God's name is Jealous?

[wmc1982]

Found this verse interesting. Anyone have a better understanding of this?

exodus 34:14

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]NASB: -- for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]KJV: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

ESV: [/FONT]for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

NIV: Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

 

[pletho]

Hello and God bless, Your to worship ONE God not 2 nor 3 or many and when ever people are worshipping more than One True God, God calls Himself a jealous God, for example in II Cor 11:2 Paul says I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband.... If you read the context it's a warning of falling prey to another doctrine, another Jesus doctrine vs. the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, therefore they would end up worshipping a false god, so jealousy is used this way in the bible when referring to God, it's pretty enlightning to understand this there are many other figures of speech like this used in the word which shed great understanding on the scriptures. Bless, Steve

 

[dcyates]

Hello and God bless, Your to worship ONE God not 2 nor 3 or many and when ever people are worshipping more than One True God, God calls Himself a jealous God, for example in II Cor 11:2 Paul says I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband.... If you read the context it's a warning of falling prey to another doctrine, another Jesus doctrine vs. the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, therefore they would end up worshipping a false god, so jealousy is used this way in the bible when referring to God, it's pretty enlightning to understand this there are many other figures of speech like this used in the word which shed great understanding on the scriptures. Bless, Steve

Pletho's answer above is an excellent one. All that I would add is that, in the ancient world, the more names that could be piled onto a deity or potentate, the better. As well, a name--any name--was intended to reflect one's true nature, to say something profound about them and who they were. Thus, YHWH is not some uncaring God who will share worship with any other deities, much like most modern-day husbands in our culture are unwilling to share their wives with any other man.

 

[5stringJeff]

God is allowed to be jealous because He is the owner of everything. We are not to be jealous of things or people because what we have is from God; therefore, by our jealousy, we are in a sense saying that God screwed up by not giving us something.