Idolatry as adultery / prostitution
Here’s what it means
Turning from God to idols or foreign powers is covenant unfaithfulness like marital adultery.
Why the Bible says it this way
The writer uses a picture to explain one thing by describing it as another.
A helpful detail: The sexual image is moral and covenantal; some passages also recount literal sexual sin connected with idolatry.
Where it appears
Exodus 34:15-16Go to Verse →Exodus 34:15Go to Verse →Leviticus 17:7Go to Verse →Numbers 15:39Go to Verse →Judges 2:17Go to Verse →Judges 8:27,33Go to Verse →Jeremiah 3:6-10Go to Verse →Jeremiah 3:8-9Go to Verse →Ezekiel 16:32Go to Verse →Ezekiel 23:1-49Go to Verse →Hosea 1:2Go to Verse →Hosea 4:12-13Go to Verse →Hosea 4:12Go to Verse →James 4:4Go to Verse →