The Lord’s opening declaration is ‘I have loved you’, which Israel immediately challenges with the question, ‘In what way have you loved us?’ ‘Love’ in this context is not an emotional feeling, but rather a covenantal term that expresses the behaviour that flows out of a committed relationship. It can thus express the friendly relationship between kings engaged in a mutual alliance (e.g. 1 Kings 5:1), as well as the more intimate commitment of heart and life in marriage (e.g. Hosea 3:1). So to question