El Qanna means “the Lord is jealous” and is pronounced El Kah-nah. This is another name God gives himself, this time in Exodus 34.14 and describes an aspect of God’s love for his people: "For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is El Qanna, is a jealous God." Normally jealousy is a sin when it turns to coveting something we do not have or resentment of another's success. But jealousy can also be constructive, as Paul notes to the church in Corinth: “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy...” (2 Corinthians 11.2).

This use of the word "jealous" is used primarily in marriage relationships. Throughout the Old Testament God often likens himself to Israel's husband, wanting all our love and obedience for himself. In the Old Testament context, idolatry is defined as spiritual adultery. This same illustration is used in the New Testament as well, the church being the bride of Christ. This makes this particular name of God relevant to Jews and Christians alike.

All six uses of this name in the Old Testament are in passages that discuss idolatry, so it makes sense that this is something we should know about. Idolatrous worship consists of bowing, prostrating oneself, or worshiping a standing pillar or stone, a graven or molten image, or animals, stars or people. It can also be participating in ceremonies where one is eating or drinking things that have been offered in sacrifice to idols. Keep in mind that idols, while they have no power in and of themselves, are only representations of spiritual beings — usually demonic beings. Worshiping anything other than God is wrong, but worshiping the enemies of God is especially so.

In Israel's case, they have a covenant relationship with God whereby God is their king. For this reason they always defined their relationship with God as a king/vassal relationship. This is not what God intended. Going back to the greatest commandment, to love God, we see that it was always intended to be a parent/child relationship. Instead of teaching us that loving God includes submission to the King, Jesus taught us to address God as "Abba", father.

The relationship God wants to have with us is a personal one, like a husband to a wife, or a parent to a child. It is not to be distant, as a citizen to their king even though God is also our King. That is the reason for God's jealous nature. A king isn't jealous for one citizen. Only a deeper relationship spurs such an emotion. God is El Qanna, the Jealous God, because he loves us deeply. Our love for God should be so deep.