Consider This - Don't Envy A Violent Man
Proverbs 3:31
Do not envy a man of violence, And do not choose any of his ways. - Proverbs 3:31
The first thought that comes to my mind is why would anyone want to envy a violent man and copy his ways? What would be the point of that?
The second thing that comes to mind is the difference between the words envy and jealousy. Here my husband has lectured me about the differences for. years, so let me pretend to be him for you for a minute.
I’ll make it easy, here are the simple Dictionary.com definitions of each word.
envy - a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success, possessions, etc.
Synonyms:
an object of such feeling.
Her intelligence made her the envy of her classmates.
Obsolete. ill will.
jealous - feeling resentment against someone because of that person’s rivalry, success, or advantages (often followed byof ).
He was jealous of his rich brother.
feeling resentment because of another’s success, advantage, etc. (often followed byof ).
He was jealous of his brother’s wealth.
characterized by or proceeding from suspicious fears or envious resentment.
a jealous rage; jealous intrigues.
inclined to or troubled by suspicions or fears of rivalry, unfaithfulness, etc., as in love or aims.
a jealous husband.
solicitous or vigilant in maintaining or guarding something.
The American people are jealous of their freedom.
Bible. intolerant of unfaithfulness or rivalry.
The Lord is a jealous God.
So, the difference is that to be envious means that you are discontent and longing for with a desire to have what the other person has that you don’t have.
The idea behind feeling jealous is that you feel resentment towards the object you’re jealous of. Most folks tend to believe that jealousy is a stronger emotion and can be more violent. I tend to think that this is true because you don’t hear very often about crimes of envy, but you do hear about folks who go into a jealous rage.
So, back to Solomon. Solomon was very aware that folks are prone to be envious of what others have and discontent with what we already have. He would know, given that he was a king, he had all the wisdom a man could ever get and he could literally have anything he wanted. Yet, he’s giving this advice to his son to not envy a man of violence.
The Hebrew word for violence is ḥāmās - and of course if you’re like me, the first thing you associate with that word today is hamas. I think of literal adherents to radical Islam. Men of violence.
Why would anyone envy that type of man? I have a few ideas.
First, I think that mankind has a general sense of wanting power and control. Mankind prides itself on what we can accomplish and that without submitting to a higher power. In this case God. Put aside all the various religious teachings out there and just consider how man gets power and you have violence in the recipe.
Now consider Yeshua and how He expressed His power. What did He do and how did He act?
Pretty simple, He was the prince of Peace and He allowed violent men to kill Him. I say allowed because we know He willingly laid down His life for all of us.
Yet, how many people do you know who envy Yeshua or desire His ways? If you’re like me, you often feel like you have no place in this world, because none of what the world desires or envies is appealing. Yet, peace is.
Also, those who tend to envy the violent man often forget that those men end up in prison or dead if they are caught. I’m not sure that I would prefer that over the abundant life of peace I have in Christ.