Error: ER_BAD_FIELD_ERROR: Unknown column 'kappa' in 'where clause'

I keep getting the following error code

Error: ER_BAD_FIELD_ERROR: Unknown column 'kappa' in 'where clause'

when executing this script in nodejs

connection.query('SELECT balance FROM members WHERE username = kappa', function(err, data) {
        if (!err)
         console.log(data);
        else
         console.log(err);

    });

im unsure why this is happening, is my syntax wrong or something?

via Brad m