1:2 jealous. This attribute refers to God’s passionate reaction against any infringement on His holiness or any attempt to share His glory. His jealousy demands undivided loyalty and reveals itself as wrath against rejection of Him or His lordship.

avenging . . . avenging . . . takes vengeance. True to His nature, the universal Judge leaves no sin unpunished and metes out the just deserts of the wicked. The threefold repetition of the Hebrew word for “avenge” strongly emphasizes an inescapable and appropriate retribution.

adversaries . . . enemies. This terminology is typical of the Psalms and of holy-war imagery.