"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, And bring her into the wilderness, And speak tenderly to her.
"I will allure her ..." Myers pointed out that the word "allure" in this passage "is rich with meaning."[41]  "The wilderness sojourn here is not literal,"[42]  despite the fact of its being founded upon the literal experience of the old Israel who escaped from Egyptian slavery by crossing the Red Sea into the wilderness.  Just as the old Israel had been "wooed" or "allured" by the promise of a land of their own, in the same manner the new bride will be enticed by visions of a glorious promised land with God in heaven forever.  The allurement of mankind by such glorious promises is a valid segment of the Christian appeal.  Harley noted the further analogy in the truth that Israel's slavery in the days of Hosea was not literal, as it had been in Egypt, but spiritual through their having fallen into idolatry.  Their delivery from that would also be spiritual, by their redemption in Christ Jesus.  Polkinghorne observed that the marriage motif, beginning here with courtship, "leads on to marriage  (Hosea 2:19ff), which is consummated in fruitfulness  (Hosea 2:21ff)."[43]