Did you ever ask yourself that question? Did anyone ever accuse you of being jealous? Was there the implication that jealousy is a sin to be avoided and for which repentance is required? Recently I put that question into my computer. What kind of answers could I expect? Would this usually unreliable source tell me that jealousy is a virtue? Or, would it tell me that jealousy is a sin? As usual, the answers were confusing and contradictory. One blog reported, “In the Scriptures, jealousy is a virtue. Like all good things, it can be bent and distorted into a sin.” Another article intoned: “Jealousy: The Green-Eyed Monster! How to Handle It.” Psychology Today, that secular source of implied wisdom, offered “Ten Reasons why Jealousy Is Bad.” Another source offered “Three Reasons We Can Get Jealous.”

If you are one of those persons who still loves to read the plays of Shakespeare, you probably recognize that jealousy is a prime subject in many of his tragedies. One of the most impressive delineations of jealousy is found in Othello the Moor. In it, jealousy is portrayed as an all-consuming, destructive, and tragic passion leading to death. Given this kind of imagery, readers will conclude that jealousy should be harshly condemned as a combination of ignorance, infatuation, despotic temperament, moral unfitness, and merciless means to win someone’s love. Shakespeare seems to have been convinced that jealousy is the root of evil and the cause of death. Sad to say, he contributes to our confusion.

As Reformed believers, we hold to the doctrine of sola Scriptura. We believe that God’s Word is our ultimate authority for all matters of faith and life. We look to God as the source of knowledge and wisdom. Furthermore, we believe that the Bible is its own best interpreter. Whenever we confront fundamental issues of life, we look to it for conclusive answers.1 When we deal with relationships between ourselves and our neighbors, or between ourselves and God, we need to consult God’s Word. Secular psychology will only confuse us and, probably, lead us down a wrong path.

When we turn to our concordance or go to our search engine on our computers, one of the first sources would be the Ten Commandments, where we are told that we should not make any graven images or worship any other god, for “I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:5). That would, quite likely, leave us focusing on the commands and not on the adjective describing God. We could easily pass over that without a second thought. But, as we read further, we encounter some expositions of those commands when the Israelites foolishly persuade Aaron to fashion a golden calf as an object of worship.

God is so angry that he threatens to wipe out the whole nation, but Moses argues against such a radical response. Amazing reaction: God listens to Moses and softens his reaction. He tells Moses:

Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). (Ex. 34:11–14)

His Name Is Jealous

If you were asked to list a number of names for God, what names would you suggest? You would probably start with the name Jehovah. Maybe you would even revert to the Hebrew version of Jahweh, thereby parading your Hebrew credentials. You would certainly refer to him as Lord God Almighty. You would probably add such designations as King of kings and Lord of lords. You would also put down such names as Father, Creator, Almighty, Sovereign Lord. Recognizing the three persons of the Trinity as being God, you would certainly add the names of Jesus, Christ, Son of Man, Savior, Lamb of God. You would also add the various names for the Holy Spirit, such as Comforter and Holy Ghost.

The Context

Not many of you, I suspect, would list his name as Jealous. Yet, that is what God calls himself. He wants us to know him as being Jealous. What does that mean? How are we to understand and apply that in our lives? When we examine the context, we note that God is incredibly angry at his own people, the ones he has just rescued from slavery in Egypt. In conversation with Moses, God declares, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now, therefore, let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them” (Ex. 32:10). That anger takes an even more radical turn when Moses commands the Levites, “‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and that day about three thousand men of the people fell” (Ex. 32:27–28).

When God continues his response to Moses, he makes a promise: “ I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites” (Ex. 34:11). Those are the people currently living in the Promised Land, all of them idol worshippers. He will tolerate no competitors. He will annihilate all those people who worship other gods. His anger is so intense that he threatens to destroy his own people. But, it is also directed against those who break that first and second commandment. He will brook no false worship.

The Old Testament is clear. God is holy. He is righteous. He hates idolatry. The book of Ezekiel, which foretells the potential return to Jerusalem, makes eight references to divine jealousy. When the remnant does return from exile and restores the temple worship, God, through his prophet Zechariah, declares: “I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath” (Zech. 8:2). God is not ashamed to focus on the fact that he is a jealous God. He is not afraid to confess to intense anger at false worship.

The Confusion

Quite probably, few of you have been reading Shakespeare’s play, Othello the Moor. So that is not the source of your confusion. Quite probably, you have been reading your New Testament, which is the source of much confusion, especially among Christians. If you have been using the New International Version (NIV), you probably have encountered a number of texts which list jealousy as a sin. According to my count, there are fourteen passages where “jealousy” is listed along with other sinful behaviors. If you have been using the New American Standard Bible (NASB), you probably found some twelve passages where that language occurs. If so, you should then be asking some questions: How can jealousy be the name and attribute of God in the Old Testament but a sin in the New? Are not the two Testaments supposed to be in agreement? Is jealousy a virtue with God but a sin with men?

The confusion comes not because of illogical revelation from God, the source of all knowledge. On the contrary, the confusion comes from poor translation. If you read the Authorized Version (the King James Bible), you will not be confused. That historic version uses the word envy where the NIV and the NASB insert the word jealousy. God never calls himself Envy, but he does call himself Jealous. Envy is evil; it is the object of the tenth commandment, usually referred to as coveting. Envy and coveting are sinful, but being jealous, rightly understood, is righteous.

Let me explain. In the Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the root word is zelos (dzay-‘los). That word, in the Greek, had multiple meanings, all of which conveyed an intensity, a fervor, a fierceness of expression. Zelos could mean jealousy, or it could mean envy. The NIV and the NASB wrongly chose to use the meaning of jealousy, thus setting up a conflict with Old Testament usage. Why that wasn’t caught by the final editors we will leave to academic speculation. Apparently, our culture is so convinced that jealousy is sinful that the use of it sent up no red flags.

We need then to ask the question: What is the difference between jealousy and coveting? Why is jealousy a virtue? Why is coveting a sin? The answer lies in the behavior of God first of all. God is jealous because he is trying to protect and preserve his people. Israel was his chosen people. He reminded them of that in numerous ways. When Satan or evil neighbors tried to entice them away, he was righteously angry. When they succumbed to idol worship, he was deeply offended. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, he concluded with: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, or his wife,” or his servants, and a host of other things besides (Ex. 20:17). Coveting is wanting something or someone that is not yours, something that God did not provide. Jealousy is an attempt to preserve and protect what is yours, what God has given to you. If a wife senses that another woman is attempting to entice her husband, she has a right to be jealous. She has a right to become protective and angry.

The Implications

Maybe you are asking the age-old question: So what? What difference does this make? Is the author just putting his academic credentials on display? I hope not. The difference is profound and significant. If you think of the God we worship as loving, kind, gracious, and forgiving, your worship will reflect that. If you think of God as jealous, as angry, as highly possessive, your worship will take on a different tone. The evangelical world today tends to see God as a loving, doting grandfather who willingly ignores the sins of his children. He exudes kindness and love. He blesses us with riches, with money, with prestige, and with power, if we just try to be nice and kind with each other. There is no fear of God in the land, as Paul says in Romans 3:18.

In our western world, church attendance is dipping and many churches are closing. Too many churches have reduced their theology to “Be nice! Love your neighbor!” Those messages, in and by themselves, are good and wholesome, but when that becomes your primary message, God will be deeply offended, for he is jealous. He will tolerate no substitutes. He will be angry and full of wrath. In the Old Testament, Israel often ignored God’s jealousy and cozied up to their idol-worshipping neighbors. They forgot that God was intensely jealous and righteously angry whenever they listened to the siren songs of those around them. Are we doing the same? Are we ignoring an attribute of God that ought to strike fear in our hearts? Are we imitating Israel of old? Does Ezekiel offer some powerful lessons?

1 All Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Dr. Norman De Jong is a semi-retired minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.