Exodus 34:15-16 - Exposition

The probable consequences of making treaties with the Canaanite nations, alluded to in Exodus 34:12 , and in Exodus 23:33 , are here fully set forth. They include—

1 . Joining in their idol-feasts;

2 . Intermarriages;

3 . The actual apostasy of. those who married idolatrous wives.

The event fully justified the warning here given. See 2:2 , 2:11-13 , 2:17 ; 6:25 ; 10:6 , etc. They go a whoring . This expression, so common in the later books, is here used for the first time It implies that the relation between man and God is analogous to that of the marriage-bond, so that deserting him for other gods is a species of adultery. Compare the frequent representations in the New Testament of Christ as the "Bridegroom" and the Church as his "Bride."