Marilynne Robinson on God's "jealousy"

"For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God." - Deuteronomy 4:24

Upon reading this yesterday, I was reminded about what Marilynne Robinson says about the word "jealousy" as ascribed to God. I was reading in Spanish, and the word "celoso" is a much broader term than jealous in English--in accordance with Robinson's comments (see below). "Celo" can mean both jealousy and zeal, but it can also refer to an animal that's in heat. So her suggestion of "impassioned" sounds like a better choice, especially considering that seven verses later God is described as "a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them." (4:31).

Here is Robinson's commentary, from p. 109 and 110 of When I Was a Child I Read Books.
"'Impassioned' is usually used by the Jewish Publication Society to translate the word other English translations render as 'jealous.' The Hebrew stem apparently means 'to grow red.' 'Jealous' comes from the same Greek root as 'zealous,' and the Greek words that derive from it are usually translated in the New Testament as 'zeal' or 'zealous.' In its earliest English uses, for example in John Wycliffe's fourteenth-century translation of the Old Testament, 'jealous' often has that meaning, suggesting ardor and devotion. In modern translations the Hebrew word is usually translated as 'zeal' when the subject is a human being (as in 1 Kings 19:10), which must indicate an awareness of the wider meaning of the word. But 'jealousy' is virtually always imputed to God. Jealousy has evolved into a very simple and unattractive emotion, in our understanding of it, and God is much abused for the fact of his association with it. Since translations are forever being laundered to remove complexity and loveliness,and since tradition is not a legitimate plea in these matters, one cannot help wondering how this particular archaism manages to survive untouched."

(P.S. In preparing this post I came across the Marilynne Robinson Appreciation Society. Excited to follow their blog!)