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Isaiah 58

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Israel's Hypocritical Fasting Exposed 1–5

1
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins. ​
2
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near unto God. ​
3
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure, and exact all your labors. ​
4
Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. ​
5
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah? ​

The Fast God Truly Desires 6–12

6
Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? ​
7
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? ​
8
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward. ​
9
Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly; ​
10
and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday; ​
11
and Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. ​
12
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. ​

The Blessings of Honoring the Sabbath 13–14

13
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: ​
14
then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 58

Verse 1

lift up thy voice like a trumpet — The shophar, the ram's horn, was blown to warn of danger: 'he blow the trumpet, and warn the people' (Ezek 33:3). 'Cry aloud' is literally 'cry with the throat' (garon). The message is for 'my people' and 'the house of Jacob', as the prophet Micah was filled 'to declare unto Jacob his transgression' (Mic 3:8).

Verse 2

they seek me daily — The description is of a devout nation: seeking (darash), 'delight' (chaphets, twice) in God's ways, and asking for 'ordinances of justice'. 'Approaching' is qirvah, drawing near, found only here and in 'it is good for me to draw near to God' (Ps 73:28). The complaint of v.3 follows from this.

Verse 3

afflicted our soul — Anah nephesh, the language of the day of atonement: 'ye shall afflict your souls' (Lev 16:29). The people find 'pleasure' (chephets) even on the fast day, and 'exact' (nagas) is the verb of Egypt's 'taskmasters' (Ex 3:7): their workers are driven while they fast.

Verse 4

fast for strife and debate — 'Strife' is riv and 'debate' madon; 'fist' (egrof) occurs only here and in Ex 21:18. A fast used as a cover for violence is told in 1 Kgs 21:9–12: 'Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people'. Such a fast does not carry the voice 'to be heard on high'.

Verse 5

bow down his head as a bulrush — Agmon, a rush or reed that bows in the wind. 'Afflict his soul' is the fast of Lev 16:29, and the LORD asks whether this is the fast he has 'chosen' (bachar) and an 'acceptable' (ratson) day. Zech 7:5 puts the same question: 'did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?'

Verse 6

let the oppressed go free — 'Oppressed' is ratsats, crushed, and 'free' is chophshi, the word for the servant who 'shall go out free' in the seventh year (Ex 21:2). In Jer 34:9 every man was to 'let his manservant… go free'; in Neh 5:12 the creditors answer, 'We will restore them, and will require nothing of them'.

Verse 7

deal thy bread to the hungry — 'Deal' is paras, to break, so the bread is broken and shared. The same works mark the righteous man in Ezek 18:7: 'hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment'. Christ names them at the judgment: 'I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat' (Matt 25:35).

Verse 8

thine health shall spring forth — Arukah is the healing of a wound, as in 'I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds' (Jer 30:17). 'Rereward' (asaph, gathering) is the rearguard: 'the God of Israel will be your rereward' (Isa 52:12). The righteousness that goes before is the people's own.

Verse 9

Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer — The answer is prompt: 'before they call, I will answer' (Isa 65:24). 'Vanity' is aven, iniquity, the word of 'the unrighteous man' in Isa 55:7. The 'putting forth of the finger' is the pointing of accusation or scorn, named with the yoke of v.6.

Verse 10

draw out thy soul to the hungry — 'Afflicted soul' repeats 'afflicted our soul' (v.3) and 'afflict his soul' (v.5): the soul humbled in the fast is here the soul of another, relieved. The light then 'rise' (zarach) in 'obscurity' (choshek, darkness), and the 'darkness' becomes 'as the noonday', the brightness of midday.

Verse 11

a watered garden — The same figure is used of the returned: 'their soul shall be as a watered garden' (Jer 31:12). 'Fail' is kazab, to lie, so the spring is one that does not deceive. Christ says, 'a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:14). 'Make fat' (chalats) is to strengthen.

Verse 12

the repairer of the breach — Gader, to wall up; the 'breach' (perets) is a gap in a wall, as in 'close up the breaches thereof' (Amos 9:11). The work of building 'the old waste places' is promised again in Isa 61:4, and done in Neh 2:17: 'let us build up the wall of Jerusalem'.

Verse 13

call the sabbath a delight — Oneg, delight, found only here and in Isa 13:22 ('pleasant palaces'). 'Pleasure' is chephets, the word of v.3, where the fast day was spent finding it; the same fault would spoil both days. Instead of 'thine own ways' and 'thine own words', the day is for honouring the LORD.

Verse 14

ride upon the high places of the earth — The phrase is from the song of Moses: 'He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields' (Deut 32:13). Here too the people are fed on 'the heritage of Jacob'. 'Delight' ('anag) is the verb of 'Delight thyself also in the LORD' (Ps 37:4).