We are in chapter 37 of Genesis with our word for today. יְקַנְאוּ from the root word קָנָא envy, be jealous, get heated, become excited, annoy, zealous. It is used 34 times in the Old Testament. We see our word used to identify many reasons why people can become jealous. Possessions Genesis 26:14. Children Genesis 30:1. Preferential treatment Genesis 37:11. Violence Proverbs 3:31. Sinners Proverbs 23:17; 24:1, 19. And in the marriage relationship Numbers 5:14, 30.
We also see our word used in both a positive and negative sense. A negative kind of jealousy would be of those who are ungodly because we can become like them. Psalm 37:1 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be תְּ֝קַנֵּ֗א envious of those who do wrong. Psalm 73:3 For I קִ֭נֵּאתִי envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. This negative kind of jealousy is the same sense it is used in our chapter today. Genesis 37:10-11 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were יְקַנְאוּ jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
The best example of a good sense is God’s jealousy for us. Joel 2:18 Then the Lord was וַיְקַנֵּ֥א jealous for his land and took pity on his people. Zechariah 1:14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very קִנֵּ֧אתִי jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. Zechariah 8:2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with קִנֵּ֥אתִי jealousy for her.” Psalm 78:58 They angered him with their high places; they aroused his יַקְנִיאֽוּהוּ jealousy with their idols.
The reason God’s jealousy is good is because it is a protective jealousy because he knows that when we love anything or anyone more than himself it is bad for us and can hurt us. I’ll close with James letter to the churches that sums this up very well. James 4:4-6 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace.
