Texts in Conversation
1 John describes three things that lead people astray: physical pleasure, what the eyes see, and pride in wealth. Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei Avot has a similar list, warning that envy, appetite, and the pursuit of honor send a person's life off course.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 John 2:16
New Testament
14 I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
Pirkei Avot 4:21
Mishnah
Rabbinic
20 Elisha ben Abuyah said: He who learns as a child, to what is he compared? To ink written on a new writing sheet. And he who learns as an old man, to what is he compared? To ink written on a rubbed writing sheet. Rabbi Yose ben Judah a man of Kfar Ha-babli said: He who learns from the young, to what is he compared? To one who eats unripe grapes and drinks wine from his vat. And he who learns from the old, to what is he compared? To one who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine. Rabbi said: do not look at the container but at what is in it; there is a new container full of old wine, and an old container in which there is not even new wine. 21 Rabbi Elazar Ha-kappar said: envy, lust, and the desire for honor put a man out of the world.
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Notes and References
"... Envy, appetite, and honor: Desires pit one against one’s community, and this leads to social isolation. Drive a person from the world: See 2:11 ... One tripartite teaching, rather than three distinct teachings. The evil eye: Better “an evil eye” as at 2:9 (see n. 21). The evil desire: The source of desire. Normally expressed as the urge to trespass limits established by the commandments (Avot of Rabbi Nathan A 16; compare Romans 7:21–25), the evil desire can also be figured as the source of human creativity. See 4:1 and 4:22 ..."
Cohen, Shaye J. D.
The Oxford Annotated Mishnah: A New Translation of the Mishnah with Introductions and Notes
(p. 739) Oxford University Press, 2022
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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