1 Chron. ii. 33.ZEAL, in Latin, Zelus; in Hebrew, Kanah.1 It is taken, 1. For the Eagerness with which we pursue any thing. I have been very jealous (or zealous) for the Lord 1 Kings xix. 10, 14.God of Hosts; I burn with Zeal for the God of Armies. Phinehas is commended for having expressed much Zeal against those wicked Persons that violated the Law of the Lord. He was zealous for his God, and made an attonement for the children Numb. xxv. 13.of Israel. Judith said, that Simeon and his Brethren were filled with the Zeal of the Lord, to revenge the Injury that had Judith, ix. 4.been done to their Sister: Which were moved with thy Zeal.
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Zeal is put for Anger: The zeal of 2 Kings xix. 21.the Lord of Hosts shall do this; that is, the Anger: How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? Psalm lxxix. 5.for ever? shall thy jealousy, or Zeal, burn like fire? the whole land shall be devoured Zeph. i. 18. iii. 8.by the fire of his jealousy, or Zeal.
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Zeal is also put for Jealousy. JealousyProv. vi. 34., or Zeal, is the rage of a man, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. The jealousy of an husband in fury will not forgive. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, I Zech. i. 14. viii. 2.was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
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Zeal is put for Envy. Fret not thy Psalm xxxvii. 1.self because of evil doers, neither be thou (zealous or) envious against the workers of iniquity. That is, envy not their Appearance of Happiness. For whereas there is among you envying (Vulg. zelus) and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? See also James iii. 6. Bitter envying and strife, James iii. 14. (Zelus amarus, Vulg.) is opposed to the Zeal of Charity, which, as the Apostle says, suffereth long, is kind, and envieth 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5.not. But blind and false Zeal, and Zeal of Bitterness, is full of Contention and Animosity.
Zeal, or the Judgment of Zeal: Among the Hebrews this Name was given to the Action of an Israelite, who being transported with Zeal, without staying for the Sentence of the Judges, and with-
Vol. III. out observing the common Forms of Justice, put to death a Jew, whom he found in the open and scandalous Violation of some important Point of the Law, or whom he heard to utter some Blasphemy against the Name of God, or against his Temple, or his People. In such Cases it was allowed any Israelite to pursue him, to fall upon him, and to put him to death, if he could. In like manner, if the Priests in the Temple should see any of their Brethren performing his Functions in a State of Uncleanness, they were authorized by Custom, to drag him out of the Holy Place, to draw him out of the Court, and to knock him on the Head with Clubs.2 But that this Liberty might not be abused, it was necessary that the Crime should be committed in the Presence of ten Israelites at least; and that he that committed it must persevere in it, and did not withdraw himself when he was warned of it, and set upon for it. For if he desisted from his Crime, they were not allowed to kill him, till he had first been condemned in a judicial manner.
They founded this Right upon a Tradition which they pretended to have received from Moses, and upon the Example Numb. xxv. 7, 8.of Phinehas, who, transported by an holy Zeal, pierced through, at one Blow, Zimri, a Prince of the Tribe of Simeon, and Cozbi, Daughter to a Prince of Midian. ‘Twas by vertue of the same Power that Matthias, 1 Macc. ii. 24.the Father of the Maccabees, slew Apelles, whom the King of Syria had sent to Modin, to compel the Jews to sacrifice. ‘Tis referred to the same Custom, that the Jews 3 Macc. cap. ult.of Egypt took Vengeance of three hundred of their Brethren, who had basely apostatized from their Religion. Lastly, we may say, that it was through the same Zeal that our Saviour drove the Money-changers and Bankers out of the Temple, and those that sold Doves and other Animals for Sacrifices. Matth. xxi. 12. John ii. 14, 15.The Evangelist observes, that upon this occasion the Apostles called to mind these Words of Scripture, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. See Grotius, De Jure Belli & Pacis, l. 2. c. 20. sect. 8. Selden. De Jure Nat. & Gent. l. 4. c. 4, 5.
The Idol of Zeal, Idolum zeli, mentioned by Ezekiel,3 is thought to be the false God Adonis, justly called the Idol of jealousy, because he was beloved of Venus; and therefore Mars, provoked with Jealousy, sent a wild Boar against him, which killed him with his Tush. Besides, in pursuing the Discourse of Ezekiel, we see that the same Idol which at the fifth Verse is called the Idol of Jealousy, is also callel Thammuz at the fourteenth Verse; in honour of whom the Women made Lamentations, as is well known they did at the Feast of Adonis. St. Jerome,4 who is followed by several Commentators, thinks that the Idol of Jealousy is the God Baal, which being set up in the Temple of the Lord by King Manasseh, was afterwards taken away by Josiah. Others think, that under the Name Image of Jealousy, that excites to Jealousy, the Prophet meant all Sorts of Idols, which provoke the Anger of God, and inflame his Zeal against their Worshippers.
The Ear of zeal hears all things: Auris zeli audit omnia. God is, as it were, a jealous Husband, who hearkens to every thing, and is attentive to all the Discourses of the Wicked, that he may reprove and reclaim them.
Nolite zelare mortem in errore vitæ vestræ: Forbear to seek Death with so much Eagerness; shew not so much Zeal for your own Destruction. Otherwise, accuse not Death; charge not your Misfortune upon it. The Verb zelare, is sometimes put for taking vengeance. Phinehas was transported with Zeal against the Numb. xxv. 11.Offenders, he took up Weapons to put them to death. Saul put the Gibeonites to death with an unseasonable Zeal, to revenge the Trick they had put upon Israel: Valuit Saul percutere eos zelo, quasi pro filiis 2 Sam. xxi. 2. Wisd. v. 18.Israel & Juda. The Author of the Book of Wisdom represents the Lord to us as arming himself with Zeal against his Enemies; that is, as going to take vengeance on their Maliciousness. Isaiah says, that Ephraim shall no longer make War against Judah, and that these two Kingdoms shall live together in Peace: Auferetur zelus Ephraim, & hostes Juda peribunt; Ephraim non æmulabitur Judam, & Judas non pugnabit contra Ephraim. Where we see that zelari and æmulari are put as synonymous Terms with hostis & pugnare. vorce her, to reject her, and to take into her Place another People, which does not deserve the Name of a People, to excite in her, by this Comparison, a Spirit of Zeal and Jealousy, of Vexation and Despair. This was compleatly accomplished in the Reprobation of the People of the Jews, and the Call of the Gentiles to the Christian Religion.
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