In this article, we will discuss examples of jealousy in the Bible and the lessons we learn from them. At one time or another, we’ve experienced that feeling of insecurity, bitterness, and fear when someone around us has something we desperately desire. Perhaps these people don’t believe in God like us, but it seems as though their life is perfect. And even though we act happy around these people, we secretly want to have those things they have so that our mind can be at rest.
Just so you know, these evil thoughts stem from the negative emotion known as jealousy, one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). Let’s look at the kinds of jealousy according to the scriptures before we discuss the examples.
What are the Two Kinds of Jealousy?
From the biblical perspective, the two kinds of jealousy are godly jealousy and human jealousy. Keep reading as we explain these two concepts, using Bible references.
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When someone mentions jealousy, we quickly assume it’s a negative and destructive behavior. However, some verses of the scriptures suggest that our God is a jealous God. In the book of Exodus 20:5, God told the children of Israel that,
“You shall not bow to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”
Likewise, Exodus 34:14 states that, “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
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Since jealousy is one of the works of the flesh, how come it is also one of the traits and names of the Lord God Almighty? First, you should know that God is not an author of confusion, and secondly, He doesn’t have any evil traits.
Apostle Paul compares the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ with believers to a marital relationship. He says to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that,
“I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”
Similarly, Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for her.”
From the moment we give our lives to Christ, we enter a covenant with God to serve Him alone for the rest of our lives. God’s jealousy comes from a place of love because He knows that no other god can give us all we want without expecting something in return. So the Almighty wants us to worship, praise, adore, honor, obey, and commit to Him fully because He’s the only true God.
After all, God is our maker, and He can freely give us all things, so why should we give what is rightfully His to lesser gods and expect Him not to be jealous? Take some time to think about it. Godly jealousy can be considered divine jealousy or good jealousy.
Human jealousy is nothing like the jealousy of God because it stems from selfish motives. People who are jealous have the “I’m happy for you, but it should have been me” mentality. They desperately guard the things in their possession so that others won’t have access to them.
That’s not all; people who exhibit this trait always have evil intentions towards those who have the things they desire. They believe if they can’t have something, someone else should not have it.
Anyone can fall into the temptation of human jealousy or sinful jealousy if they’re not careful enough. And the result is often disastrous to the person exhibiting this behavior and other people around them.
James 3:14 says, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.”
The spirit of jealousy has been around for a long time, even in some Bible characters. While there are many examples of jealousy in the scriptures, we will discuss 7 of them.
1. Cain and Abel
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Not only is the story of Cain and Abel popular, but it also perfectly portrays the negative effect of bad jealousy in individuals. In the book of Genesis 4:1-16, we read that Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve after God sent them out of the Garden of Eden.
When the two young men grew older, Cain became a farmer and Abel became a herdsman. One day, both of them decided to offer a sacrifice to God based on their respective occupations.
Cain gave some of his plant harvests to God, while Abel sacrificed the firstborn of his flock to Him. Interestingly, only Abel’s sacrifice was accepted, probably because he offered the best to God. Sadly, Cain did not take the rejection of his sacrifice well, as he became angry and jealous towards his brother Abel.
When God noticed Cain’s reaction, He cautioned him, saying, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:17).
Cain refused to heed God’s warning but went ahead to kill his brother out of anger and bitter envy. As a result of this incident, God cursed Cain, and he became an unproductive wanderer on earth.
These Bible verses teach us that jealousy leads to more sin, including disobedience, murder, and lies to cover up these sins. Jealousy is one of the most dangerous acts of the flesh that believers need to avoid by all means possible.
Another popular Bible story that many people can relate to is that of Joseph and his brothers. This story gives a clear example of the power of jealousy among family members.
According to this Bible story in Genesis 37, Joseph was his father Jacob’s favorite son because he gave birth to him at an old age. Moreover, Joseph always reported his brother’s bad deeds to their father, which made Jacob love him more. So he made a special robe for Joseph, causing his brothers to despise him.
When Joseph had a glorious dream about his future, he narrated it to his brothers because he thought they would support him. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of Joseph’s problems because his brothers did not only hate him more, but they became jealous of him. Initially, Joseph’s brothers planned to kill him, but Reuben suggested that they should throw him into the pit as a way to rescue him.
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery out of fits of anger, thinking he would perish in a strange land and his dream wouldn’t come to pass. He faced a lot of challenges, from being wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife to going to prison, but the fear of the Lord remained in his heart. Ultimately, Joseph became a prime minister, and his brothers came to bow to him, according to the narration of his dreams.
We understand from Joseph’s story that jealousy can raise its ugly head in the family and among siblings. Let’s be careful not to allow the enemy to cause division in our family with this evil trait.
Father Abraham’s wife Sarah also exhibited jealous behavior towards her female servant Hagar as recorded in Genesis 16. God promised Sarah that she would have a son, even though she and her husband Abraham were advanced in age. As the years went by, Sarah continued to wait on the Lord, but later became impatient and desperate for a child.
Sarah thought she could get a child through her servant Hagar, so she took the woman to Abraham for him to impregnate her. Hagar later bore a son for Abraham whom he named Ishmael, but he wasn’t the son of promise. God fulfilled his promise to Sarah, and she conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham, who was named Isaac.
One day, Sarah saw Hagar’s son Ishmael playing with Isaac, and she acted out of great jealousy by instructing Abraham to send Hagar and her son away (Genesis 21:10). Sarah saw Ishmael as a potential threat to her son’s inheritance, and she didn’t want anyone to compete with him. This was the main reason she acted harshly towards the boy and his mother.
If Sarah had known that her plans to have a child through Hagar would backfire, she won’t have done things her own way. Her impatience resulted in jealousy, anger, and ill treatment towards her fellow human.
4. David and King Saul
The story of David and King Saul is another great example of how jealousy can make a mighty man lose his dignity, reducing him to a common man (1 Samuel 18-20). David was a young shepherd boy who was anointed by Samuel to become the King of Israel. Saul was originally the king, but he disobeyed God, and his kingship was taken away from him.
At the time when David killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17:50-53), Saul felt relieved because they’d seen the end of Israel’s enemy. However, some women came out to meet them on the way, singing and dancing with the words, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7).
This harmless song from the women made King Saul angry and jealous of David. And from then on, he had bad feelings towards the young shepherd and tried every means to kill him. However, all the king’s attempts were unsuccessful because God was with David.
This Biblical story explains how Saul’s jealousy resulted in several attempts to murder David. There’s no limit to the things jealous people can do to get what they want, even if it means killing others.
5. Aaron and Miriam against Moses
God developed a cordial relationship with Moses because of his numerous Godly characteristics, including humility. As a result of this, some people became jealous of him and began to criticize him. According to the biblical records in Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron did not support Moses’ decision to marry a Cushite wife.
They asked, “Has the Lord spoken only to Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken through us? And the Lord heard this” (Numbers 12:2). In other words, these two jealous people felt Moses was not better than them and he shouldn’t be the only one who hears from God. Unfortunately, God was displeased with them, and Mariam suffered from leprosy as a form of punishment. Thank God for Moses’s intercession; she would have died in that condition.
Many believers exhibit this same jealous behavior, especially in the church of God. They’re always competing for positions of leadership without considering the sacrifices that come with it.
Psalm 75:5-6 says, “No one from the east or west or from the desert can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.” Allow God to promote you at His own time and never envy anyone’s progress and achievements.
6. The Prodigal Son and his Brother
Many people mainly focus on the lavish lifestyle of the prodigal son and his father’s acceptance, but there’s more to this story. In the book of John 15:11-32, Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son who asked his father for the share of his inheritance. When the young man received the inheritance, he squandered it until he was left with nothing. Thereafter, he began to work on a pig farm to fend for himself, longing to eat the food given to the pigs.
Knowing fully well that his father’s servants were living a better life, the prodigal son returned home to his father. Surprisingly, his father received him with joy and even threw a feast to welcome him back home. However, the prodigal son’s older brother did not share in his father’s joy and good news of his brother’s return. Instead, he felt cheated and became jealous because he felt the feast should have been thrown on his behalf.
Even though this parable paints a vivid picture of the love the heavenly father has for His children, it exposes the rage of a man who has the spirit of jealousy in his heart.
Apostle Paul admonishes believers in Romans 12:15, saying, “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.”.
No matter the circumstances, we should learn to be happy with people who are rejoicing instead of entertaining anger and resentment towards them. Everyone has their own divine time for the manifestation of greatness. If you always rejoice with people instead of being jealous of their success, your day of joy will surely come.
7. Ahab and Naboth
King Ahab’s obsession with Naboth’s vineyard and the lengths he went to to get it give a clear understanding of the moral corruption associated with jealousy. 1 King 21 tells the story of Ahab, the king of Israel who developed a strange interest towards Naboth’s vineyard.
Despite several attempts by the king to get the vineyard for himself, Naboth refused to release the land to him because it was an inheritance from his ancestors. As a result of this rejection, King Ahab became sad and angry and refused to eat.
Realizing that something was wrong with her husband, Queen Jezebel came in and asked, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” (1 Kings 21:5). The King narrated everything that happened to his wife, and she came up with a plan to kill Naboth. Of course, the plan of Jezebel worked out as expected, but she incurred the anger of the Lord upon herself and her husband (1 Kings 21:17-19).
From this biblical record, we can see that Ahab’s sin began with jealousy, before advancing to covetousness and murder. Many people find themselves in similar situations where they desperately desire certain things in their neighbor’s possessions and would do anything to get them.
There’s nothing wrong with desiring the good things that others have if you can afford them. However, exhibiting manipulative behaviors and evil schemes to get them is not pleasing in the sight of the lord. Besides, it has deadly consequences, as we see in the case of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel.
Final Thoughts
Understand that the spirit of jealousy can operate in the life of anyone, whether believer or not. If this spirit lingers for too long, it will open the door for more deadly sins. Maybe you’re struggling with jealousy, ask God to help you get rid of it with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, learn to be grateful for the things you have. Also trust God for the things you want but don’t have at the moment. Consider speaking to a trusted child of God if possible. Hopefully, they can help you overcome this work of the flesh. May the Lord continue to strengthen you as you proceed in your spiritual journey.
Kennie Oguntoyinbo is a freelance content writer, editor and proofreader with over 4 years of experience. She is highly skilled in creating captivating and informative content across the Christian, relationship, and parenting niches. With a deep love for Christian-related articles, she writes content that inspires the readers, combining biblical lessons with practical knowledge. Whether writing devotional blogs, relationship advice, or family-focused articles, she aims to glorify God while connecting with readers through relatable, encouraging, faith-driven articles.
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