slayeth the silly one. James 3:14. If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts. Envie is a bitter thing, and causes strife, and makes that bitter too: So ver. 16. Where envying and strife is. Gal. 5:20. Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings. 1 Cor. 3:3. There is among you envying, strife, divisions. Envy made divisions between Angels and men; it was the first sinne, not the first borne of the Devill, but that which turned Angels into Devils. The first heart-division amongst men was between Cain and Abel, and what caused it but envy? Who can stand before Envy? she is subtill, undermining, dares not appeare at the first; but if she cannot be satisfied with her under-workes, then she flings, rends, frets, and fights, uses violence, seeks to raise a contrary faction, falls on any thing in the world so be it mischief may be done

Jeremiah Burroughs, Irenicum, To the Lovers of Truth and Peace (London: Robert Dawlman, 1646), 123.

This then gives us a hint at the ironic use of envy by Taylor. He seeks to stir up a discontentment in himself to not settle for the “toy” (Stanza Two) but seek the better.

Theodore Gericault,

Portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy (1822)

The quality of the desire:

Consider this language of his prayer:

Then would God I were 

Top full thereof until it colors me

With yellow streaks

His desire is that he becoming completely colored by this desire to the point that it is physically manifested: you would look at him and see this desire in him.

The ground of this desire:

until it colors me

With yellow streaks for thy dear sake, most dear

The prayed for envy is grounded in the Lord who is his life. The prayer itself, for the poem is a prayer, is directly addressed to “My Lord, my life”. And it is for the sake of the Lord that he wishes to be branded with this envy.

The paradoxical object of the desire:

Till I be envious made by’t at myself,                                         5

As scarely loving thee, my life, my health.

He seeks to be envious at himself. This presents a puzzle: How can one be envious of oneself?

The rational for the desire:

Because the poet “scarcely” love the Lord, who is his life, his health.

The quandary:

At this point we have a quandary: What does it mean that he wishes to be envious “at” himself because he does not rightly love God?

Prosody:

The stanzas are ten syllable iambic pentameter, with an ABABCC rhyme scheme. This form is known as the Italian sestet, or the sextilla.

The rhythm is regular through out. However, the phrase “by’t at” cannot satisfy the iamb well because the “by’t” must be unaccented from place: which is very difficult to perform in reading. 

The interesting musical effect in this stanza is on the word “my”. The first two phrases are “my Lord, my life”, the last two, “my life, my health.” This also forms an inclusion. 

Schopenhauer on Happiness.17 Envy

19 Tuesday May 2020

Posted by in Ecclesiastes, Happiness, Uncategorized

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The prior post on Schopenhauer and happiness may be found here.

Schopenhauer makes the reasonable observation that envy makes one unhappy:

Envy is natural to man; and still, it is at once a vice and a source of misery.

There are ways in which envy makes one unhappy: to be envious and to be envied. First as to being envious. The sensation I experience in being envious of another person will injure me. Schopenhauer treats this point briefly. He does little to explain why envy should make one unhappy.

He then offers some advice to avoid feeling envy: (1) don’t pay attention to those who have something you do not; and (2) think of how much misery that person whom one envies actually has an unhappy life.

This may have some practical merit, but it seems to miss the real bit of envy. Envy is more than just a desire for some-thing I do not possess. A desire for an object or a state can be a spur to great good. I desire to become a physician, and so I work very hard for many years with study and delayed gratification until I achieve my goal.

This illustration can be worked out in numerous variants. Much of the good done in the world is as the result of someone intently desiring to have some thing or state which we do not now possess.

The desire is to achieve or possess is not envy.

Envy is exactly desire for some-thing, it is a sense of injustice that you have it and I do not. Envy is a moral judgment without the capacity to effectuate judgment. The furnace for envy is possessing or not possessing. Envy is the settled conclusion that the world has gone wrong because you wrongfully possess X.

Schopenhauer does observe “it should always be remembered that no form of hatred is so implacable as the hatred that comes from envy.” The envy is the conclusion that you should not have that – and I should. The moral sense of injustice is coupled to a hatred, typically directed toward the one possessing the object.

Thus, having consider envy more carefully, we can see that merely avoiding knowledge of the possession of others will be insufficient to stem envy. Unless the ignorance is complete, I can still have the sense that I should have X. The knowledge that anyone has X – which I should have – will be sufficient to stoke envy.

The knowledge of another’s misery might help to stem envy, because it could give me the sense that the other person is being judged.

What needs to be understood is that the defeat of envy must come from a sense that the world will be just in the end.

Schopenhauer has no good basis to believe that anything will be just. Therefore, the best advice he can give is to try and avoid the occasions which might provoke envy.

When the matter is considered, it seems that a better means of regulating envy will be see some basis for justice in the world.

One way to see that justice is to understand that the good is not distributed in some purely material way: the basis for envy is illusory. This is a strain in Ecclesiastes: no degree of material possession or control will be able to deliver happiness.

If I envy you for having a better house, I believe that possessing that house makes you happy when I should be happy with that house. And yet, possessing all that one could desire, property, money, drugs, human beings is insufficient to bring happiness: In Ecclesiastes 2:11 it is said to be vain, striving after wind and there is nothing to be gained under the sun. In short, the injustice is illusory.

In Ecclesiastes 6:2, the giving of some particular life is of no good unless God also gives “the power to enjoy” what has been given.

The point could be multiplied, but the sense of contentment is not in the object out there; contentment is a subjective sense.

A further remedy for envy is given in the realization of God’s providence and sovereignty and eventual judgment. God determined that this one would be a billionaire and this one would have little. That realization does not mean that the billionaire simply does as he pleases. His possession creates a moral duty to use that property well.

The property comes with a moral obligation which will be judged in the end. Thus, someone does not just get property. The thing received from God creates a moral obligation will which be judged. Therefore, envy is a condemnation of God for erring in terms of distributing good and for failing to judge rightly.

If one denies the existence of God and judgment, then envy is simply incoherent. Without God there is no “should” there is only “is.” If one man is wealthy and another poor, there is no violation of justice. Nothing “wrong” has happened. I may wish I had X, but I cannot determine that it is wrong.

For envy to exist, one must believe there is some justice in the world. Yet, that justice has been subverted. One must believe in a moral order with the maladministration of that order. In short, there must be a god, but that god must be impotent, unconcerned or unjust.

Thus, envy is a theological problem. Thus, it is not surprising that Schopenhauer has little help beyond trying to avoid the temptation.

Biblical Counseling: Anxiety Part One

19 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Meekness, Psalms

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COUNSELING PROBLEMS AND BIBLICAL CHANGE

BIBLICAL SOLUTIONS FOR ANXIETY, PART ONE

 

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

–The Knowledge of the Holy

A.W. Tozer

If you were to pick up a Christian book on anxiety it would likely contain a thorough going treatment of anxiety. There might a look at someone in the Bible who was anxious (say Saul in 1 Samuel 13); perhaps some Bible verses on anxiety, et cetera. There may be another section about medical aspects of anxiety; perhaps some secular material on anxiety, et cetera. In essence, you would find a systematic theology of anxiety.

There is nothing wrong with a systematic approach to theology, but it is not the only way to consider a topic.

The Bible nowhere has a book on anxiety (or depression, anger, marriage, childrearing, et cetera). When the Bible tackles a subject, it takes place in the context of several other often seemingly unrelated subjects.[1] Peter addresses marriage in the midst of a discussion of worship, suffering, glory, the Second Coming, the atonement and congregational church life. In placing marriage in this context, Peter transforms the question of marriage from a matter of merely a woman, a man and their personal happiness. When we understand it this way, there is a reason Peter does not address marriage until chapter 3 of his letter – and a reason he has to more chapters to follow. Peter wants us to think of marriage in a particular context.

In this series of lessons we are going to look at problems not in a systematic manner but rather in a contextual way. We are going to look at problems as they are embedded in Biblical texts to see how something like anxiety relates to the resurrection (as Paul makes the connection in Philippians) or depression relates to worship (as is done in Psalms 42-43). At first, this may seem strange, because it is unfamiliar to us. However, in the end, I hope that you will learn to see your entire life through a Scriptural lens and begin to understand that your hopes and sorrows and fears and joys all ultimately relate to your theology: To put it another way, as you learn to understand God you will begin to understand how the way you relate to God affects everything in your life.

I. KING DAVID & ANXIETY

David led an anxiety producing life. The first time we see David, Samuel anoints David as King (1 Samuel 16:1-13). Normally, being made king would be considered a good thing. But David was anointed King while Saul was still king – and Saul was insane. David was hired by Saul to play soothing music whenever Saul fell into a fit.

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Envy

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Ecclesiastes

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Ver. 4.—Envy. There is no vice more vulgar and despicable, none which affords more painful evidence of the depravity of human nature, than envy. It is a vice which Christianity has done much to discourage and repress; but in unchristian communities its power is mighty and disastrous.

I. THE FACTS FROM WHICH ENVY SPRINGS. 1. Generally, the inequality of the human lot is the occasion of envious feelings, which would not arise were all men possessed of an equal and a satisfying portion of earthly good. 2. Particularly, the disposition, on the part of one who is not possessed of some good, some desirable quality or property, to grasp at what is possessed by another.

II. THE FEELINGS AND DESIRES IN WHICH ENVY CONSISTS. We do not say that a man is envious who, seeing another strong or healthy, prosperous or powerful, wishes that he enjoyed the same advantages. Emulation is not envy. The envious man desires to take another’s possessions from him—desires that the other may be impoverished in order that he may be enriched, or depressed in order that he may be exalted, or rendered miserable in order that he may be happy.

III. THE MISCHIEF TO WHICH ENVY LEADS. 1. It may lead to unjust and malevolent action, in order that it may secure its gratification. 2. It produces unhappiness in the breast of him who cherishes it; it gnaws and corrodes the heart. 3. It is destructive of confidence and cordiality in society.

IV. THE TRUE CORRECTIVE TO ENVY. 1. It should be considered that whatever men acquire and enjoy is attributable to the Divine favour and loving-kindness. 2. And that all men have blessings far beyond their deserts. 3. It becomes us to think less of what we do not or do possess, and more of what we do. 4. And to cultivate the spirit of Christ—the spirit of self-sacrifice and benevolence.—T.

Ecclesiastes, ed. H. D. M. Spence-Jones, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 98-9

Parallel texts on “envy” in Ecclesiastes 4:4 Part 1

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Ecclesiastes

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The word translated “envy”  in Ecclesiastes 4:4 is primarily used translated as “zeal”  (Isaiah 37:32, “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts ….”) or “jealousy” of God in the OT (e.g., Zech. 8:2, “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, “I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy ….”).  It is used of idols in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 8:5, “this image of jealousy”). It is used of a husband’s jealousy (potentially a jealousy which lacks basis) in Numbers 5.

Only in the wisdom literature is the noun used in a manner which could potentially help understand Ecclesiastes 4:4. In each instance (except perhaps not in Eccl. 9:6), it refers to an emotion which has grown wildly out of control and thus damages the one who exercises the emotion:

Job 5:2

 

כִּֽי־לֶֽ֭אֱוִיל יַהֲרָג־כָּ֑עַשׂ וּ֝פֹתֶ֗ה תָּמִ֥ית קִנְאָֽה׃

 

Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.

 

Prov 6:34

 

כִּֽי־קִנְאָ֥ה חֲמַת־גָּ֑בֶר וְלֹֽא־יַ֝חְמ֗וֹל בְּי֣וֹם נָקָֽם׃

 

For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

 

Prov 14:30

 

חַיֵּ֣י בְ֭שָׂרִים לֵ֣ב מַרְפֵּ֑א וּרְקַ֖ב עֲצָמ֣וֹת קִנְאָֽה׃

 

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.

 

Prov 27:4

 

אַכְזְרִיּ֣וּת חֵ֭מָה וְשֶׁ֣טֶף אָ֑ף וּמִ֥י יַ֝עֲמֹד לִפְנֵ֥י קִנְאָֽה׃

 

Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

 

 

 

 

Eccles 4:4

 

וְרָאִ֨יתִֽי אֲנִ֜י אֶת־כָּל־עָמָ֗ל וְאֵת֙ כָּל־כִּשְׁר֣וֹן הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה כִּ֛י הִ֥יא קִנְאַת־אִ֖ישׁ מֵרֵעֵ֑הוּ גַּם־זֶ֥ה הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃

 

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

 

Eccles 9:6

 

גַּ֣ם אַהֲבָתָ֧ם גַּם־שִׂנְאָתָ֛ם גַּם־קִנְאָתָ֖ם כְּבָ֣ר אָבָ֑דָה וְחֵ֨לֶק אֵין־לָהֶ֥ם עוֹד֙ לְעוֹלָ֔ם בְּכֹ֥ל אֲשֶֽׁר־נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

 

Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

 

From these passages, one can conclude the following: First, the emotion itself is destructive of the one who has it: “envy makes the bones rot” (Proverbs 14:30). Experience certainly demonstrates the truth of this proverb.

Second, the emotion takes over the human being, leading to self-destruction and destruction of others.

Shakespeare has his arch-villain Iago famously and ironically warns Othello of jealousy:

IAGO

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss

Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;

But, O, what damned minutes tells he o’er

Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!

OTHELLO

O misery!

 

Othello (3.3.189-92). The irony comes in that Othello is first consumed with jealousy over a wrong which did not occur. Secondly, Othello overcome with his false jealousy proves the truth of Proverbs 6:34, “For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.”

 

Ecclesiastes 4:4 interestingly posits the emotion which is found most commonly in matters involving sexuality and moves into the space of economics (this will be seen more in the instances of the verb discussed next).[1] 

 

Note that in matters of sexuality, that is the marriage relationship, or in the matters involving God, the thing desired rightfully belongs to the one who seeks it. Thus, while a husband may wrongly believe that his wife has departed from the marriage covenant (Numbers 5 provides protection for the wife in this instance. Dr. Duncan’s sermon on this text is wonderful, http://www.shepherdsconference.org/media/details/?mediaID=335), it is not wrong for a husband or a wife to expect and deserve fidelity out of the other. Indeed, a spouse who does not care whether the other is faithful has an exceedingly low regard for marriage.

 

While the emotion may drive the person to foolish extremes, the factual predicate for the provocation is not necessarily wrong.

However, with envy in particular, the thing desired is something which one does not have a legitimate right  or expectation (as opposed to a marriage, where the expectation is based upon a promise).  Hence the arguments which must be created to justify the envy: The other person must be wrongfully in possession of that property in order for me to be rightful in resentment and envy.

Envy is ultimately a belief in the present injustice of the world. In fact, the exceptionally strong emotion described by the Hebrew word (zeal, envy, jealousy – depending upon the object) all hinge upon a response to perceived injustice (zeal: a thing for God to right; jealousy: desire for exclusive attention from a spouse; envy: it’s not fair you have that).

Thus, envy is a perversion of a desire for justice. It ultimately is a critique of God, for God has not allotted the property and circumstances rightly. This makes sense of the flow of the passage in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 3 begins with the observation of the sovereignty and order of God over all events, objective, subjective.  Qoheleth then moves to the matter of unrighteous human judgment and God’s actual judgment:  In verse 17, he notes that God will judge. Then Qoholeth moves to the fact that all people will die. This is not a digression but a further elaboration: Death is the summons which brings all men and women to the place of judgment.

Chapter 4 returns to the matter of human wickedness (which God will judge). First, the oppressors who judge the weak. Second, the weak who envy the oppressors.

[1] Placing envy as a (the?) motivation of human behavior is a matter which Nietzsche considered at length, see, e.g., http://www.nietzschecircle.com/essayArchive1.html  The rant against Jesus and the Jews in the Genealogy of Morals, particularly the first essay, sections 7-9, will give a taste for this point.

All Proceeds From Envy (Ecclesiastes 4:4).1

01 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Ecclesiastes

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Ecclesiastes 4:4 (BHS/WIVU)

4וְרָאִ֨יתִֽי אֲנִ֜י אֶת־כָּל־עָמָ֗ל וְאֵת֙ כָּל־כִּשְׁר֣וֹן הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה כִּ֛י הִ֥יא קִנְאַת־אִ֖ישׁ מֵרֵעֵ֑הוּ גַּם־זֶ֥ה הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃

Good bit of advice given to me by a well-respected NT scholar: When working with a passage, begin by comparing multiple translations. The comparison will alter you to any questions with the underlying text & will give you the considered position of many men and women who have worked on the translation and on the approval committees:

‎ESV

‎NASB95

‎NIV84

‎NET

‎KJV 1900

‎HCSB

‎‎Ec 4:4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

‎‎Ec 4:4 I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

‎‎Ec 4:4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

‎‎Ec 4:4 Then I considered all the skillful work that is done: Surely it is nothing more than competition between one person and another. This also is profitless—like chasing the wind.

‎‎Ec 4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

‎‎Ec 4:4 I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to a man’s jealousy of his friend. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

 

Immediate questions: 

First, there are some minor variations in the introductory clause:

Then I saw

I have seen

And I saw

Then I considered

Again, I considered

I saw

Gordis writes, “The opening clause is an instance of ‘anticipation’, ‘Thus I saw ….” 

The difference comes from first the introductory waw (or vav depending upon pronunciation).  The particle correlates clauses and sentences. However, the meaning of that correlating depends upon the context.

The question is thus what is the connection between v. 4 and the preceding discussion of oppression. Has Qoheleth changed topics or is he giving some insight into the nature of oppression? Is the observation on envy a parallel to oppression?

The second difference comes from the translation of the verb r‘h, which has a basic meaning of “to see”. However, like the English “to see” the verb can carry the connotation of intellectual engagement.

The third difference is the manner in which one translates the tense. Hebrew tenses simply do not work in the same manner as the English verbs. The form of the tense means generally a past event, but whether one translates it as “I saw” or “I have seen” cannot be directly determined by the Hebrew form alone.

I think it best to tie verse 4 to what follows than to what precedes it: First, the evil in verses 1-3 consists of evil of the powerful toward the weak. Envy in verse 4 works in the opposite direction. It is important to note that the Law forbade favoritism in either direction.

Without question the Law was pointed and constant in forbidding the powerful to oppress the weak. For example:

12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13 You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God. 14 “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin. Deuteronomy 24:12–15 (ESV)

Indeed, this same command is repeated in the NT:

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. James 5:1–6 (ESV)

But, envy or revenge against the rich was equally forbidden:

You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15 (ESV)

The judge was beholden to God to give proper judgment. Indeed, Solomon made this plain:

5 He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment. 7 Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes.” 2 Chronicles 19:5–7 (ESV)

Now, only the rich could offer a bribe; thus, favoritism toward those who could help the judge was forbidden.

Moreover, the matter of envy is most likely to consume the one who lacks property (which is often through laziness, which is immediately condemned in this passage). Therefore, verse 4 begins a new, though related thought concerning evil in human interaction:

This subsection discusses the theme of “toil.” It begins with an observation about motives for “toil” (verse 4). To this Qoheleth adds a quotation about laziness (verse 5), then summarizes his conclusions about this situation with a numerical “better” saying (verse 6). In a manner typical of Qoheleth, two seemingly opposing points of view are set alongside one another. In verse 5 he points out that a person shouldn’t be lazy, but he follows this in verse 6 with the observation that overworking is also undesirable.

Graham S. Ogden and Lynell Zogbo, A Handbook on Ecclesiastes, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1998), 128.

As for the translation choice between “saw” and “considered” both work equally well, and both fail: Certainly the matter begins with an observation of human behavior. But it does entail more than just an observation, it also entails understanding of what takes place: the conclusion that “envy” drives behavior cannot be seen on the face of human behavior. Indeed, humans would most likely deny envy as their motivation. Thus, either verb may be used, but both should be understood.

1 Clement 4:10-13, Translation and Notes

31 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by in 1 Clement, 1 Samuel, Ante-Nicene, Biblical Counseling, Church History, Discipleship, Exodus, Greek, Numbers

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10 ζῆλος φυγεῖν ἠνάγκασεν Μωϋσῆν ἀπὸ προσώπου Φαραὼ βασιλέως Αἰγύπτου ἐν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁμοφύλου,. Τίς σε κατέστησεν κριτὴν ἢ δικαστὴν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν; μὴ ἀνελεῖν με σὺ θέλεις, ὅν τρόπον ἀνεῖλες ἐχθὲς τὀν Αἰγύπτιον; 11 διὰ ζῆλος Ἀαρὼν καὶ Μαριὰμ ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ηὐλίσθησαν. 12 ζῆλος Δαθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρὼν ζῶντας κατήγαγεν εἰς ᾅδου, διὰ τὸ στασιάσαι αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ Θεοῦ Μωϋσῆν. 13 διὰ ζῆλος Δαυεὶδ φθόνον ἔσχεν οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ Σαοὺλ [βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ] ἐδιώχθη

 Notes:

Each of the instance of jealousy noted by Clement involve rebellion against godly authority. Moses was persecuted because a fellow Israelite did not want Moses to be leader: Who appointed you? Answer, God. Moses later faced rebellion from his own immediate family and from the other Israelites. David was envied by the Philistines and persecuted because of the jealousy of Saul.

Again, from a biblical counseling perspective we see that Clement first engages in sustained exposition of the Scripture to show the basis upon which he will later seek their repentance.

He demonstrates great faith in the Scripture’s effectiveness. He starts with no pleas to philosophy or psychology, but rather with the Scripture which he welds like a hammer against their pride. In addition, note that he spends time in Numbers: a book I have rarely seen treated in contemporary biblical counseling literature.

ζῆλος φυγεῖν ἠνάγκασεν Μωϋσῆν:  Jealousy compelled Moses to flee. Winer comments on the use of the infinite with the finite that completes the meaning of the finite verb: “If, in such a case, the Inf. has its own subject differnet form that of the principle verb, such subject with all its attributives is put in the accusative (Acc. with Infin.)….” (Winer, 6th ed, Andover, 1874, 321). See Wallace, Accusative Subject of the Infinitive.  Compelled is aorist; infinitive, present.

The jealousy in the story as developed does not seem to be Pharaoh’s but the jealousy of the fellow Israelite.

ἀπὸ προσώπου Φαραὼ βασιλέως Αἰγύπτου:   From the presence (lit., face) of Pharaoh King of Egypt. The first genitive, face, is dictated by the preposition. Pharaoh is indeclinable. King is genitive of possession: the king’s face (see illustrations, Wallace, 82, Matt. 26:51).  The final genitive, of Egypt is the genitive of apposition – genitive of definition. King is a category which is limited by “of Egypt”.

ἐν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι: Wallace: ἐν τῷ+ infinitive:  It is translating by + gerund:  By hearing. However, the two instances of Wallace involve present tense verbs. Here, Clement uses an aorist infinitive. There is plainly a temporal ordering of events: Moses acts, Pharaoh hears, Pharaoh acts, Moses flees. Therefore, the translation must reflect that ordering: When he heard.

αὐτὸν: about him. The accusative of respect, Wallace, 203-204.

ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁμοφύλου: from the fellow tribesman.

Τίς σε κατέστησεν κριτὴν ἢ δικαστὴν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν;: Who appointed you a ruler or judge over us (ESV translation of Acts 7:27).  The two words ruler and judge are near synonyms. The second word refers specifically to a judge in a trial who makes a decision. Epi + genitive: spatial, over: metaphorical here.

μὴ ἀνελεῖν με σὺ θέλεις:  do you wish do away with me?  The infinitive is complementary to the finite verb, and the object of the infinitive is in the accusative. The μὴ functions as an emphatic particle (otherwise it would read, “do you wish to not kill me”): Do you also, really want to kill me? Do you want to kill me, too? Interesting that the direct verb for kill is not present here. Louw and Nida note the nuance:

to get rid of someone by execution, often with legal or quasi-legal procedures—‘to kill, to execute, killing.’

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, vol. 1, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 235.

ὅν τρόπον ἀνεῖλες ἐχθὲς τὀν Αἰγύπτιον;In the same manner that you did away with the Egyptian, yesterday? The relative pronoun clarifies the question about murder: Moses is not being accused of potential killing without reason: He had killed the Egyptian.

διὰ ζῆλος Ἀαρὼν καὶ Μαριὰμ ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ηὐλίσθησαν: Because of jealousy, Aaron and Mariam were housed outside the camp. (Numbers 12:15 records only that Mariam was lodged outside the camp for seven days. The jealousy was of Aaron and Miriam toward Moses. It was based upon racism: Numbers 12:1. See John Piper’s comment in his sermon on marriage and racism, http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/racial-harmony-and-interracial-marriage )

ζῆλος Δαθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρὼν ζῶντας κατήγαγεν εἰς ᾅδου:  Jealousy sent Dathan and Abiram alive into Hades. Alive is a present active participle modifying Dathan and Abiram; the participle makes the state of being alive more vivid.  See, Numbers 16.

διὰ τὸ στασιάσαι αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ Θεοῦ Μωϋσῆν: because of the rebellion against Moses, the servant of God.  “All infinitives governed by a preposition are articular.” Dia + article + infinitive: cause.  Wallace, 610. Pros with the accusative: opposition, against.  The structure of the object of the prepositional phrase emphasizes the status of Moses: It was not against just Moses. It was against the servant of God, Moses. Servant here carries the nuance of being a

διὰ ζῆλος Δαυεὶδ φθόνον ἔσχεν οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων: Because of jealousy, David was envied, not only by the other tribe/foreigners, i.e., Philistines.

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ Σαοὺλ [βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ] ἐδιώχθη: He was even pursued by Saul, the King of Israel. Hupo + genitive: by, ultimate agency: Saul was the one who set the pursuit into action. See 1 Samuel 18:7-9.

 

1 Clement 4:7-9

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in 1 Clement, 1 Corinthians, Biblical Counseling, Genesis, Greek

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7 Ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί, ζῆλος καὶ φθόνος ἀδελφοκτονίαν κατειργάσατο. 8 διὰ ζῆλος ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰακὼβ ἀπέδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου Ἠσαῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ. 9 ζῆλος ἐποίησεν Ἰωσὴφ μέχρι θανάτου διωχθῆναι καὶ μέχρι δουλείας εἰσελθεῖν

Translation: You see brothers, he killed his brother for jealousy and envy. Jacob, our father, fled from Esau because of jealousy. Jealousy caused Joseph to be persecuted to death, until he was reduced to slavery.

Notes:

Since this is the earliest example of extra-biblical counsel given for sin, it is interesting to see how Clement makes his case. He traces the problem back to the sin of jealousy and envy. The first step in counseling (where the sin of another is at issue) must be to bring the other to see their sin as sin in all its wickedness. Due to the tendency to bring excuses and justification forward, it may be necessary to demonstrate the sin in its true colors. The Corinthians rebels had necessarily felt themselves justified in their actions and solid in their position. Why anyone seeks to conquer a church for one’s personal advantage is baffling: even more so at Corinth, considering that membership as a Christian provided not advantage and at times brought about persecution – but such is the insanity of sin.

Therefore, to make his point clear, Clement brings out a hammer: Think of this: He begins his rebuke with Cain and Able and then traces out the sin in its expressions continuing through the Bible. Clement says, “You, Corinthians are no different than Cain. You’re like Esau.”

Having given the story of Cain and Able, Clement follows the biblical narrative and demonstrates how jealousy and envy have repeatedly been lead to human damage. Moreover, the victim of the damage has been the more godly man.  Clement provides seven OT examples and then seven Christian examples of jealousy leading to persecution of the righteous.

ζῆλος refers to an intense internal emotional state as the result of some circumstance, which state can either be positive (zeal or ardor) or negative (jealousy improperly focused).  In Hebrews 10:27 the word is used to modify the fire of God’s judgment.  It is often coordinate with eris (strife, discord, contention).   Jealousy and envy both appear in the list of fruits of the flesh in Galatians 5:20-21.

This coupling of jealousy does not explicitly appear in the OT text of Cain, Esau, or the patriarchs; however, it does make psychological sense. Moreover, the concepts is found in Proverbs 6:34 where the jealousy of a husband will lead to revenge. Proverbs 27:4 may perhaps be the closest parallel, “who can stand before jealousy” where jealousy is said to be even stronger than wrath or anger.

Grant writes:

It is possible that Clement’s emphasis upon “jealousy” is party based on his readin of the book of Acts, where Jewish attacks upon Christians are sometimes ascribed to this cause. The Sadducees were filled with jealousy (Acts 5:17); when the “the Jews” saw crows gathered to hear the word of God they were filled with jealousy (13:45); Jews at Thessalonica were jealous (17:5). But the motif means more to Clement than it did to Luke (Grant, 23).

Jealousy is notably used in the NT as an example of sin in 1 Corinthians 3:3:

for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 1 Corinthians 3:3 (ESV)

Galatians 5:20:

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19–21 (ESV)

And James 3:14 & 16:

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. James 3:14–16 (ESV)

A section from Josephus is also suggestive of the idea (I am unaware of any reason to suspect that Clement had seen Josephus’s work):

Be thou also mindful of the transgressions of Joaba the captain of the host, who hath slain two generals out of envy, and those righteous and good men, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether; whose death do thou avenge as shall seem good to thee, since Joab hath been too hard for me, and more potent than myself, and so hath escaped punishment hitherto

Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), Book 7, chapter 15, verse 386.

As for envy, Matthew 27:17 and Mark 15:10 state that Pilate realized that Jesus had been handed for because of envy (ESV translate the word as ‘jealousy’ in these places).

 

Ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί:  You see, brothers.

Louw and Nida set out 49 NT verbs which can be used to reference sight.  Many of these verbs also carry the nuance of a related cognitive or emotional response. To perceive and understand therefrom is listed by Louw and Nida as follows:

32.11 θεωρέω b; βλέπω e; ὁράω c: to come to understand as the result of perception—‘to understand, to perceive, to see, to recognize.’

Θεωρέω b: κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ ‘I perceive that in every way you are very religious’ Ac 17:22; θεωρεῖτε δὲ πηλίκος οὗτος ‘you understand, then, how great this man was’ He 7:4.

Βλέπω e: βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου ‘I perceive another law at work in my members’ Ro 7:23.

ὁράω c: ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ‘you can understand then that a person is justified by what he does’ Jas 2:24.

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, vol. 1, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 380. One could easily overstate the nuance of the use of this verb in this place. However, some distinction can perhaps be made.  Βλέπω: is often used of bare visual sight, at times with an element of warning (Phil. 3:2). Θεωρέω: has somewhat less emphasis upon physical sight.  ὁράω may perhaps carry less nuanced freight than the other verbs; but it would hard to make much of it.

ζῆλος καὶ φθόνος:  Zeal/jealousy and envy.

Φθόνος:  Romans 1:29 lists murder immediately after envy in the list of “all manner of wickedness”.

ἀδελφοκτονίαν: Fratricide: the word is not used in the NT, although the concept appears in 1 John 3:12/

κατειργάσατο: A middle deponent aorist: to bring about, accomplish: Cain brought about the murder of his brother.

διὰ ζῆλος: dia + accusative: On account of, for the sake of jealousy (Wallace, 369).

ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰακὼβ: Our father Jacob. This is an interesting use of the Jacob as father, for there is no reason to suspect that either Clement or the recipients in Corinth were Jewish by birth.

ἀπέδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου Ἠσαῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ: Ran from the face of Esau his brother (the brother of him).  The jealousy was the jealousy of Esau.

ζῆλος ἐποίησεν Ἰωσὴφ μέχρι θανάτου διωχθῆναι: Jealousy caused Joseph to be persecuted unto death. Until does not require culmination of the thing approached, see, e.g., Hebrews 12:4.

καὶ μέχρι δουλείας εἰσελθεῖν: And until slavery to enter: reduced to slavery.