Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God - (Malachi 2:14-15.) "The guide of her youth" is the husband, first in the literal sense, then God in the spiritual sense (Isaiah 54:5-6; Jeremiah 3:4, "My father, thou art the guide of my youth;" Jeremiah 3:14, "I am married unto you." Compare in the literal sense Joel 1:8, "the husband of her youth"). The love of youth - i:e., the first love-is especially intense (Jeremiah 2:2, "Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals" - i:e., the kindness and love which I showed to thee then). This aggravates her guilt that, after such fervent love experienced from her youth, she yet has forsaken her husband, and guide, and lord. What faithfulness to him can the youth look for on the part of the female tempter who has been unfaithful to her natural friend and true lover? "The covenant of her God" is the marriage covenant primarily; then, in the spiritual sense, the covenant of the Law to the Jew (cf. 2 Chronicles 15:12; Jeremiah 34:15), and the Gospel to Christians. Unfaithfulness and apostasy are spiritual adultery.