Text: Psalm 78:58
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 20:5
Subject: false image in poetic retrospective
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Anchor Text: Exod 20 — The Decalogue
Significance: Exodus 20:5 warns that God is "jealous" (קַנָּא, qanna) and will punish those who worship other gods, and Psalm 78:58 records how Israel "moved Him to jealousy with their graven images" (פְּסִילֵיהֶם, pesileihem). The shared jealousy vocabulary (ק-נ-א root) connects the Sinai warning to its historical violation. The psalm functions as a retrospective validation of the second commandment—the jealousy God attributed to Himself at Sinai was indeed aroused by Israel's idolatry, resulting in the divine fury and rejection that the commandment itself had threatened.