For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, My oil and my drink.'
"I will go after my lovers ..." Who are these "lovers" so avidly sought after by Israel.  Going back to Jerome, many commentators have understood these to be the nations of Assyria and Egypt;[22] and Joseph Kimchi ably defended the interpretation that "the host of heaven" worshipped by the Israelites as gods are the "lovers" of this passage.[23] However, we believe that Harper is correct in the comment that, "Israel's paramours were not the peoples round about ... but the Baalim."[24] Israel's apostasy to that cult was blatant, bold and willful.