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Jealousy, as the translation of æῆëïò (vb. æçëüù , 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 (Rom_13:13), which are characteristics of the carnal or selfish mind (1Co_3:3). Bitter jealousy ( æῆëïí ðéêñüí ) 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 ( êáôáêáõ÷ᾶóèå ) every petty triumph achieved, are an antithesis of Christianity, a lying against the truth (Jam_3:14). Where jealousy and faction are, there is anarchy ( ἀêáôáóôáóßá ) and every vile deed (Jam_3:16). The Jewish opponents of the gospel were filled with jealousy, e.g. in Jerusalem (Act_5:17) and Pisidian Antioch (Act_13:45). ‘Jealousies’ ( æῆëïé , 2Co_12:20, Gal_5:20) are the inward movements or outward manifestations of this un-Christian feeling.
(2) But the heat of jealousy (cf. ÷ðְàָä ) is not always false fire. To the Corinthians St. Paul says, ‘I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy’ ( æçëῶ ãὰñ ὑìᾶò èåïῦ æÞëῳ , 2Co_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 Joh_2:17, æῆëïò , ‘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 èåïῦ æÞëῳ to mean ‘with a zeal for God,’ but the context demands a stricter sense of the word.
James Strahan.