What Does Genesis 26:14 Mean in the King James?
For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word for envy belongs to the same word-family as zeal, giving the reaction to Isaac’s abundance a charged intensity.
THE MEANING
Visible increase can coexist with resentment; abundance does not guarantee welcome. The envy belongs to the people watching, while the abundance remains real.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that visible success naturally earns goodwill is undone here: increase can draw envy as well as recognition.
THE ROOT
וַיְקַנְאוּ
wayqannəʾû
GROWS FROM
קנא
q-n-ʾ
To be jealous or zealous.
“envied” in this verse is wayqannəʾû. The root’s word-family holds jealousy and zeal together, naming an intense response rather than passive dislike. Here that response arises around Isaac’s visible increase, placing abundance and envy in the same scene.
ALSO GROWS
qin’ah: Jealousy or zeal.
קִנְאָה
This noun shows that the root can name either intense envy or intense zeal.
qannā’: Jealous or zealous.
קַנָּא
This related form carries the same intensity as a quality, as in the description of God as jealous.
מִקְנֵה
miqneh
GROWS FROM
קנה
q-n-h
To acquire, buy, or gain possession.
The Hebrew word translated “possession” here refers to livestock or stock: the holdings are concrete herds, not an abstract status. Its root ties those herds to acquiring, making the increase visible in what Isaac owns.
ALSO GROWS
qānāh: To acquire or buy.
קָנָה
The verb makes the root sense of gaining or owning explicit.
qinyan: Acquisition or property.
קִנְיָן
This related noun keeps the sense of acquired holdings close to the word for Isaac’s livestock.
THE PATTERN
When another person’s visible flourishing becomes an object of comparison, envy can turn it into rivalry and disorder.
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.THE THREAD
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.Genesis 37:11 uses קנא (qana, to be jealous or zealous) for the brothers’ envy. The same root gathers around Joseph’s distinction, carrying the pattern from visible abundance into family rivalry.
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