Jeremiah 3:20

All this blessing would come to Israel in spite of her past treacherous unfaithfulness to her spiritual lover, Yahweh. That treachery was deliberate; it was not a provoked departure.

"The mixing of metaphors (God is both father and husband) heightens the pathos of the speech and helps one empathize with God in his disappointment and emotional pain." [Note: Robert B. Chisholm Jr., Handbook on the Prophets, p. 159. See also Terence Fretheim, The Suffering of God, p. 116.]

"It is important to retain memory of this deep compassion when we read the prophet’s declarations of judgment (Jeremiah 4:5 ff.); in judgment, the compassion is still present, hoping beyond the judgment for a restoration of the relationship of love." [Note: Craigie, p. 64.]