אָכֵ֛ן בָּגְדָ֥ה אִשָּׁ֖ה מֵרֵעָ֑הּ כֵּ֣ן בְּגַדְתֶּ֥ם בִּ֛י בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃
Tetapi sesungguhnya, seperti seorang istri berkhianat meninggalkan suaminya, demikianlah kamu telah berkhianat terhadap Aku, hai kaum Israel, demikianlah firman Yang Mahakekal.
Chizkuni
בבגדה בה “seeing he had betrayed her trust.” By not going through with his promise to marry her when she was old enough, he had betrayed her trust. The expression “betrayal” occurs often in relationships between husband and wife. It describes usually the break up, severance of married life with a partner. Our author quotes verses from Maleachi 2,14, and Jeremiah 3,20, where the prophet in each case refers to Israel having betrayed its relationship with Hashem. Some commentators understand the words: לעם נכרי as referring to a Canaanite, seeing that Canaanites are referred to as נכרי in Judges 19,12: אל עיר נכרי אשר לא מבני ישראל המה, “to a foreign city that does not belong to the Children of Israel.” Also in Kings I 8,41: ובא הנכרי אשר לא מעמך הוא, “or if a foreigner who is not a member of your people comes, etc;” there too the reference is to the Canaanite. Some commentators explain the words as follows: the subject of the word והפדה, is not the girl’s master but her father; he will have the right to cancel the contract and get his daughter released from its terms seeing that he who had purchased her has reneged on his promise to marry her.