3:1 love . . . even as the Lord loves. God’s apparently unreasonable request is patterned after His own loyal, protective, and bountiful love for undeserving Israel.

cakes of raisins. These delicacies, made from raisins pressed together, were associated with special occasions (2 Sam. 6:19), and may have been used in Baal worship as an aphrodisiac (cf. Song 2:5).