THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And he guided me in a divine vision to Jerusalem, to the entrance facing north, where the idol provoking jealousy was established. Behold, the glory of the God of Israel appeared there, reminiscent of what I had witnessed in the field. The text reflects that he was not taken bodily but spiritually to Jerusalem. This spiritual vision allows one to perceive both the heavens and the depths of the sea by understanding their individual causes. He first arrives at the northern vestibule to witness the idol of jealousy, created specifically to incite divine jealousy, which then enables him to enter further and observe additional details. Scripture recounts the establishment of a Baal idol within the temple of God.
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This idol is aptly referred to as the idol of jealousy because it stirs the Lord’s zeal, as indicated in Deuteronomy: ‘They called Me to jealousy by that which is not God; I will provoke them to jealousy by a nation that is not a nation’ (Deut. 32:21). In Hebrew, both jealousy and possession share the same term, thus the LXX interprets it as the jealousy of the possessed rather than the jealousy of the possessor. When Cain was born, his mother declared, "I have gotten a man from the Lord" (Gen. 4:1), linking the act of gaining the man to the meaning of Cain's name. The glory of the Lord God of Israel was present not to partake in a close relationship but that its presence might vanquish the idol of jealousy and the temple itself; hence the subsequent ruin of both city and sanctuary. As noted in Isaiah (Is. 29), a narrow bed cannot accommodate two, nor can a short covering enclose both, illustrating the Apostle’s assertion: “What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:15).