7:4 adulterers. They left the Lord, to whom they were allied in the covenant, and joined themselves with other gods and other foreign allies (2:4; 4:12–14; Jer. 9:2; 23:10–14). See Introduction: Characteristics and Themes.

like a heated oven. The figures of an oven, a baker, and fire present a graphic word picture of the self-propagating passion, treachery, and wickedness that infested the political life of Israel during its last days and led to the series of violent assassinations of its kings (2 Kin. 15:8–30). The assassination of Pekah by Hoshea (2 Kin. 15:30) may be the occasion of the remarks in vv. 4–7.