Malice

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

General scriptures concerning

• Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
• Leviticus 19:14 You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
• Leviticus 19:17–18 You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
• Deuteronomy 27:17–18 ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the road.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
• Deuteronomy 32:32–33 But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
• 2 Kings 6:21–22 And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” “Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”
• Job 15:35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
• Job 31:29–30 If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him — I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse —
• Psalm 4:2 How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah
• Psalm 7:14–16 Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood. He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making. His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.

See Conspiracy

See Hatred

See Homicide

See Jealousy

See Revenge

Instances of

Cain toward Abel

• Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Ishmael toward Sarah

• Genesis 21:9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

Sarah toward Hagar

• Genesis 21:10 and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”

Philistines toward Isaac

• Genesis 26 Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you. Stay in this land as a foreigner, an… (whole chapter)

Esau toward Jacob

• Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Joseph's brothers toward Joseph

• Genesis 37 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan. This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now Isr… (whole chapter)
• Genesis 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

Potiphar's wife toward Joseph

• Genesis 39:14–20 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” So Potiphar’s wife kept…

Ammonites toward the Israelites

• Deuteronomy 23:3–4 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation. For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.

Saul toward David

• 1 Samuel 18:8–29 And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?” And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David. The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and h…
• 1 Samuel 19 Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan delighted greatly in David, so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field… (whole chapter)
• 1 Samuel 20:30–33 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your ki…
• 1 Samuel 22:6–18 Soon Saul learned that David and his men had been discovered. At that time Saul was sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with his spear in hand and all his servants standing around him. Then Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse giving all of you…
• 1 Samuel 23:7–23 When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men. When David learned that Saul was plotting evil…
• 1 Samuel 26:18 And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?

David toward Michal

• 2 Samuel 6:21–23 But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD, and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants…

David toward Joab

• 1 Kings 2:5–6 Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me— what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.

Shimei

• 1 Kings 2:8–9 Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’ Now therefore, do not hold him g…

Shimei toward David

• 2 Samuel 16:5–8 As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s…

Ahithophel toward David

• 2 Samuel 17:1–3 Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king and bring all the people back to…

Jezebel toward Elijah

• 1 Kings 19:1–2 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!”

Ahaziah toward Elijah

• 2 Kings 1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.” But the angel of the… (whole chapter)

Jehoram toward Elisha

• 2 Kings 6:31 He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

Samaritans toward the Jews

• Ezra 4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King E… (whole chapter)
• Nehemiah 2:10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.
• Nehemiah 4 Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they compl… (whole chapter)
• Nehemiah 6 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left— though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates— Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the pla… (whole chapter)

Haman toward Mordecai

• Esther 3:5–15 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage. And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xer…
• Esther 5:9–14 That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And calling for his friends and his wife Ze…

Jeremiah's enemies

• Jeremiah 26:8–11 and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die! How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be des…
• Jeremiah 38 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people: “This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans w… (whole chapter)

Nebuchadrezzar toward Zedekiah

• Jeremiah 52:10–11 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.

Daniel's enemies

• Daniel 6:4–9 Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him. Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we…

Herodias toward John

• Matthew 14:3–10 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet. On…
• Mark 6:24–28 Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.” At once the girl hurried back to the king with her request: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.” The king was consumed with sorrow, but…

Herod Antipas toward Jesus

• Luke 23:11 And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.

The Jewish leaders toward Jesus

• Matthew 27:18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
• Mark 12:12 At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away.
• Mark 15:10 For he knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over.
• Luke 11:53–54 As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things, waiting to catch Him in something He might say.

James and John toward the Samaritans

• Luke 9:54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

Jews toward Paul

• Acts 17:5 The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
• Acts 23:12 When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
• Acts 25:3 to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.

Masters of the sorcerous damsel toward Paul

• Acts 16:19–24 When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace. They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil by promoting customs that are unlawfu…