DEUT487 Following Biblical precedents [e.g. Isaiah 62:4-5; Jeremiah 2:2-3; Hosea 2:21-22) midrashic texts describe the Torah as a marriage contract between the people of Israel and God and thus seems to suggest, as the Torah itself does, love of God [e.g., this verse] and faithfulness to God and his Torah as motivational factors for observance. At best, this idea remains implied. (By Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, “Ethical Theories in Rabbinic Literature”)