reference to the former division of the people. Rather Israel here stands for the people who are in covenant bond with the LORD, and whose capital, Jerusalem, was the place where he had revealed himself. Their sin is against light and privilege. Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves. This is presented as the substantiation of the charge. ‘The sanctuary’ is literally ‘holiness of the LORD’. This may be understood of the Temple as the holy place. The sin of pagan marriages would thus be