Envy

Envy is sorrow at another’s good — wanting it taken from him, not only wanting it for oneself. “A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones,” says Proverbs 14:30, and Matthew tells that Pilate “knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him” (Matthew 27:18). Later tradition saw envy in Cain, who “became very angry” when his brother’s offering was accepted and his was not (Genesis 4:5); in Joseph’s brothers, who “were jealous of him” (Genesis 37:11) and sold him to traders bound for Egypt; and in King Saul, who heard the women sing of David’s tens of thousands, and “from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David” (1 Samuel 18:9).

Envy was not among the eight thoughts of Evagrius; Gregory the Great added it to the list. The Book of Wisdom, found in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles, says that death entered the world through the devil’s envy. Later lists set kindness against it. On Dante’s second terrace the envious sit, unable to see, like blind beggars in coarse cloaks, leaning on one another. Artists gave Envy a snake, or a heart she gnaws.