Essay On Hebrew Word Qanna

The Hebrew word qanna used here in Exodus 34:14 differs from the Hebrew word qanah used in verses such as Genesis 37:11. Qanah is best defined as envy and not jealousy. Qanah appears 32 times in the Old Testament and is always used in connection with man and has a negative connotation while qanna only appears 6 times and is always used in conjunction with God and His relationship with us.
Jealousy in itself is not evil. First, God is perfectly holy and cannot do evil. If jealousy is evil in itself then God could not be jealous. Jealous is defined as “Intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness. Vigilant in guarding a possession. Hostile toward a rival.” It is clear that all of these definitions of jealous apply to God.
If you search yourself, I believe that you will find that you too are a
How long has God allowed Satan to rule the earth? God’s example is not one of violence towards a rival. Yes he is protective of His relationship with us, but does He not allow us to either chose or reject Him? If we reject Him does he not allow us to go our own way and face life without Him? He may long for us and may remind us that He loves us, but He will let us deal with the consequences that our rejection of Him brings.
The third definition of jealous is intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness. God is very intolerant of unfaithfulness. Look at His stance on adultery. Marriage is an image of His relationship with us. When we turn to other gods we commit adultery against Him. It does not matter what the god is we begin to worship. Our worship of anything other than God is nothing but adultery.
Are we any different when it comes to our spouse? Do we tolerate marital unfaithfulness? Will we even tolerate the unfaithfulness of a person we are dating? No, the Scriptures are clear that the only Biblical reason for a Christian to divorce is marital unfaithfulness. If our significant other is unfaithful do we not end the