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is used, it might be more appropriate to understand it as “zealous.” When God is the
subject of the verb
%
, the meaning is “be zealous,” and the preposition (“to, for”) is
used before the object: His holy name (Ezek. 39:25); His land (Joel 2:18); and His
inheritance (Zech. 1:14). Cf. Zech. 8:2: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: I am very
jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her” (
NIV
), where we must interpret
“jealous[y]” as “zealous” and “zeal.”
In the Septuagint the word
(“zeal; ardor; jealousy”) brings out the Hebrew
usage. In the English versions similar translations are given: “to be jealous” or “to be
zealous” (
KJV
,
RSV
,
NASB
,
NIV
) and to be envious (
KJV
and
NIV
)
B. Noun.
%
(
, 7068), “ardor; zeal; jealousy.” This noun occurs 43 times in biblical
Hebrew. One occurrence is in Deut. 29:20: “The Lord will not spare him, but then the
anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man.…”
C. Adjectives.
%
(
3
, 7067), “jealous.” This adjective occurs 6 times in the Old Testament.
The word refers directly to the attributes of God’s justice and holiness, as He is the sole
object of human worship and does not tolerate man’s sin. One appearance is in Exod.
20:5: “… For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
The adjective
%
also means “jealous.” This word appears only twice, with
implications similar to
%
. Josh. 24:19 is one example: “And Joshua said unto the
people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not
forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” Nah. 1:2 contains the other occurrence of
%
.
TO JUDGE
A. Verb.
(
+!
, 8199), “to judge, deliver, rule.” This verb also occurs in Ugaritic,
Phoenician, Arabic, Akkadian, and post-biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew attests
around 125 times and in all periods.
In many contexts this root has a judicial sense.
-
refers to the activity of a third
party who sits over two parties at odds with one another. This third party hears their cases
against one another and decides where the right is and what to do about it (he functions as
both judge and jury). So Sarai said to Abram: “My wrong [outrage done me] be upon
thee [in your lap]: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had
conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee” (Gen.
16:5—the first occurrence of the word). Sarai had given Hagar to Abram in her stead.
This act was in keeping with ancient Nuzu law, which Abram apparently knew and
followed. The legal rights to the child would be Sarai’s. This would mean that Hagar “did
all the work” and received none of the privileges. Consequently she made things
miserable for Sarai. As the tribal and family head Abram’s responsibility was to keep
things in order. This he did not do. Thus Sarai declares that she is innocent of
wrongdoing; she has done nothing to earn Hagar’s mistreatment, and Abram is at fault in