Isaiah 58:3 Komentář

Here we have, I. The displeasure which these hypocrites conceived against God for not accepting the services which they themselves had a mighty opinion of (Isa 58:3): Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Thus they went in the way of Cain, who was angry at God, and resented it as a gross affront that his offering was not accepted. Having gone about to put a cheat upon God by their external services, here they go about to pick a quarrel with God for not being pleased with their services, as if he had not done fairly or justly by them. Observe, 1. How they boast of themselves, and magnify their own performances: "We have fasted, and afflicted our souls; we have not only sought God daily (Isa 58:2), but have kept some certain times of more solemn devotion." Some think this refers to the yearly fast (which was called the day of atonement), others to their arbitrary occasional fasts. Note, It is common for unhumbled hearts to be proud of their professions of humiliation, as the Pharisee (Luk 18:12), I fast twice in the week. 2. What they expected from their performances. They thought God should take great notice of them, and own himself a debtor to them for their services. Note, It is a common thing for hypocrites, while they perform the external services of religion, to promise themselves that acceptance with God which he has promised only to the sincere; as if they must be accepted of course, or for a compliment. 3. How heinously they take it that God had not put some particular marks of his favour upon them, that he had not immediately delivered them out of their troubles and advanced them to honour and prosperity. They charge God with injustice and partiality, and seem resolved to throw up their religion, and justify themselves in doing so with this, that they had found no profit in praying to God, Job 21:14, Job 21:15; Mal 3:14. Note, Reigning hypocrisy often breaks out in daring impiety and an open contempt and reproach of God and religion for that which the hypocrisy itself must bear all the blame of. Sinners reflect upon religion as a hard and melancholy service, and on which there is nothing to be got by, when really it is owing to themselves that it seems so to them, because they are not sincere in it. II. The true reason assigned why God did not accept their fastings, nor answer the prayers they made on their fast-days; it was because they did not fast aright - to God, even to him, Zac 7:5. They fasted indeed, but they persisted in their sins, and did not, as the Ninevites, turn every one from his evil way; but in the day of their fast, notwithstanding the professed humiliations and covenants of that day, they went on to find pleasure, that is, to do whatsoever seemed right in their own eyes, lawful or unlawful, quicquid libet, licet - making their inclinations their law; though they seemed to afflict their souls, they still gratified their lusts as much as ever. 1. They were as covetous and unmerciful as ever: "You exact all your labours from your servants, and will neither release them according to the law nor relax the rigour of their servitude." This was their fault before the captivity, Jer 34:8, Jer 34:9. It was no less their fault after their captivity, notwithstanding all their solemn fasts, Neh 5:5. "You exact all your dues, your debts" (so some read it); "you are as rigorous and severe in extorting what you demand from those that are poor as ever you were, though it was at the close of the yearly fast that the release was proclaimed." 2. They were contentious and spiteful (Isa 58:4): Behold, you fast for strife and debate. When they proclaimed a fast to deprecate God's judgments, they pretended to search for those sins which provoked God to threaten them with his judgments, and under that pretence perhaps particular persons were falsely accused, as Naboth in the day of Jezebel's fast, Kg1 21:12. Or the contending parties among them upon those occasions were bitter and severe in their reflections one upon another, one side crying out, "It is owing to you," and the other, "It is owing to you, that our deliverance is not wrought." Thus, instead of judging themselves, which is the proper work of a fast-day, they condemned one another. They fasted for strife, with emulation which should make the most plausible appearance on a fast-day and humour the matter best. Nor was it only tongue-quarrels that were fomented in the times of their fasting, but they came to blows too: You smite with the fist of wickedness. The cruel task-masters beat their servants, and the creditors their insolvent debtors, whom they delivered to the tormentors; they abused poor innocents with wicked hands. Now while they thus continued in sin, in those very sins which were directly contrary to the intention of a fasting day, (1.) God would not allow them the use of such solemnities: "You shall not fast at all if you fast as you do this day, causing your voice to be heard on high, in the heat of your clamours one against another, or in your devotions, which you perform so as to make them to be taken notice of for ostentation. Bring me no more of these empty, noisy, vain oblations," Isa 1:13. Note, Those are justly forbidden the honour of a profession of religion that will not submit to the power of it. (2.) He would not accept of them in the use of them: "You shall not fast, that is, it shall not be looked upon as a fast, nor shall the voice of your prayers on those days be heard on high in heaven." Note, Those that fast and pray, and yet go on in their wicked ways, do but mock God and deceive themselves. III. Plain instructions given concerning the true nature of a religious fast. 1. In general, a fast is intended, (1.) For the honouring and pleasing of God. It must be such a performance as he has chosen (Isa 58:5); it must be an acceptable day to the Lord, in the duties of which we must study to approve ourselves to him and obtain his favour, else it is not a fast, else there is nothing done to any purpose. (2.) For the humbling and abasing of ourselves. A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it do not express a genuine sorrow for sin, and do not promote a real mortification of sin, it is not a fast; the law of the day of atonement was that on that day they should afflict their souls, Lev 16:29. That must be done on a fast-day which is a real affliction to the soul, as far as it is yet unregenerate and unsanctified, though a real pleasure and advantage to the soul as far as it is itself. 2. It concerns us therefore to enquire, on a fast-day, what it is that will be acceptable to God, and afflictive to our corrupt nature, and tending to its mortification. (1.) We are here told negatively what is not the fast that God has chosen, and which does not amount to the afflicting of the soul. [1.] It is not enough to look demure, to put on a grave and melancholy aspect, to bow down the head like a bulrush that is withered and broken: as the hypocrites, that were of a sad countenance, and disfigured their faces, that they might appear unto men to fast, Mat 6:16. Hanging down the head did indeed well enough become the publican, whose heart was truly humbled and broken for sin, and who therefore, in token of that, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven (Luk 18:13); but when it was only mimicked, as here, it was justly ridiculed: it is but hanging down the head like a bulrush, which nobody regards or takes any notice of. As the hypocrite's humiliations are but like the hanging down of a bulrush, so his elevations in his hopes are but like the flourishing of a bulrush (Job 8:11, Job 8:12), which, while it is yet in its greenness, withers before any other herb. [2.] It is not enough to do penance, to mortify the body a little, while the body of sin is untouched. It is not enough for a man to spread sackcloth and ashes under him, which may indeed give him some uneasiness for the present, but will soon be forgotten when he returns to stretch himself upon his beds of ivory, Amo 6:4. Wilt thou call this a fast? No, it is but the shadow and carcase of a fast. Wilt thou call this an acceptable day to the Lord? No, it is so far from being so that the hypocrisy of it is an abomination to him. Note, The shows of religion, though they show ever so fair in the eye of the world, will not be accepted of God without the substance of it. (2.) We are here told positively what is the fast that God has chosen, what that is which will recommend a fast-day to the divine acceptance, and what is indeed afflicting the soul, that is, crushing and subduing the corrupt nature. It is not afflicting the soul for a day (as some read it, Isa 58:5) that will serve; no, it must be the business of our whole lives. It is here required, [1.] That we be just to those with whom we have dealt hardly. The fast that God has chosen consists in reforming our lives and undoing what we have done amiss (Isa 58:6): To loose the bands of wickedness, the bands which we have wickedly tied, and by which others are bound out from their right or bound down under severe usage. Those which perhaps were at first bands of justice, tying men to pay a due debt, become, when the debt is exacted with rigour from those whom Providence has reduced and emptied, bands of wickedness, and they must be loosed, or they will bring us into bonds of guilt much more terrible. It is to undo the heavy burden laid on the back of the poor servant, under which he is ready to sink. It is to let the oppressed go free from the oppression which makes his life bitter to him. "Let the prisoner for debt that has nothing to pay be discharged, let the vexatious action be quashed, let the servant that is forcibly detained beyond the time of his servitude be released, and thus break every yoke; not only let go those that are wrongfully kept under the yoke, but break the yoke of slavery itself, that it may not serve again another time nor any by made again to serve under it." [2.] That we be charitable to those that stand in need of charity, Isa 58:7. The particulars in the former verse may be taken as acts of charity, that we not only release those whom we have unjustly oppressed - that is justice, but that we contribute to the rescue and ransom of those that are oppressed by others, to the release of captives and the payment of the debts of the poor; but those in this verse are plainly acts of charity. This then is the fast that God has chosen. First, To provide food for those that want it. This is put first, as the most necessary, and which the poor can but a little while live without. It is to break thy bread to the hungry. Observe, "It must be thy bread, that which is honestly got (not that which thou hast robbed others of), the bread which thou thyself hast occasion for, the bread of thy allowance." We must deny ourselves, that we may have to give to him that needeth. "Thy bread which thou hast spared from thyself and thy family, on the fast-day, if that, or the value of it, be not given to the poor, it is the miser's fast, which he makes a hand of; it is fasting for the world, not for God. This is the true fast, to break thy bread to the hungry, not only to give them that which is already broken meat, but to break bread on purpose for them, to give them loaves and not to put them off with scraps." Secondly, To provide lodging for those that want it: It is to take care of the poor that are cast out, that are forced from their dwelling, turned out of house and harbour, are cast out as rebels (so some critics render it), that are attainted, and whom therefore it is highly penal to protect. "If they suffer unjustly, make no difficulty of sheltering them; do not only find out quarters for them and pay for their lodging elsewhere, but, which is a greater act of kindness, bring them to thy own house, make them thy own guests. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for though thou mayest not, as some have done, thereby entertain angels, thou mayest entertain Christ himself, who will recompense it in the resurrection of the just. I was a stranger and you took me in." Thirdly, To provide clothing for those that want it: "When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, both to shelter him from the injuries of the weather and to enable him to appear decently among his neighbours; give him clothes to come to church in, and in these and other instances hide not thyself from thy own flesh." Some understand it more strictly of a man's own kindred and relations: "If those of thy own house and family fall into decay, thou art worse than an infidel if thou dost not provide for them." Ti1 5:8. Others understand it more generally; all that partake of the human nature are to be looked upon as our own flesh, for have we not all one Father? And for this reason we must not hide ourselves from them, not contrive to be out of the way when a poor petitioner enquires for us, not look another way when a moving object of charity and compassion presents itself; let us remember that they are flesh of our flesh and therefore we ought to sympathize with them, and in doing good to them we really do good to our own flesh and spirit too in the issue; for thus we lay up for ourselves a good foundation, a good bond, for the time to come.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 58 From the wicked and antichristian party the prophet is bid to turn to the professors of the true religion, and openly, boldly, and sharply, reprove them for their sins, particularly their hypocrisy and formality in worship, Isa 58:1, who yet were angry, and complained that the Lord took no notice of their religious services, particularly their fasting, which is put for the whole; the reason of which was, because they did not fast aright; it was attended with much cruelty, strife, and wickedness, and only lay in external appearances, Isa 58:3, when they are directed how to keep a fast, and are shown what a true fast is, and what works and services are acceptable to God, Isa 58:6 on doing of which, light, health, prosperity, and hearing of their prayers, are promised, provided the yoke of oppression is taken away, and compassion shown to the poor, Isa 58:8, yea, a very fruitful and flourishing estate of the soul is promised, and a rebuilding of waste places, delight in the Lord, and great honour and dignity; so be it that the sabbath of the Lord, or public worship, is attended to in a proper manner, Isa 58:11.

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?.... Our fasting; takest no notice of it; expresses no approbation of it, and pleasure in it: this is put for all religious services, being what was frequently performed under the Old Testament, not only at certain times appointed by the Lord, but on other occasions, and of their own fixing; in which they put their confidence, and often boasted of, Luk 18:12, "wherefore have we afflicted our soul", by fasting, "and thou takest no knowledge?" of that, nor of us, and dost not save us from our enemies, and deliver us from our troubles, and bestow favours on us: they had a high opinion of their own performances, and thought that God must have likewise; and were displeased that he showed no more regard unto them: behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure; this, and what follows in the two next verses, are an answer to their questions, and give reasons why the Lord took no more notice of their fasting, or of their services; because they were not done aright, they found their own pleasure in them; not that they indulged to bodily recreations and carnal delights, but they gratified the inward desires of the flesh, malice, envy, and the like; and they pleased themselves with their own duties, and fancied they procured the favour of God by them: and exact all your labours; of their servants, or their money of their debtors; they grieved and afflicted their debtors, by demanding their debts of them, as Jarchi interprets it; and that in a very rigorous manner, requiring whole and immediate payment; or, as it is usual with establishments, they require an exact conformity to their manner of service, worship, and discipline.

The Word blamed the children of Israel on account of such a fast as this, exhorting them by Isaiah the prophet and saying, “This is not the fast or the day that I have chosen, that a person should humble his soul.” That we may be able to show what kind of persons we should be when we fast, and of what character the fast should be, listen again to God commanding Moses.… In the tenth day of this seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement; a convocation, and a holy day shall it be to you; and you shall humble your souls, and offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord. And afterwards, that the law might be defined on this point, he proceeds to say, “Every soul that shall not humble itself shall be cut off from the people.”

“Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose a day for a person to humble himself?” Do not fast as if with the aim to fulfill your evil intentions, as if you had made a certain vow in order to obtain one thing or another and so that misfortunes might befall your enemies. Through this kind of fasting and prayers, he says, you seek to delight your will and not mine, and, since you despise me, you say on high, “Why have we fasted, and you do not see it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you do not notice?”

The unjust accuse the Lord of not respecting good works, and then they offer to God only hunger pangs of the stomach but not the work of virtue. Nor do they eat the foods that God created for believers and those who know the truth, to be received with thanksgiving. …This is what follows in the Septuagint: “And you wound all those who are subject to you,” [Is 58:3] or “afflict,” as in the better translation of Theodotion and Symmachus, which we follow with “and you are demanding of your debtors.” From this he shows that it is not without danger to demand repayment of a poor person who is insolvent or to refuse to return to a freezing debtor the garment that you took as collateral, lest his cry reach God. For one who has mercy on the poor lends to God. In contrast, whoever demands repayment from those who have nothing violates God.… The servant of the Lord … must not be litigious but be kind and imitate him who said, “Learn from me, for I am kind and humble of heart,” such that his humility would not be pretentious but of the heart, a humility that seeks the soul’s conscience rather than human glory.… And we say this not to reprove the practice of fasting, through which Daniel, a man of passions, came to know the future and the Ninevites placated the wrath of God, and Elijah and Moses, after fasting for forty days, were filled with God’s friendship. The Lord, moreover, fasted for all those days of solitude in the desert in order to bequeath solemn days of fasting to us. But it profits nothing to endure an empty stomach and then to do other things that are displeasing to God.… Nor should they disfigure their faces but wash them with water and anoint their heads with oil, about which John the Evangelist wrote, “You also have been anointed by the holy One,” through which the anointed were themselves made holy.

(Verse 3) They ask me for judgments of justice, and for the nearness of God. Why did we fast, and you did not look upon us? We humbled our souls, and you did not know? Behold, in the day of your fast your will is found, and you exact all your debtors. Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and you strike with the fist wickedly. LXX: They now seek a just judgment from me, and they desire to draw near to God, saying: Why did we fast, and you did not see? We have humiliated our souls, and you have not acknowledged? For on the days of your fasts, your desires are found, and you afflict all those subject to you, fasting for judgments and arguments, and you strike the humble with your fists. There is another rashness of the Jews, as if with the confidence of a good conscience, they demand a just judgment, and they imitate the words of the saints saying: Judge me, O Lord, for I have entered in my innocence (Ps. XXV, 1, 2). And again: Test me, O Lord, and try me: burn my reins and my heart. And in another place: Judge my cause, and redeem me (Psalm 118:154). And they desire to draw near to God: but this does not occur in a physical place, but in affection, nor in idle thoughts, but in laborious deeds. Finally, Scripture instructs us on what it means to draw near to God, saying: Seek the Lord. And when the wicked draws near to you, let him forsake his ways, and the unjust his thoughts. For the Lord is near to those who approach Him, and to those who pursue what is just. And they can say: But for me it is good to cling to God (Ps. LXXII, 28). For if Almighty God is the Father of truth and justice, whoever is deceitful and unjust cannot draw near to God, of whom it is written: The wicked shall not dwell with you, nor shall the unjust remain before your eyes (Ps. V, 6). Why did we fast, they say, and you did not look? We humbled our souls, and you did not know? They accuse the Lord of injustice, because he does not regard good works, and they offer to God only the hunger of the belly, without the work of virtues: not eating the foods that God created for the faithful and those who know the truth, so that they may take them with thanksgiving. But those of whom it is written in Proverbs: For they are nourished with the foods of impiety and are intoxicated with the wine of iniquity (Prov. 4:17). The Pharisee, satisfied with these kinds of banquets, among other words of pride, boasted on the Sabbath that he was fasting. (Luke XVIII): he did not drink wine from the vineyard of Sorec, but from the vineyard of the Sodomites, whose wine is the madness of dragons, and the madness of asps is incurable, and their grapes are grapes of gall: whom God reproves through the Prophet: They eat the sins of my people (Hos. IV, 8). And again: Why have you remained silent about their wickedness, and gathered and eaten the harvest of falsehood? (Hos. X, 13). Therefore, because they had posed the question to God, desiring to know why they had fasted and humbled their souls, and God did not respond, forgetting the old story of why He did not regard Cain's offering, who offered correctly but did not divide rightly with his brother (Gen. IV), not seeing the love of God, as the Scripture says: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself (Matt. XXII, 39): therefore, God answered that He does not reject fasting, but the works that are done in fasting, saying: In the days of your fasting, your own wills are found, that you do not do God's will, but your own wills, which Paul, writing to the Ephesians, rejects: According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of unbelief, among whom we all once conversed in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and thoughts. And we were by nature children of wrath, like the others (Eph. 2:2-3). And what follows according to the Septuagint: 'And you oppress, or afflict, all your subjects,' which Theodotion and Symmachus translated better, whom we have followed in this place, 'and you demand payment from all your debtors.' From this it is evident that it is not without danger to demand repayment from a poor person who is unable to pay, and to not return a cloak taken as a pledge to a debtor who is shivering, lest his cry come before God. For he who has pity on the poor lends to God (Proverbs XIX). And on the contrary, he who withholds from the poor, harms God. And so that we may know that this is the meaning in the present passage, we will also read in the following verses in this same chapter: Break the bonds of wickedness, untie the bundles of oppression. It is undoubtedly clear that the bonds refer to: For what profit is it if you make your face pale with fasting, and fast for quarrels and arguments, as the Scripture says, He who loves sin rejoices in arguments (Proverbs XVII, 11)? But a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle (2 Tim. 2), and imitate Him who says: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart (Matt. 11, 29): so that humility is not affected, but of the heart, not seeking the glory of men, but the conscience of the soul. You fast and strike with fists the humble, and with slaps you beat (1 Tim. 3). Therefore, a bishop must not be a striker. For how can he restrain lust, who is unable to restrain his own hand or tongue? The Lord reproves such fasting and in the beginning of this prophet he says: My soul hates your fasting and rest, your new moons and Sabbaths, and your other solemnities (Isaiah 1:13). Therefore, Joel commands: Sanctify a fast, proclaim a healing (Joel 2:15); so that we may fast from vices and become holy through good works and the healing of sins. Finally, it follows: Let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal chamber; so that during the time of fasting we may give ourselves to prayer: lest our inner self be nourished by the dragon's flesh, which has been given as food to the peoples of Ethiopia. And we say this, not because we disapprove of fasting, through which both Daniel, a man of desires, knew the future (Daniel IX), and the Ninevites appeased the anger of God (Jonah III), and Elijah (III Kings XIX) and Moses (Exodus XXXIV), satisfied with the familiarity of God through a forty-day fast, and the Lord Himself (Matthew IV) fasted for the same number of days in the wilderness, in order to leave us the solemn days of fasting. But fasting alone should not be empty, and one should not do other things that displease God. And, leaving aside other things, you will make their faces disfigured so that they appear to be fasting ((or fasting)), those who, by obtaining glory in the present, will be excluded from the kingdom of God, because they have received their reward (Matt. VI). Therefore, even if the Apostle were to offer his body to martyrdom, as it were, to be burned or to boast (both are mentioned in the copies), without the love of God (which is in the conscience of the heart), he says in vain that he pours out his blood (I Cor. XIII).

What if your flesh obeys you, and you do not obey God? Aren’t you condemned by your own flesh, when it submits to you? Doesn’t it bear witness against you, precisely by submitting to you?

Now fasting is a very worthwhile and excellent thing, and prayer is most useful. And humbling oneself in God’s eyes has much to commend it. … The God of the universe says, return to me with fasting, wailing, mourning. For he readily has mercy on those doing penance through travail. But it is unusual that those wishing to receive mercy in another way should annoy the legislator and provoke him to wrath by not liking to do the things commanded. For it is necessary that all saints who wish to draw near to God not only do the good works to be done but also that they be free from all reproach.

They think that abstaining from food is the height of virtue, and they accuse me of not automatically deeming them worthy of all providence. As for the phrase “they desire to be near to God,” Symmachus translates, “they wish the nearness of God” and Aquila, “they will19 the drawing near of God.” The text shows that they have no desire to draw near to God, but want him to come near to them through his protection and care, even while choosing a life unworthy of him.

Ye offer [your own wills] as whole burnt offerings unto idols; and unto the wretched thoughts, that ye reckon in yourselves as gods, ye daily sacrifice your free will, a thing more precious than all incense, which ye ought rather to consecrate unto Me by your good works and your purity of conscience.

Again, they trust in the observation of fasts: why have we fasted, and you have not regarded, as if you were grateful; have we humbled our souls, as to the circumstances of their fasts, in outward humiliation, and you have not taken notice, with the knowledge of approval: he labors in vain that serves God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? (Mal 3:14). 1025. Second, he shows rejection of these goods. And first, the cause of rejection, which is the fault of the will: behold in the day of your fast your own will is found, in things which please the flesh: go not after your lusts (Sir 18:30). Also, the fault of cruelty: and you exact of all your debtors, literally, so that they could persist for a long time in litigating, or to its consecutive.

This elegant chapter contains a severe reproof of the Jews on account of their vices, particularly their hypocrisy in practising and relying on outward ceremonies, such as fasting and bodily humiliation, without true repentance, Isa 58:1-5. It then lays down a clear and comprehensive summary of the duties they owed to their fellow creatures, Isa 58:6, Isa 58:7. Large promises of happiness and prosperity are likewise annexed to the performance of these duties in a variety of the most beautiful and striking images, Isa 58:8-12. Great temporal and spiritual blessedness of those who keep holy the Sabbath day, Isa 58:13, Isa 58:14.

Have we adopted our soul "Have we afflicted our souls" - Twenty-seven MSS. (six ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-six of De Rossi's, and two of my own, and the old edition of 1488 have the noun in the plural number, נפשינו naphsheynu, our souls; and so the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate. This reading is undoubtedly genuine. In the day of your fast ye find pleasure - Fast days are generally called holidays, and holidays are days of idleness and pleasure. In numberless cases the fast is turned into a feast. And exact all your labors - Some disregard the most sacred fast, and will oblige their servant to work all day long; others use fast days for the purpose of settling their accounts, posting up their books, and drawing out their bills to be ready to collect their debts. These are sneaking hypocrites; the others are daringly irreligious.

REPROOF OF THE JEWS FOR THEIR DEPENDENCE ON MERE OUTWARD FORMS OF WORSHIP. (Isa 58:1-14) aloud--Hebrew, "with the throat," that is, with full voice, not merely from the lips (Sa1 1:13). Speak loud enough to arrest attention. my people--the Jews in Isaiah's time, and again in the time of our Lord, more zealous for externals than for inward holiness. ROSENMULLER thinks the reference to be to the Jews in the captivity practising their rites to gain God's favor and a release; and that hence, sacrifices are not mentioned, but only fasting and Sabbath observance, which they could keep though far away from the temple in Jerusalem. The same also applies to their present dispersion, in which they cannot offer sacrifices, but can only show their zeal in fastings, &c. Compare as to our Lord's time, Mat 6:16, Mat 6:23; Luk 18:12.

Wherefore--the words of the Jews: "Why is it that, when we fast, Thou dost not notice it" (by delivering us)? They think to lay God under obligation to their fasting (Psa 73:13; Mal 3:14). afflicted . . . soul-- (Lev 16:29). Behold--God's reply. pleasure--in antithesis to their boast of having "afflicted their soul"; it was only in outward show they really enjoyed themselves. GESENIUS not so well translates, "business." exact . . . labours--rather, "oppressive labors" [MAURER]. HORSLEY, with Vulgate, translates, "Exact the whole upon your debtors"; those who owe you labor (Neh 5:1-5, Neh 5:8-10, &c.).

As the last prophecy of the second book contained all the three elements of prophetic addresses - reproach, threat, and promise - so this, the first prophecy of the third book, cannot open in any other way than with a rehearsal of one of these. The prophet receives the commission to appear as the preacher of condemnation; and whilst Jehovah is giving the reason for this commission, the preaching itself commences. "Cry with full throat, hold not back; lift up thy voice like a bugle, and proclaim to my people their apostasy, and to the house of Jacob their sins. And they seek me day by day, and desire to learn my ways, like a nation which has done righteousness, and has not forsaken the right of their God: they ask of me judgments of righteousness; they desire the drawing near of Elohim." As the second prophecy of the first part takes as its basis a text from Micah (Mic 2:1-4), so have we here in Isa 58:1 the echo of Mic 3:8. Not only with lisping lips (Sa1 1:13), but with the throat (Psa 115:7; Psa 149:6); that is to say, with all the strength of the voice, lifting up the voice like the shōphâr (not a trumpet, which is called חצצרה, nor in fact any metallic instrument, but a bugle or signal horn, like that blown on new year's day: see at Psa 81:4), i.e., in a shrill shouting tone. With a loud voice that must be heard, with the most unsparing publicity, the prophet is to point out to the people their deep moral wounds, which they may indeed hide from themselves with hypocritical opus operatum, but cannot conceal from the all-seeing God. The ו of ואותי does not stand for an explanatory particle, but for an adversative one: "their apostasy ... their sins; and yet (although they are to be punished for these) they approach Jehovah every day" (יום יום with mahpach under the first יום, and pasek after it, as is the general rule between two like-sounding words), "that He would now speedily interpose." They also desire to know the ways which He intends to take for their deliverance, and by which He desires to lead them. This reminds us of the occurrence between Ezekiel and the elders of Gola (Eze 20:1.; compare also Eze 33:30.). As if they had been a people whose rectitude of action and fidelity to the commands of God warranted them in expecting nothing but what was good in the future, they ask God (viz., in prayer and by inquiring of the prophet) for mishpetē tsedeq, "righteous manifestations of judgment" i.e., such as will save them and destroy their foes, and desire qirbath 'Elōhı̄m, the coming of God, i.e., His saving parousia. The energetic futures, with the tone upon the last syllable, answer to their self-righteous presumption; and יחפצוּן is repeated, according to Isaiah's most favourite oratorical figure, at the close of the verse.

There follow now the words of the work-righteous themselves, who hold up their fasting before the eyes of God, and complain that He takes no notice of it. And how could He?! "'Wherefore do we fast and Thou seest not, afflict our soul and Thou regardest not?' Behold, on the day of your fasting ye carry on your business, and ye oppress all your labourers. Behold, ye fast with strife and quarrelling, and with smiting with the fist maliciously closed: ye do not fast now to make your voice audible on high." By the side of צוּם (root צם, to press, tie up, constrain) we have here the older expression found in the Pentateuch, נפשׁ ענּה, to do violence to the natural life. In addition to the fasting on the day of atonement (the tenth of the seventh month Tizri), the only fast prescribed by the law, other fasts were observed according to Zac 7:3; Zac 8:19, viz., fasts to commemorate the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem (10th Tebeth), its capture (17th Tammuz), its destruction (9th Aibb), and the murder of Gedaliah (3rd Tizri). The exiles boast of this fasting here; but it is a heartless, dead work, and therefore worthless in the sight of God. There is the most glaring contrast between the object of the fast and their conduct on the fast-day: for they carry on their work-day occupation; they are then, more than at any other time, true taskmasters to their work-people (lest the service of the master should suffer form the service of God); and because when fasting they are doubly irritable and ill-tempered, this leads to quarrelling and strife, and even to striking with angry fist (בּאגרף, from גּרף, to collect together, make into a ball, clench). Hence in their present state the true purpose of fasting is quite unknown to them, viz., to enable them to draw near with importunate prayer to God, who is enthroned on high (Isa 57:15). (Note: The ancient church called a fast statio, because he who fasted had to wait in prayer day and night like a soldier at his post. See on this and what follows, the Shepherd of Hermas, iii. Sim. 5, and the Epistle of Barnabas, c. iii.) The only difficulty here is the phrase חפץ מצא. In the face of Isa 58:13, this cannot have any other meaning than to stretch one's hand after occupation, to carry on business, to occupy one's self with it - חפץ combining the three meanings, application or affairs, striving, and trade or occupation. מצא, however, maintains its primary meaning, to lay hold of or grasp (cf., Isa 10:14; Targ. צרכיכון תּבעין אתּוּן, ye seek your livelihood). This is sustained by what follows, whether we derive עצּביכם (cf., חלּקי, Isa 57:6) from עצב (et omnes labores vestros graves rigide exigitis), נגשׂ (from which we have here תּנגּשׂוּ for תּגּשׂוּ, Deu 15:3) being construed as in Kg2 23:35 with the accusative of what is peremptorily demanded; or (what we certainly prefer) from עצב; or better still from עצב morf ll (like עמל): omnes operarios vestros adigitis (urgetis), נגשׂ being construed with the accusative of the person oppressed, as in Deu 15:2, where it is applied to the oppression of a debtor. Here, however, the reference is not to those who owe money, but to those who owe labour, or to obligations to labour; and עצב does not signify a debtor (an idea quite foreign to this verbal root), but a labourer, one who eats the bread of sorrows, or of hard toil (Psa 127:2). The prophet paints throughout from the life; and we cannot be persuaded by Stier's false zeal for Isaiah's authorship to give up the opinion, that we have here a figure drawn from the life of the exiles in Babylon.