“Till Death Do Us Part”
for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God Exodus 34:14 NASB
Jealous – Out of all the names of God given in the Tanakh, this one is perhaps among the least understood. YHVH, God – His name is Jealous. That word carries with it all sorts of negative connotations in this day and age but, of course, Moses didn’t write it in English or for the 21st century church. In fact, according to the Scriptures, Moses was only recording what God told him to say so what was it that God was saying about Himself?
The word is qanna. In this form it is used only of God, but it describes the type of jealousy that a husband has for his wife.
It is used elsewhere for the jealousy of a husband who suspects his wife of being unfaithful. In the context of Exodus 34, it is using that to liken God’s relationship with His people with that of a husband and wife, and He is warning his people to remain faithful to Him.
It also has another meaning – ardent zeal. In fact, Young’s Literal Translation renders it as zealous (instead of jealous) in this verse. The TWOT [1] suggests that zeal can be characterised in two ways – zeal for one’s own property (jealousy – positive) or zeal for another’s property (envy – negative). In this sense, perhaps the YLT has it right. God is zealous for His people. Zealously loving, zealously desiring, zealously protecting and zealously correcting when necessary.
Those familiar with the work of teachers such as Dr. Frank Seekins will be aware that every Hebrew letter is a picture with a specific meaning. Therefore, every Hebrew word is a comic strip, which tells a story in pictures. The root word for qanna is qana – quph nun alef. The word picture for this is “the strong giver of life” or “the first giver of life.” A very apt description, I’m sure you’ll agree. But as used in this verse, the letter nun has a dot inside it called a dagesh. This dagesh has a couple of specific grammatical functions; in this particular usage it doubles the consonant in which it appears, hence qanna instead of qana. Since the pictorial meaning of the letter nun is life, the dagesh modifies the word picture to “the giver of abundant life” and in this specific form it is used only of God.
God is zealous – He is the giver of abundant life. That is an essential part of His nature. That is His name. He is zealous for His bride, even to the point of death. How will you respond to His plea?
Topical Index: qanna, jealous, zealous, Exodus 34:14
Rodney Baker, Adelaide
And a note from Skip: When Yeshua says that He has come to bring abundant life, speaking in Hebrew, he would have used the same word, implying that He is God. All of that is absent when the message is translated into Greek.
“implying that He is God.”
In the movie Collateral, the character played by Tom Cruise is a little like Ha Satan
As the bad guy, TC is teaching his “student” played by Jamie Fox how to find the “fire in his belly”
A little bit like the meaning of Job, get the job done no matter what it takes
A little bit like Jesus, in The Essential Jesus, by John Dominic Crossan
For example:
The Kingdom of God is like this
A fisherman drew his full net from the sea
Among the many small fish was a single large one
He grabbed hold of it and threw back all the rest
(But how is the Kingdom of God like that?)
Jesus may have been a lot like God
But he was not God
You cannot nail God to the Cross
Michael,
I’m interested.
How did you come to the conclusion that ‘You cannot nail God to the Cross’?
“How did you come to the conclusion”
Hi Lois,
Well I’m no expert on the subject, but as I understand it
The Jewish God is no thing, and in my sense of things
God is nothingness, and he is infinite, everywhere in time and space
Logically speaking, in my view, part of God might have been in Jesus
He was the Son of God, as he defined himself
If he were God, why would he never say “I am God”
If it were the truth?
“Now there was a day when the “sons of God” came to present themselves before the LORD, and Ha Satan also came along with them. Job 1:6″
Who did Jesus think he was?
Well we can see clearly in Job that there are multiple “sons of God” up in the Heavenly court
But IMO Jesus was different than the other Sons of God and Ha Satan
In that Jesus also refers to himself as the “Son of Man”
The sons of God and Ha Satan do not have the power of Yahweh God
They work for Yahweh, and there is no “next in line” for the job 🙂
Job 1:7 The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Job 1:8 The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
Job 1:10 “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Job 1:11 “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.”
Job 1:12 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your [fn]power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.
This is good; however, I struggle with the meaning of abundant life. We tend to interpret that through our 21st century English too. I am pretty sure we are off on that one.
Good point Lori. What is the ‘abundant life”? Is it a life of ease, free from responsibility and filled with the delicacies of the ‘good life’?
These verses come to my mind that I think are about abundant life.
Pr 17:1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.
Peace in relationships is abundance.
and
Pr 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Putting God first leads to abundance of provisions .
and about wisdom
Pr3.16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
I think Biblical wisdom leads to a long, full life.
–You cannot nail God to the Cross–
No man can. But what does the scripture, the written Word (and our Savior- Him who is the Living Word) say? ~ No one has taken my life away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father ~ (John 10.18)
Further proof of the deity of Christ? Virgin born? “impossible”. And could a carpenter cause the blind to see and the deaf to hear and the lame to walk and the lepers to be cleansed? “impossible.”
And what accounts for the stone to be rolled away and the tomb where he was laid three days earlier to be empty? “impossible.”
Millions of people to be fed in the desert? “impossible”
Sleeping soundly in a den full of hungry lions? “impossible.”
Walking with not so much as muddy feet through the Red Sea? “impossible.”
And what accounts for the changed lives of thousands upon thousands, -including myself? “impossible”
Can God take a sinner and transform him or her into a saint and a son? “impossible.”
Him, who claimed to be the Son of God and God the Son is only one of three choices: Liar, Lunatic or LORD.
My final answer? Yeshua IS YHWH. His words? I AM. My words? (Praise His Name) Hallelujah! – He is.
My final answer; Mythology. The most misunderstood aspect of the Bible.
Didn’t God Himself, the Holy Spirit, Who inspired all Scripture, ordain the New Testament to be written in Greek? Plenty Godly men think so.
Some of the disciples had Greek names — Andrew, Philip, Simon (a Grecized form of the Hebrew Sim on), Levi/Matthew, a tax collector. It is possible that many Greek terms preserved in the New Testament may be there because they were originally uttered in Greek. One such word is “Sanhedron,” which comes from the Greek synedrion. It is of Greek, not Hebrew, derivation, and was the common term used for the Jewish high court.
A word often used by Jesus, “hypocrite,” in describing the Pharisees and Sadducees, comes from the Greek word hypokrites, a compound word with the Greek preposition hypo for “under” and krites, meaning “judgment.” This form is wholly lacking in Semitic languages. The word hypokrites basically means, “one who answers” (i.e., one who always has an answer, or excuse), but came to mean over time not only “expounder” or “interpreter,” but “orator,” “actor,” stage actor, or one who spoke from behind a dramatic mask on stage. From this it came to mean “pretender,” “dissembler.” But this Greek word, so familiar in the denunciations of Christ, has no counterpart in Hebrew or Aramaic.
They have original papyrus fragments from the Gospel of Matthew.
It matters a lot if we believe the New Test. is corrupt or not. It matters if I believe what I hold in my hands is inadequate. I don’t think we need to worry about missing what God has to say, for God is able to preserve His Word, and His Name. As Christ said, “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17); “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
Since it was God Himself who confused the languages at Babel, wouldn’t it be strange that He secret so much of His Word into only Hebrew, knowing full well that many people would be born and die not knowing a word of Hebrew?
I enjoy learning the meaning of Hebrew words, but I see no negativity of Greek. While many Greeks may have been pagan, — pagans still flourish in our government and universities, –as they have throughout history,– that doesn’t mean they corrupted the Holy Scriptures.
It is “God-Breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Tim.3:16).
The name “Jesus” comes from the Greek Iesous, and means “Saviour,” just as does the Hebrew original Yeshua. I was happy when I learned that the Name Jesus is not “a tanslation of a translation . . .” as has been said.
Jesus has been Jesus to me my whole life, and He is definitely my Savior who speaks to me from His whole Holy Word. Nothing is more precious than putting your ear to the Word until we hear Him speaking to our hearts!
Since it was God Himself who confused the languages at Babel, wouldn’t it be strange that He secret so much of His Word into only Hebrew, knowing full well that many people would be born and die not knowing a word of Hebrew?
I do not think it is about secreting His Word. It is about language and culture. Much is always lost in translation. I will most likely live and die not knowing a word of Greek either. I’m not sure that has anything to do with the spoken language of the day. I also do not think anyone is attacking the Greek language, rather trying to lend a proper understanding of Scripture. Shalom.
Hi Dorothy
Yes, like Lori says, (and this is how I understand it) it is not about attacking the Greek language or even the fact that they were pagans. There were plenty of other pagans with their own languages. If God could use a donkey, He can use any language. But I don’t think the Greek language was the problem. It is the way they used the language that is sometimes the problem. History teaches how big the language issue really was.
I am by no means any kind of expert on this, but this is what I have learned and anyone can correct me : 1) Most of the new Testament writers were Hebrew thinking people, writing in Greek. That meant that meanings of words and idioms can disappear in direct, word by word translation. This is something I can relate to because English is my second language. My native idioms will have no meaning to you in English.
2) The reference to “GREEK” is mostly about a world view or paradigm. If you like, you can rather use the term “Western”. And one of the profound differences between Greek/Hebrew or Western/ NearEastern( and not referring to the Eastern block countries!!) culture is that Hebrew is about verbs, action,purpose and relations. And Greek is more about matter,things(people) occupying space.
A good example is the word Jesus. As you stated, the Greek word Iesous = Saviour = a person. The Hebrew is Yeshua = Salvation. It is not only who He is, but what He does. Yeshua’s purpose is embedded within Him. And Josef did not give Him a Greek name! And this you will find in most of the words in Hebrew. The Hebrew word is the purpose and action. Take all names of God for instance.
3) The spoken words of the first century AC is different as to the way we speak now. Just think how the spoken language of the medieval time is different to now. No use reading the original Shakespeare manuscript to me.
4)context and to whom is it written and why – Romans is written to the Romans. First understand it in the original context and then apply it to my life, if possible.
And then in John 10:35 : “the Scripture” – what Scripture is referred to? What Scripture is available? What “Word” is the truth? Also in James: Faith is doing the Word – the only available word was the Tanach. Not the New Testament – and this I only realized a while back.
For me personally, the way I use to read the Bible, was no more than a prophetic feeling. Now I try to imagine being present during those times, shadowing Peter, seeing my friends being torched by the Romans. By reading the history, I am getting a better picture of what their daily problems were and I am starting to get a better understanding about their deepest fears, anguishes, the jealousy between the Greek speaking and Hebrew speaking disciples etc. and just how much He really loves me.
Shabbat Shalom!
Thank you –Luzzette and Lori– both for sharing with me. I listened.
It is amazing to behold the ways God speaks to us individually and knows how to work His special individual one-of-a-kind work of creation in us. We expect no less from a Father who is Creator, and He’s still working on us. The heavens and the earth were short work…!
How pricelss to hold in our hands a BOOK FROM GOD . . . how amazing its unity … its preservation… its content… its influence!
It is a light… a mirror… spiritual food… a shield… a sword… a solid foundation… a counselor!
And then is born faith…
“…. faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Rom. 10:17 ‘
Tell me, in Hebrew, what is the ‘picture word’ for faith?
I think it must be very mysterious and beautiful.
Dorothy, there is actually no directly equivalent Hebrew word for the abstract noun “faith”. The closest one can come is “faithfulness”. It is derived from the word “to believe”.
The Hebrew word for “believe” is aman (he believed) – aleph-mem-nun.
The word picture is: aleph – strength, nun – life, mem – living waters, thus “the strength of the living waters”. To believe is to rely on the strength of the living waters. Who was it who said (on the Last Great Day immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles), “Let him who is thirsty come to me and ask, and I will give him rivers of living water…”
The nominal form of “faithfulness” is emunah – one additional letter is added; the letter “hey” which means reavealed or behold.
Thus, faithfulness is “the strength of the living waters, revealed”. Faithfulness is the evidence of belief. Faithfulness is revealed through actions, just as James said; “Faith(fulness) without works is dead”.
Now, plug that concept into the letter to the Hebrews:
“Now, faith(fulness) is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. What cannot be seen? Belief, because that happens in the nefesh (heart, soul, mind). Faithfulness is the outward evidence of the inward reality.
Faithfulness to what? IMHO, to the rules of the Kingdom, as laid out by the King. Or, if you like, to the terms of the covenant to which we are joined.
The Greek word used in the NT has a somewhat different emphasis – it is derived from a word that means to be persuaded about something. This fact confirms the primary difference between the “Greek” and “Hebrew” world views; the “Greek” paradigm is centred on betterment through intellectual pursuits, learning for the sake of learning, whereas the “Hebrew” paradigm is based around verbs, actions, learning by doing. That does not imply that intellectual pursuits are frowned upon – they’re not – but they’re not the primary focus. Learning is for the purpose of being able to do, and doing is learning.
Shabbat Shalom.
Kinesthetic.
But the verse says faith comes by hearing “…. faith comes from hearing the message,”
so we also remember that God’s Word accomplishes what He purposes.
Thank you for all that explanation. I read it several times [trying to absorb].
Strength of the Living Water, — very, very good to think about. My heart jumped at that!
Belief can’t be seen, but the evidence of belief can be seen for sure. Powerful enough to carry saints to martyrdom.
If you seach TW you’ll find a lot Skip wrote on faith. According to the book Hebrew Word Pictures by Frank Seekins:
faithful = a-men = mother + action of life
“the life of a mother”
Our Father’s fathfulness is like a mother looking after her child. According to the Rabbi’s ( thanks Skip) a fetus is the perfiect state of mankind for serves it purpose perfectly – it grows. And my faithfulness to Him should be like a fetus depending on the mother. BTW Skip just taught in his Being Human seminars that the first definition God gives of Himself is of a womb or pregnant woman ( Ex 34:6 – compassionate/merciful) (pregnant with Israel btw)
As Rodney points out there is actually no word for faith – quite scary come to think of it. The “thing’ we build our believes on does not exist. I have to learn that the abstract thing called faith is a verb. Some Bibles use the word trust .
To have faith is to look back into my life and see what our Father has already done for me. (This I understand better if I know that the past is infront of me and the future at my back – I can see my past, but not my future – hebrew word for backside is future) So if I need more faith I look a little harder for what He has done for me -passed my life, my parents, passed Yeshua,David, all the way back to the beginning – those evidences become the substance to built my faith Heb 11:1 – and see what happened when they and I drank from the
Living Water.
In hebraic thought it is difficult or impossible to claim to have faith when I am all by myself – its relational. Faith is something others must first see in or of me, before I can claim to have it – James -Scary! Think of all the people claiming to have faith but not doing what He says. (I have lots of faith that I will be going oversees – thinking about it does not help – working does)
Same goes for “faith comes by hearing”: to hear(sh’ma) means to have your ears tinkle and then do it. ( If I tell my child to bring me the keys, he has not heard anything until I have the keys in my hand.) God speaks and when I hear-and-do(sh’ma) what He says, I show Him and everyone around me my faith. Thus creating a life-line(in my past) of evidence and subtance for when I need more faith. I take the first step, I know and see He is faithful and because of what He does, I have trust and faith to take the next step.
How will i know if I can trust my child with my car if I never give it to him and he never drives it? Before he does not drive off with my car, trust and faith is only a figment of my imagination.
Hi Dorothy, glad to see you back.
You said, “but the verse says, faith comes by hearing”. Yeshua gave a prable concerning this, it goes as such.
Mat 21:28 ¶ But 1161 what 5101 think 1380 ye 5213? A [certain] man 444 had 2192 two 1417 sons 5043; and 2532 he came 4334 to the first 4413, and said 2036 , Son 5043, go 5217 work 2038 to day 4594 in 1722 my 3450 vineyard 290.
Mat 21:29 He answered 1161 611 and said 2036 , I will 2309 not 3756: but 1161 afterward 5305 he repented 3338 , and went 565 .
Mat 21:30 And 2532 he came 4334 to the second 1208, and said 2036 likewise 5615. And 1161 he answered 611 and said 2036 , I 1473 [go], sir 2962: and 2532 went 565 not 3756.
Mat 21:31 Whether 5101 of 1537 them twain 1417 did 4160 the will 2307 of [his] father 3962?
Which one “heard” the father? (shema) and how do we know that? If we don’t respond (which is an intregal part of shema “hearing”) than we haven’t “heard”, therefore it’s impossible that it’s faith.
Precept upon precept…….. this whole passage is a great exercise in discovering the difference between the “equivilent” terms in greek and hebrew. The words may replace one another but the concepts they relay are not the same.
YHWH bless you and keep you….
I wrote about this connection as an investigation of Paul’s famous passage, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Take a look. You will discover that Hebraic understanding of Paul means that it is ALL ABOUT DOING!