discipline; see comments below) makes most sense when seen as the prophet’s demonstration of the renewed covenant depicted in the salvation oracle of 2:14–23. Basic to the sequential interpretation is, of course, the assumption that the unnamed woman of chapter 3 is the well-known Gomer of chapter 1. Any other reading would break the analogy which carries the basic message of this section: the Lord of Israel will judge his idolatrous people and afterwards renew his relationship with them. To introduce