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TO BE JEALOUS, ZEALOUS
A. Verb.
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(
, 7065), “to be jealous; to be zealous.” This verb, derived from the noun
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, occurs 34 times in the Old Testament. The root appears in several Semitic
languages with the meaning “to be zealous” (Aramaic and Ethiopic). In Ugaritic and
Arabic the root occurs, but it is questionable if the root is related to the meaning “to be
zealous”; the meaning in Ugaritic text is uncertain, and the meaning in Arabic, “became
intensely red,” is not to be explained etymologically. The verb
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appears in rabbinic
Hebrew.
At the interhuman level
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has a strongly competitive sense. In its most positive
sense the word means “to be filled with righteous zeal or jealousy.” The law provides that
a husband who suspects his wife of adultery can bring her to a priest, who will administer
a test of adultery. Whether his accusation turns out to be grounded or not, the suspicious
man has a legitimate means of ascertaining the truth. In his case a spirit of jealousy has
come over him, as he “is jealous” of his wife (Num. 5:30). However, even in this context
(Num. 5:12-31), the jealousy has arisen out of a spirit of rivalry which cannot be tolerated
in a marriage relationship. The jealousy must be cleared by a means ordained by the law
and administered by the priests.
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, then, in its most basic sense is the act of
advancing one’s rights to the exclusion of the rights of others: “… Ephraim shall not
envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim” (Isa. 11:13). Saul sought to murder the
Gibeonite enclave “in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah” (2 Sam. 21:2). Next,
the word signifies the attitude of envy toward an opponent. Rachel in her barren state
“envied her sister” (Gen. 30:1) and in the state of envy approached Jacob: “Give me
children, or else I die.” The Philistines envied Isaac because of the multitude of his flocks
and herds (Gen. 26:14).
The Bible contains a strong warning against being envious of sinners, who might
prosper and be powerful today, but will be no more tomorrow: “Do not envy a violent
man or choose any of his ways” (Prov. 3:31,
NIV
; cf. Ps. 37:1).
In man’s relation to God, the act of zeal is more positively viewed as the act of the
advancement of God and His glory over against substitutes. The tribe of Levi received
the right to service because “he was zealous for his God” (Num. 25:13). Elijah viewed
himself as the only faithful servant left in Israel: “I have been very jealous for the Lord
God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant … And I, even I only,
am left …” (1 Kings 19:10). However, the sense of
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is “to make jealous,” that is,
“to provoke to anger”: “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with
abominations provoked they him to anger” (Deut. 32:16).
God is not tainted with the negative connotation of the verb. His holiness does not
tolerate competitors or those who sin against Him. In no single passage in the whole Old
Testament is God described as envious. Even in those texts where the adjective “jealous”