What Does Proverbs 24:1 Mean in the King James?

Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

Proverbs 24:1 · KJV

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

Envy is not shown as a private feeling; it bends desire toward the company of the envied.

THE MEANING

The verse exposes how envy toward people doing evil can become a desire for their company. The pull reaches beyond what they do to the wish to stand among them.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie is that envy of evil people can remain detached from the desire to join their company.

THE ROOT

תְּקַנֵּא

teqanneʾ

GROWS FROM

קנא

To be jealous or zealous.

“envious” in this verse is teqanneʾ. The verb ⁨תְּקַנֵּא⁩ (teqanneʾ, be jealous or zealous) comes from ⁨קנא⁩ (qana), a root that also gives the noun ⁨קִנְאָה⁩ (qinʾāh, jealousy or zeal). Beside the desire to be with these people, envy appears as a charged regard that can draw you toward their company.

ALSO GROWS

qinʾāh: Jealousy or zeal.

קִנְאָה

This noun shares the root ⁨קנא⁩ and shows that the verse’s “envious” belongs to a wider family of charged regard.

qannāʾ: Jealous or zealous.

קַנָּא

This adjective shares the same root and shows that ⁨קנא⁩ describes a quality as well as an action.

THE PATTERN

Envy can turn regard for the wicked into a desire for their company and a share in the disorder around them.

A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

Psalm 37:1 · KJVThe same Hebrew root ⁨קנא⁩ (qana, be jealous or zealous) names envy toward evildoers.

Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

Proverbs 23:17 · KJVEnvy is located in the heart, showing where the pull toward another’s way begins.

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

James 3:16 · KJVEnvy appears alongside strife and the disorder that accompanies evil work.

THE THREAD

Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

Proverbs 23:17 · KJV

The same root ⁨קנא⁩ (qana, be jealous or zealous) names the heart’s envy here. Proverbs 24:1 carries that inward regard outward into a desire for company.

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