This word is used exclusively with regard to Israel, except in Prov. 14:14, where it is general. This sin is common, alas, amongst Christians also, and is figuratively alluded to in other words (Rev. 2:4, &c.). A backslider is a child of God who has left Mm in heart (Prov. 14:14) or in ways, but does not, cease to be a child (Jer. 3:14; 31. 22). The name is often erroneously applied to those who have never been, and therefore are not, God’s children at all. The path of restoration is marked out in 1 John 1 and 2.