16:15 playedst the harlot. In this chapter, Israel is portrayed first as a foundling who was nurtured by the Lord and then taken as His wife. She became utterly unfaithful, however, committing flagrant spiritual adultery with all the gods of the nations around her, so that her divine Husband finally had to forsake her. Essentially the same symbolism is used in Hosea 1 and 2.