Brian, Yes φθόνος is perhaps invariably regarded as bad, and I don’t know if it’s ever attributed to God. In the famous “God is a jealous god” (Exod.20.5, Deut.4.24) the term used is ζηλωτής. In classical Greek, as in the NT, ζῆλος (as applied to humans) in certain contexts can be a commendable thing (zeal, for instance) but the Septuagint is a long way away from that.
Chad, I really can’t say. The fit doesn’t look that good to me, but I know next to nothing about this sort of thing. It’s true that ἡ γραφή strongly suggests a Septuagint reference, but I thought it might be an uncanonical text, if indeed he’s not just bullshitting.
Statistics: Posted by mwh — Sun Jul 07, 2024 4:48 pm