The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders one of the most unsettling lines of the Decalogue with full theological weight. "You shall not bow down to them, or worship before them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God and an avenger, punishing with vengeance, recording the guilt of wicked fathers upon rebellious children unto the third and unto the fourth generation of them who hate Me" (Exodus 20:5).
Why is God jealous?
The Aramaic word the Targum uses is kanna — the same root as the Hebrew kanna. Not petty jealousy. Zealous, passionate protection of a covenant. The way a parent is jealous for a child's wellbeing, not the way a rival is jealous for prestige. God's jealousy is the heat of love that refuses to share the beloved with destroyers.
Why punish children for parents?
Read the Targum's addition carefully — rebellious children. Not innocent descendants. The Targumist is rejecting the superficial reading that children suffer for their fathers' sins regardless. The generational consequence applies only when the children continue the rebellion, when they inherit not just the property but the hatred of God that went with it.
Why only four generations?
Because by the fourth generation, the original sinner is dead. Their direct influence is exhausted. If hatred of God persists into a fifth generation, it is no longer inheritance — it is chosen. The four generations are a window of grace, giving a family time to break the chain.
And notice the silence. This verse ends at punishment. But the next verse — which the Targum renders just after — promises mercy to thousands of generations for those who love God. Justice lasts four generations. Love lasts forever. The math of heaven is not symmetrical.
The takeaway: a jealous God is not a stingy one. The jealousy is for your good; the mercy is for eternity.