Jealousy Jealousy, as the translation of ζ ῆ λος (vb. ζηλόω, denotes the state of mind which arises from the knowledge or fear or suspicion of rivalry. (1) It is often begotten of self-love. Those who have come out of heathen darkness into Christian light should no longer walk in strife and jealousy (Romans 13:13), which are characteristics of the carnal or selfish mind (1 Corinthians 3:3). Bitter jealousy (ζ ῆ λον πικρόν) and faction, in which rivals are ‘each jealous of the other, as the stung are of the adder’ (King Lear, v. i. 56f.), and exult over (κατακαυχ ᾶ σθε) every petty triumph achieved, are an antithesis of Christianity, a lying against the truth (James 3:14). Where jealousy and faction are, there is anarchy (ἀ καταστασία) and every vile deed (3:16). The Jewish opponents of the gospel were filled with jealousy, e.g. in Jerusalem (Acts 5:17) and Pisidian Antioch (13:45). ‘Jealousies’ (ζ ῆ λοι, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:20) are the inward movements or outward manifestations of this un-Christian feeling.
(2) but the heat of jealousy (cf. קנְאָה) is not always false fire. To the Corinthians St. Paul says, ‘I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy’ (ζηλ ῶ γ ὰ ρ ὑ μ ᾶ ς θεο ῦ ζήλ ῳ, 2 Corinthians 11:2), i.e. with a jealousy like that of God. In the OT Jahweh is the husband of Israel, loving her and claiming all her love; in which sense He is a jealous God. A somewhat similar jealousy is once ascribed to Christ (in John 2:17, ζ ῆ λος, ‘zeal’); and St. Paul, who has betrothed the Corinthian Church to the Lord, and hopes to present her as a pure bride to Him, is jealous over her on His behalf, feeling the bare thought that she may after all give herself to another to be intolerable. Some take θεο ῦ ζήλ ῳ to mean ‘with a zeal for God,’ but the context demands a stricter sense of the word.
James Strahan.