Wikipedia will define this word for you. It says, “Schadenfreude is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. It is a borrowed word from German, with no direct translation, that originated in the 18th century.” It says that the word showed up in the 1700s in Germany and in English in the 1800s. I think the idea is much more ancient than that. We might find the idea in the mind of Caine before he murdered his brother Abel. If you studied the bible stories, I’m sure we’d find it in a lot of places, as well as Solomon advising us against it in the book of Proverbs. Commenting on the passages from Proverbs that speak to this, the United Bible Societies, “Handbook for Translators, says, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls: The warning Do not rejoice means “don’t be happy,” don’t take pleasure, because of what happens to someone else.” It goes on to quote the Contemporary English Version (CEV) translation of a similar passage that says, “Don’t be happy to see your enemies trip and fall down.”[1] But, honestly, don’t you think there might be a twinge of this in each and every one of us? It is something that is the normal human response. But you don’t find it in the man after God’s own heart.
Saul had tormented David until David fled from his home, family, friends, and country to keep peace in Israel. Although God had presented him with several opportunities to dispatch his enemy, Saul, David refused to act. God blessed David with great success. God cursed Saul with great failure and defeat. He and his son, Jonathan, were killed in battle on the same day against the very Philistine Army that David defeated after killing Goliath. I think it is almost natural to rejoice, or at least smile, at the misfortune that fell upon an enemy. How does David react? Here’s what we read in the first chapter of 2 Samuel, Verse 11, “Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them…And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan, his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.”
Being a man after God’s own heart, David managed to keep the big picture in mind over his own personal interests. He cared more about the nation of Israel than he did about his position and role amongst them. He quietly stepped back and let God work in his conflict situation with Saul. God acted in David’s favor, but David did not gloat or celebrate or even secretly smile at the disaster that fell upon his Enemy. He wept for him. Schadenfreude is the offspring of vengeance. It’s the secret way we get even with others. The greatest giant that David ever slew was not Goliath. It was the monster of Schadenfreude. He never struck back in his conflict with Saul. Max Lucado writes, “Revenge is irreverent. When we strike back, we are saying, ‘I know vengeance is yours, God, but I just didn’t think you’d punish enough. I thought I’d better take this situation into my own hands.” Ogilvie writes, “There are few things more destructive than hatred that is nourished within a heart. It can destroy marriages and families, churches and denominations, and even countries.”
It is often argued that vengeance is a character trait of the God of the Old Testament. Jesus made it clear that personal vengeance if not outright prohibited, is discouraged for our own welfare. Jesus even offers that the ethic of helping one’s enemies should replace retaliation. Scaer observed that “This apparent dissimilarity led Marcion in the second century, Schleiermacher in the eighteenth century, and some scholars since then to conclude that the Old Testament religion was inferior to that of the New Testament. Such a view characterizing the Old Testament as absolute demand for vengeance overlooks Joseph’s forgiving his brothers.”[2] It also overlooks David’s remorse over the misfortune of Saul.
[1] Reyburn, William David, and Euan McG. Fry. 2000. A Handbook on Proverbs. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.
[2] Scaer, David P. 1996. “Vengeance.” In Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., 796. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.