WORD STUDY – PASSION – קנא
Exodus 34:14: “For thou shalt worship no other God for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.”
“O’ beware my lord of jealousy, for it is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds upon. Shakespeare, Othello – Act 3, Scene 3.
In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, Othello’s servant, Iago, sought to destroy his master by planting a seed of jealousy in his heart. Iago placed the handkerchief of Othello’s wife, Desdemona in Cassio’s, Othello’s lieutenant’s, room. Just a simple little thing, yet Iago knew that “trifles light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.”
Renaissance man had a much different view of jealousy that we do today. That is probably why the KJV used the word jealous when translating the Hebrew word quanna. Quanna is used only in relationship with God. Practically any lexicon or word study book that you look the word up in, you will find it simply defines quanna as jealousy. Yet, our English translators seem to have totally ignored the fact that the word jealousy as any student of classical literature will tell you, has changed over the last 500 years and that the understanding of the Hebrew word quanna more closely fits the word jealousy at the time of Shakespeare than it fits our understanding of the word today.
There are two words in the Hebrew used for jealousy, quana and quanna. They may look the same but believe me there is a big difference between the two. Iago tried to make Othello understand that he was feeling quana and not quanna. Quana is a jealousy of envy, and rage that caused Othello to be caught between the jaws of affection and anxiety. It eventually led to the tragic end of the play. Note he calls it the green eyed monster. The color green in the 15th century related to bile. Yet, Renaissance man viewed jealousy as Ouanna. Sometimes this word is translated as zealous. Yet, it’s very basic meaning is a deep passion. Jealousy was something considered noble to the Renaissance man. It showed how deeply he felt toward someone. To be jealous was considered a good thing, because it showed you were so passionate toward someone or something that you would challenge someone to a duel and die to defend your passion or honor. Such a passionate person was to be honored and trusted. Today, of course, we see that as a misdirected passion.
In the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, Shakespeare challenges this convention. Hamlet tells his close friend Horaitio, “Give me that man that is not passion’s slave and I will wear him in my heart’s core, in my heart of heart as I do thee.” Here Shakespeare takes a pot shot at the conventions of his day. He is challenging the notion that a deeply passionate person is to be honored and respected by saying that if one is to trust another with the very center or core of his heart, it is best not to do it with one who is a slave to his passion.
All that is said to shed light on what the Hebrew idea of quanna is. To translate quanna as jealousy is too archaic as we no longer see jealousy as a badge of honor. Probably the best translation would be passion. Passion still carries a positive feel to it. It is a man’s passion that will cause him to lay down his life for his wife and family, it is one’s passion that drives him to sacrifice everything for a cause. It is one’s passion that causes one to perform at his best.
So we come to Exodus 34:14 where I am comfortable translating quanna as passion rather than jealousy. Hence: For the Lord whose name is passion, is a passionate God. That sounds good but when you look at the preceding sentence, it will give you pause: “Thou shalt worship no other God.” The fifteenth century viewed a jealous man as one who has such deep passion for his lover that he gratefully exchanges his life for the wellbeing of the focus of his passion. Such a person was honored and it was expected that the person receiving that passion would treat it with great respect.
When the command is given that we should worship no other God because our God is a jealous (quanna) God, it is not that we fear He may just fly into a jealous rage and take a frying pan to our head. It means that if God loves us so passionately we must treat that passion with great respect. It means that we are to recognize that He is so passionate in His love for us that if we do worship (shachah – to be intimate) any other god it will deeply wound His heart. It will in fact break His heart. We are to respect that passion and we do not worship any other god so that we may protect His heart which He has voluntarily made so vulnerable in his deep passion for us. That passion is so deep that as Iago said: a “trifles light as air” will offend His heart. What may seem a trifle to us is major to the One who is passionate over us. Not that he would challenge His rival to a duel over His passion. Come to think of it, that is exactly what He did with His rival the devil.
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