Is Selfishness Condemned in the Bible?

In the NIV, it is:

Psalm 119:36
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

Proverbs 18:1
An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.

2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

Galatians 5:20
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

Philippians 1:17
The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

James 3:14
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

James 3:16
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

What does Douay Rheims say?

Psalm 118:36*
Incline my heart into thy testimonies and not to covetousness.

Proverbs 18:1
He that hath a mind to depart from a friend seeketh occasions: he shall ever be subject to reproach.

2 Corinthians 12:20
For I fear lest perhaps when I come I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found by you such as you would not. Lest perhaps contentions, envyings, animosities, dissensions, detractions, whisperings, swellings, seditions, be among you.

Galatians 5:20
Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects,

Philippians 1:17
And some out of contention preach Christ not sincerely: supposing that they raise affliction to my bands.

Philippians 2:3
Let nothing be done through contention, neither by vain glory: but in humility, let each esteem others better than themselves:

James 3:14
But if you have bitter zeal, and there be contentions in your hearts; glory not, and be not liars against the truth.

James 3:16
For where envying and contention is, there is inconstancy, and every evil work.

What are the differences?

First, "selfish" translates "egoist" which is opposed to "altruist" by a certain Immanuel Kant. Making "altruist rather than egoist" the basis of morality was kind of his invention. I think you will find it in Critik der practischen Vernunft - a book I admit I have not read. Many of the older Protestant confessions which were around when he wrote (Lutherans, Anglicans, Calvinists) tended to adopt his philosophy which is one of the reasons for both Modernism and for an ethic involving the opposition "selfish" vs "unselfish" - and many later divisions of Protestantism accepted the ethics, while disagreeing about the doctrine.

Now, one of the words that the Douay Rheims uses is "contention" or "contentions" - which refers to "condent" - it is sometimes used in a good way:

Jude 1:3
Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.

What does the word mean, in everyday language? It means for "contend" to quarrel or dispute, and for contentions "quarrels" or for contention "being quarrelsome" - so the verdict of those verses is, not about selfishness, but about quarrelsomeness. While we sometimes do need to quarrel for a good cause (Jude 1:3, or David taking up a quarrel with Goliath), we are forbidden to be quarrelsome, to be eager to find something to quarrel about.

Another word is "covetuousness" - it means one thing classified as "selfish" by those using the word, but not everything else so classified. It means specifically being greedy.

But isn't quarrels excluded by Galatians 5:20? Because there, quarrels come after contentions are already mentioned? I think in that verse the words are distinguished by "contentions" meaning the refusal to find an agreement and "quarrels" the verbal dispute that arises. The verbal abuse. And perhaps this is where I should start looking at the Greek ...

Galatians 5:20
εἰδωλολατρία, φαρμακεία, ἔχθραι, ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοί, ἐριθεῖαι, διχοστασίαι, αἱρέσεις,

For this word list, some words I already knew, most I had to look up. It's in 1993 that I had my best knowledge of Greek, which I have not really kept up since.

εἰδωλολατρία, idolatry
φαρμακεία, (often translated) witchcraft (but can also mean making of medical drugs)
ἔχθραι, enmities
ἔρις, disunion
ζῆλος, being eager
θυμοί, getting excited
ἐριθεῖαι, quarrelsomeness
διχοστασίαι, standings apart, dissensions
αἱρέσεις, heresies (personal choices, personal preferences pitted against the common good of the faith once given)

None of these are the exact concept of "selfishness" even if more than one could be described as selfish by those using the word.

Proverbs 18:1 also stands out verbally. I think it means quarrelsomeness, but will try to see Hebrew interlinear. I didn't learn the language.**

Proverbs 18
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/proverbs/18.htm

8378 [e] lə·ṯa·’ă·wāh
לְֽ֭תַאֲוָה 1
Desire Prep‑l | N‑fs

1245 [e] yə·ḇaq·qêš
יְבַקֵּ֣שׁ
seeks his own V‑Piel‑Imperf‑3ms

6504 [e] nip̄·rāḏ;
נִפְרָ֑ד
a man who isolates himself V‑Nifal‑Prtcpl‑ms

3605 [e] bə·ḵāl
בְּכָל־
against all Prep‑b | N‑msc

8454 [e] tū·šî·yāh,
תּ֝וּשִׁיָּ֗ה
wise judgment N‑fs

1566 [e] yiṯ·gal·lā‘.
יִתְגַּלָּֽע׃
He rages V‑Hitpael‑Imperf‑3ms

What about yə·ḇaq·qêš? 1245. baqash - seek, pursue a goal. However, piel is generally not reflexive, it is intensive.

RDRD Bible Study : The Hebrew Piel Verbal Stem: Intensifying The Idea
Posted by T Whitfield | Sep 1, 2018 | Hebrew, Original Languages
https://rdrdbiblestudy.com/the-hebrew-piel-verbal-stem-intensifying-the-idea/

Or nip̄·rāḏ? 6504. parad to divide, and is Nifal perhaps reflexive?

Niphal (Niph˓al)
https://biblicalhebrew.org/niphal.aspx

(a) primarily reflexive of Qal, e.g. נִלְחַץ to thrust oneself (against), נִשְׁמַר to take heed to oneself, φυλάσσεσθαι, נִסְתַּר to hide oneself, נִגְאַל to redeem oneself; cf. also נַֽעֲנֶה to answer for oneself. ...

(b) It expresses reciprocal or mutual action, e.g. דִּבֶּר to speak, Niph. to speak to one another; שָׁפַט to judge, Niph. to go to law with one another; יָעַץ to counsel, Niph. to take counsel, cf. the middle and deponent verbs βουλεύεσθαι (נוֹעַץ), μάξεσθαι (נְלְחַם), altercari, luctari (נִצָּה to strive with one another) proeliari. ...

(c) It has also, like Hithpa˓ēl and the Greek middle, the meaning of the active, with the addition of to oneself (sibi), for oneself, e.g. נִשְׁאַל to ask (something) for oneself (1 S 20:6,20:28, Neh 13:6), cf. αἰτοῦμαί σε τοῦτο, ἐδύσασθαι χιτωσνα to put out on (oneself) a tunic. ...

(d) In consequence of a looseness of thought at an early period of the language, Niph˓al comes finally in many cases to represent the passive of Qal, e.g. יָלַד to bear, Niph. to be born; קָכַר to bury, Niph. to be buried. In cases where Qal is intransitive in meaning, or is not used, Niph˓al appears also as the passive of Pi˓ēl and Hiph˓îl, e.g. כָּבֵד to be in honour, Pi˓ēl to honour, Niph. to be honoured (as well as Pu˓al כֻּבַּד); כָּחַד Pi˓ēl to conceal, Hiph. to destroy, Niph. passive of either. In such cases Niph˓al may again coincide in meaning with Qal (הָלָה Qal and Niph. to be ill) and even take an accusative ...

So, a nip̄·rāḏ is one who divides himself, who divides for himself or (pl) people who divide from each other, or (back to singular) one likely to get involved ... could be selfish, but seems to be equally likely to be quarrelsome.

Or bə·ḵāl tū·šî·yāh? Seems to mean foolishly rather than selfishly. Only two words remain:

A) lə·ṯa·’ă·wāh? 8378. taavah - dainty, desire, exceedingly, greedily, lusting, pleasant.
B) yiṯ·gal·lā‘? 1566. gala - disclose. THere is a special entry about Hitpael, which is the identified stem form.

Hithpa`el Perfect הִתְגַּלַּע Proverbs 17:14; Imperfect יִתְגַּלָּ֑ע Proverbs 18:1; Proverbs 20:3; — disclose oneself, break out, Proverbs 17:14 subject רִיב; break or burst out in contention, strife Proverbs 20:3 subject כָּלאֱֿוִיל; similarly Proverbs 18:1 (followed by בְּ against; Grl.c. proposes יִלְעַג or יַלְעִיג).

So, again, we cannot totally live without desires, but being covetuous about them and quarrelsome is forbidden. Chosing something more likely to benefit oneself rather than someone else isn't, if done with moderation and consideration for the other's rights.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
IV Lord's Day after Epiphany
29.I.2023

PS - by fatigue, I posted this on the wrong blog, it should have been on Great Bishop of Geneva!/HGL

* Douay Rheims, like the Vulgate, has the LXX numbering of the Psalms.

** So, don't ask me to pronounce the Hebrew text, except the transliterations in the interlinear version ...