Pro 24:2 | KingComments | STEP | The father warns his son not to be “envious of evil men” ( ). He should not “desire to be with them”, for they are bad company (cf. ). The envy here goes beyond a mere feeling or expression. It involves a desire to be with evil men because of their apparent prosperity. That is not something the son should be envious of or would like to have. Envy is a hateful, resentful awareness of another’s prosperity. Feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation over ( supposedly) unfair treatment may be the result of envy: why does he have that prosperity and I do not? In any case, it is dissatisfaction with one’s own circumstances, a dissatisfaction that results from comparing oneself to others while excluding or keeping God out of the circumstances. Envy is a characteristic of people who suffer from shortsightedness. The word “for” with which begins indicates that now follows the reason for the warning of . Evil people are obsessed with violence. “Their minds” go out to “violence”, which is devised there. “Their lips” express what is in their mind, which is nothing but “trouble”. They speak words that wish someone only doom, misfortune. They owe their apparent prosperity to the violence they have devised in their minds and the words of doom they have spoken. When the son realizes this, surely he will not be so foolish to be with them.

‏ Proverbs 24:2

Don’t Be Envious of Evil Men

The father warns his son not to be “envious of evil men” (Pro 24:1). He should not “desire to be with them”, for they are bad company (cf. Pro 1:10-19 ; Pro 3:31 ; Pro 23:17). The envy here goes beyond a mere feeling or expression. It involves a desire to be with evil men because of their apparent prosperity. That is not something the son should be envious of or would like to have. Envy is a hateful, resentful awareness of another’s prosperity.

Feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation over ( supposedly) unfair treatment may be the result of envy: why does he have that prosperity and I do not? In any case, it is dissatisfaction with one’s own circumstances, a dissatisfaction that results from comparing oneself to others while excluding or keeping God out of the circumstances. Envy is a characteristic of people who suffer from shortsightedness.

The word “for” with which Pro 24:2 begins indicates that now follows the reason for the warning of Pro 24:1. Evil people are obsessed with violence. “Their minds” go out to “violence”, which is devised there. “Their lips” express what is in their mind, which is nothing but “trouble”. They speak words that wish someone only doom, misfortune. They owe their apparent prosperity to the violence they have devised in their minds and the words of doom they have spoken. When the son realizes this, surely he will not be so foolish to be with them.