Jealousy

also an intense interest for another’s honour or prosperity

JEALOUSY.—There is no more striking example of the anthropomorphic way of speaking of God characteristic of OT than the frequent ascription to Him of jealousy, associated as that idea is in our minds with an evil meaning. ‘I am a jealous God’ (אֵל קַנָּא Ex 20:5; 34:14; Dt 4:24; 5:9; Jos 24:19; Nah 1:2). Two things may help to remove the feeling of strangeness. The phrase is probably taken from the marriage relation which is so often used in OT to describe the relation between J″ and the people of Israel (Is 54:5; 62:5; Hos 2:19 etc.). Again, although the word is now generally used in a bad sense, it has a good side, as in the case of the marriage relation in question; and it is only in this sense, of course, that it is used in the present connexion. Just as jealousy in husband or wife is the energetic assertion of an exclusive right, so God asserts and vindicates His claim on those who belong to Him alone. The use of the figure is much bolder and more picturesque than the bare assertion of right would be. If God is the husband and Israel the wife, then idolatry and wickedness of every kind are spiritual adultery. Israel is often represented as thus provoking God to jealousy (Dt 32:16; 1 K 14:22 etc.). The phraseology occurs with special frequency in Ezk (5:13; 16:38, 42; 23:25; 36:5, 6; 38:19; 39:25); but it is found in other prophets also (Is passim, Jl 2:18; Zeph 1:18, Zec 1:14; 8:2; Hos 2:2–16).

On the other hand, the term is used to denote passionate concern in man for God’s honour, as in the case of Phinehas (Nu 25:11, 13), Elijah (1 K 19:10), Jehu (2 K 10:16; cf. Ps 119:139). So Jn 2:17 ‘The zeal (ζῆλος) of thine house’ (Ps 69:9); ‘a zeal for God’ (Ro 10:2); ‘I am jealous … with a godly jealousy’ (2 Co 11:2). Cf. ὁ καναναῖος = ὁ ζηλωτής, Lk 6:15.

The law of the jealousy offering is found in Nu 5:11–31. The rite was in the nature of an appeal to God, who was called upon to decide the question of the innocence or guilt of the suspected person. The subsequent practice of ordeals in the West was based on the OT institution.

The words ζηλοῦν and ζῆλος are also used in a bad sense, esp. in NT; ζῆλος is coupled with φθόνος (1 Mac 8:16), ἔρις (Ro 13:13; 1 Co 3:3), and ἐριθία (2 Co 12:20; Gal 5:20; Ja 3:14, 16); cf. Ac 7:9; 1 Co 13:4; Ja 4:2.

23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.