A Jealous God?
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14
Are you familiar with Shakespeare’s description of jealousy as a “green-eyed monster”?[i]
I don’t know about the green-eyed part, but describing jealousy as a monster seems appropriate. I have allowed jealousy to gnaw at my joy, peace, and faith sometimes. Maybe you have too. Jealousy can destroy opportunities and relationships if we feed this monstrous emotion a steady diet of comparisons and complaints. Paul listed jealousy with sins such as rage, selfish ambition, and gossip in 2 Corinthians 12:20.
Therefore, to associate jealousy with a holy God seems blasphemous. And yet twice in Exodus and three times in Deuteronomy, God is described as a jealous God. So, as with love, there must be both a godly and ungodly version of this powerful emotion.
The Hebrew word translated “jealous” in most English versions of the Bible is kanna (or qanna). Strong’s Concordance defines kanna as “used of God as not bearing any rival,” which correlates with the dictionary definition of jealous: “intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness.”[ii]
But jealous can also mean “zealous in guarding.” In fact, jealous and zealous come from the same Latin root.[iii] This connection helps us make sense of what the Bible means when it says God is a jealous God. To be zealous is to be 
passionately dedicated to a person, cause, or ideal.
Consider what God says about the nation of Israel in Jeremiah 31:3—“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (ESV). That zealous love extends to us as well. As Paul declared in Romans 8:38–39, nothing will ever be able to separate us from God’s passionate devotion to us.
When God revealed himself to Moses on Mount Sinai, he declared his zealous commitment to Israel’s well-being by forbidding them to make covenants with the Canaanites (Exodus 34:11–16). He loved them too much to allow them to form alliances with nations that practiced sins such as human sacrifice. The other declarations of his jealous nature are also connected to his desire to prevent his people from worshiping false gods that would fracture their relationship with him (Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9, 6:15).
I’m grateful that God is passionately dedicated to my well-being. His zealous jealousy means my trust in him is well-founded. Jehovah-Kanna will intervene when I’m in danger, and he’ll discipline me when I’m pursuing destructive practices.
How is Jehovah-Kanna demonstrating his zealous, jealous love for you?
Dig Deeper
Read what God says about himself in Exodus 34:5–17. How does he balance his loving nature with his righteous requirements? Does that help you view God as both loving and righteous?
Read Joshua’s final charge to the Israelites in Joshua 24:1–25. How does he establish God’s right to be jealous (v. 19) with his reminders in verses 1–14?
Read 2 Corinthians 11:1–4. Paul’s reference to “godly jealousy” may sound like an oxymoron, but what point is he trying to make? How would you describe the difference between godly jealousy and ungodly jealousy?
Denise K. Loock
[i] Othello, Act III, scene iii, line 166.
[ii] “H7067 – qannā’ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 24 Feb, 2025. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7067/kjv/wlc/0-1/; “Jealous,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, accessed February 24, 2025, https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/jealous.
[iii] “Jealous,” Etymonline, accessed February 24, 2025, https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=jealous.
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This devotion is part of a series on the Names of God.