Bible Dictionaries
Zeal

　　Zeal is always in the NT the translationζηλωτής, and always in a good sense; the bad sense is translated by ‘envy’. As a desirable quality in the Christian, the word is almost peculiar to St. Paul’s letters and speeches. Its contemporary use was chiefly in a bad sense; it stood for envy, and as a proper noun it furnished the party name that covered a very pernicious patriotism (