ntal thought there are several parallels;
_e.g._, Deut. xxx. 5 ff.: "And the Lord thy God bringeth thee into the
land which thy fathers possessed; and the Lord thy God circumciseth
thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." This
passage shows that the verse before us, no less than that which
precedes, contains a _promise_, and that the "calling," and the
"calling no more," is a work of divine [Pg 267] grace. To this we are
led also by the words, "I shall take away," in ver. 19, as well as by
the other parallel passages:--Jer. xxiv. 7: "And I give them an heart
to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be a people to Me, and I
will be a God to them, for they shall return to Me with their whole
heart;" Ezek. xi. 19: "And I give them one heart, and a new spirit I
put within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh;" compare
further Zech. xiii. 2. Another interpretation of the verse recommends
itself by its apparent depth. According to it, [Hebrew: bel] is to be
taken as an appellative noun, the "marriage-Lord," in contrast with
[Hebrew: aiw], "husband," and that the people are henceforth to be
altogether governed by love. But this interpretation must be objected
to, for a whole multitude of reasons. There is, _first_ of all, the
relation of this verse to the following one, which does not allow that
[Hebrew: bel], which there occurs as a proper name, should in this
place be taken as an appellative. There is, _then_, the arbitrariness
in defining the relation between [Hebrew: aiw] and [Hebrew: bel], the
former of which as little exclusively expresses the relation of love,
as the latter excludes it. (Compare Is. liv. 5, 6, lxii. 4; 2 Sam. xi.
26.) Further, it is incorrect to say that [Hebrew: bel] properly
means "Lord;" it means "possessor." _Still further_,--There is the
unsuitableness of the thought, which would be without any analogy in
its favour throughout Scripture. And, _lastly_, the relation of love to
God cannot, even in its highest consummation, do away with reference to
Him, etc.

Ver. 19. "_And I take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth,
and they shall no more be remembered by their name._"

The people are to conceive such an abhorrence of idolatry, that they
shall be afraid of being defiled even by pronouncing the name of the
idols. The words are borrowed from Exod. xxiii. 13: "Ye shall not make
me