Aramaic: Jealous God OR Zealous God

 

Aramaic: Jealous God OR Zealous God

Have you ever been puzzled by this verse in 

Exodus 20:5: “For I the Lord [Yahweh] thy God am a jealous God.” 

And again in:

Exodus 34:14 “for the Lord [Yahweh] whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” 

But John says, “God is love” in 1 John 4:8. “Love” is a synonym for “God.” 

But is the infinite Presence (God) really pure, unconditional love, or does God (love) express jealousy? 

If so, of whom or of what is God jealous? Is the love of God limited by jealousy? Does God, as love, evidence Itself as jealousy?


How to understand this problem of God’s jealousy? 

Understand that the word "jealous" in the above verses comes from the original Aramaic word "Tanana".

Tanana in Aramaic means “zealous,” “ardent desire,” and “jealous.”

Therefore, a more appropriate translation of what God told Moses is:

“because I am the Lord [Yahweh] your God, a Zealous God.”

(Ex. 20:5, Aramaic text, Errico translation.)

“Zealous” denotes a divine care. Yahweh God was zealous for his people. Law, order, justice, and righteousness were to reign among the 
Hebrews.

Then again, the King James Version says: “for thou shalt worship no other god; for the Lord [Yahweh] whose name is Jealous, is a jealous 
God.” 

However, the Aramaic text reads: “For you shall worship no other god; for the Lord [Yahweh] whose name is Zealous, is a zealous God.”
(Ex. 34:14, Aramaic text, Errico translation.)

What is most interesting is that the Hebrew noun kin’ah in the above verses also means “Zealous.”

According to Jewish commentators, the rendering of the noun kin’ah as “jealous” when it relates to divine disfavor has Nothing in common 
with our English word “jealousy.”

(Commentary by Rabbi Dr. S. Fisch, M.A., Ezekiel: with Hebrew Text and English Translation).

So what we have learnt in the past was a translation error.