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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.

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry?.... Or "to break" (f) it, divide it, and communicate it to them; that which is "bread", food fit to eat, wholesome and nourishing; which is thine, and not another's; which thou hast saved by fasting, and therefore should not be laid up, but given away; and that not to the rich, who need it not, but to the hungry and necessitous: and this may be understood of spiritual bread, of imparting the Gospel to such who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, which to do is an acceptable service to God; and not to bind and oppress men's consciences with burdensome rites and ceremonies of men's own devising. These are husks, and not bread. And that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house; poor ministers, cast out of the church, cast out of their livings, cast out of their houses, cast out of the land; and other Christian exiles for conscience sake; poor travellers and wanderers, as the Targum, obliged to flee from persecution into foreign countries, and wander about from place to place, having no certain dwelling place; these take into your house, and give them lodging: so some have entertained angels unawares, as Abraham and Lot, as indeed the faithful ministers of Christ are: or, the poor rebels (g); for the word has this signification; such who have been accused and attainted as rebels; who have been charged with being rebels to church and state, though the quiet in the land, and so have been forced to flee and hide themselves; do not be afraid to receive them into your houses, though under such an imputation: when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; the naked Christian especially; not entirely so, but one that is thinly clothed, whose clothes are scarce anything but rags, not sufficient to keep him warm, or preserve him from the inclemencies of the weather; put a better garment upon him, to cover him with: and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh; meaning not only those "near akin" (h), though more especially them; but such as are in the same neighbourhood, of the same country; and indeed all men are of one blood, and so are the same flesh; and from persons in distress, and especially such as are of the household of faith, of the same religion, that support the same Protestant cause, though differing in some lesser matters, a man should not hide himself, or turn his eyes from, or refuse to relieve them, or treat them with disdain and contempt; see Gal 6:10. (f) "nonne ut frangas?" Pagninus; "nonne frangere?" Montanus. (g) Heb. "rebellatos, expulsos tanquam rebelles", Piscator; "qui persecutionem patiuntur", Vitringa. (h) "a cognatis tuis", Vatablus. So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 85. 1.

And we shall find many examples also in other places,-as, for instance, respecting prayer: "Good works are an acceptable prayer to the Lord," says the Scripture. And the manner of prayer is described. "If thou seest," it is said, "the naked, cover him; and thou shalt not overlook those who belong to thy seed. Then shall thy light spring forth early, and thy healing shall spring up quickly; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall encompass thee." What, then, is the fruit of such prayer? "Then shall thou call, and God will hear thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He will say, I am here."

(Verses 6, 7.) Isn't this the fast that I have chosen? To loosen the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Isn't it to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor who are cast out into your house? When you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isn't it to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? Isn't this the fast that I have chosen?' says the Lord: 'to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?' Dissolve the bonds of violent obligations. Release the broken ones in remission, and cut off all unjust writings. Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the homeless into your house. If you see someone naked, cover them, and do not despise the members of your own household. After he taught what kind of fasting he disapproves of, he showed what kind he gladly accepts. Dissolve, he says, the bindings of impiety: untie the bundles that weigh down: or as the Septuagint translated more clearly, the bonds of violent obligations, which our people, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, that is, exchanges in certificates, interpreted as transfers. However, it signifies the bundles of documents in which the deceit of lenders is contained, and the poor are oppressed by debt, which is the main cause of revolt in all cities. Therefore, the Roman people occupy neighboring mountains, and there are new records, which the Greeks call 'χρέων ἀποκοπάς'. Therefore, the Prophet does not command that each person should not demand what is owed, especially when it was justly given and justly sought after; otherwise, he would be a supporter of sedition. But where there is unfair surety, where the poor are oppressed by slander: there the bundles of sureties and all the chains of injustice must be broken. Or indeed, this must be said, because it is about fasting, and fasting has affliction and humiliation of the soul: but the affliction of sinners' bodies begs for indulgence. Divine Scripture teaches us to forgive our debtors, so that the Heavenly Father may also forgive us our debts (Mark 11). The ancient history tells that in the year of the Jubilee, which is the true Jubilee, all possessions return to their owners and slaves regain their freedom, and all obligations, commonly known as cautions, become void (Leviticus 25 and 27). If this is commanded in the old Law (Exodus 21), how much more in the Gospel, where everything that is good is multiplied: and not an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth is commanded, but to offer the other cheek to the one who strikes! And so that we know what we have said above: Collect all your debtors, have the creditors written down, and join them with the debtors more clearly: Forgive those who are broken, that is, those who are broken by poverty, whom affliction has afflicted, so that you do not allow them to beg. And break all burdens by which they are oppressed. For which the Seventy translated it more clearly, and cut off all unjust writing: which Symmachus translated: And break all false caution. But it could happen that someone would say, 'I have no debtors, what should I do to observe my fast?' It follows: Break your bread to the hungry. Not many loaves, nor cause poverty, but one loaf. Not the whole loaf itself, but a portion of bread: which if you did not fast, you would eat; so that your fast is not a profit for your purse, but a satisfaction for your soul. And beautifully he added 'your', so that you do not make your alms from robbery: For the redemption of a man's soul is his own treasure (Proverbs 13, 6). And in another place: Honor the Lord with your just labor (Proverbs 3, 9). Certainly if you do not have bread, and there is a great multitude of hungry people, give from what you suffer no harm. In which there are no expenses, bring the homeless, the poor without shelter, into your home. Or as it is said in Hebrew, into the house, so that if you do not have your own, you bring them into a small guesthouse, which you either rent or possess as a favor. If you see someone naked, cover him. And what the Lord said in the Gospel: Whoever has two tunics, let him give one to him who has none (Luke 3, 11). For he did not command that one be torn and divided, as many do for the sake of popular applause, but that the other not be preserved, increasing the precepts of justice, so that he also may say that having handed a cup of cold water has its rewards. And he says 'your' flesh, do not despise it. For every man is our flesh. And according to the Gospel parable, he is called the neighbor who does good to the one who came down from Jerusalem to Jericho and was wounded by robbers (Luke 10). Or certainly according to the Seventy who said: And do not despise the servants of your own seed, let us understand those servants of your own seed, about whom the Apostle also teaches, saying that alms should be done to all, but especially to the servants of faith (Galatians 6). For they are our flesh and our seed, being generated with us by the same parent. To whom the Savior also extended his hand, saying: These are my mother and my brothers, who do the will of my Father (Mark 3, 34, 35). And so that we know that there is one Lord, both of the new and the old Testament, the Lord speaks the same in the Gospel about those who will stand on the right on the day of judgment, saying: Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was sick and in prison, and you visited me. I was a stranger and you brought me into your home. And I was naked and you clothed me (Matthew 25, 34-36). And to those who humbly say that they have done nothing for the Lord and Savior, he responds: As long as you have done it to one of the least of my brothers, you have done it to me. According to tropology, we can say: Whoever fasts from all evil and wishes his fast to be respected, not only must turn away from evil, but also do good, so as to break every bond of iniquity by which simple believers are bound by the deceit of heretics. And the Prophet also speaks about the bonds of violent contracts, which he demonstrates in the psalm, saying: But those who go astray in their obligations, the Lord will bring with those who work iniquity (Psalm 125, 5). For all those who are bound by the bonds of heretics, turn away from the Lord; they are like a bull led to the slaughter; and they choose and exchange falsehood for truth. Therefore, let the Ecclesiastical man dismiss and dissolve these kinds of men, who are broken in judgment; and break and tear apart all the writings of heretics, about whom the same Prophet says: Woe to those who write iniquity: for they write malice, stealing the judgment of the poor people of mine (Isaiah 10, 1, 2), so that they do not hold every simple person ensnared by their traps. And when he does this, let him break his bread to the hungry of the Ecclesiastical doctrine, which the Lord also did, giving broken bread to the Apostles, which he left for them in seven baskets and twelve small baskets, not whole as they were in the Law, but crushed and broken in the Gospel, so that they would have something to give to the poor (Matthew 15). When you see those who do not have the warmth of faith, but who freeze outside the Church in the coldness of unbelief, bring them into the house of the Church, and cover them with the robe of incorruption; so that, clothed in Christ's tunic, they do not remain in the graves, as we read of the one who was possessed by a legion of demons, who lived naked among the memorials of the dead. And when you have done this, let your generosity be shown to all, especially to the faithful servants.

But the affliction of the body entreats for the indulgence of sinners. Divine Scripture teaches us to forgive our debtors so that the heavenly Father would also forgive our debts. The old history instructs in the seventh year of remission, or in the fiftieth, which is the true jubilee, to return all possessions to the Lord and to restore to one’s servants their original freedom and to render void every name that was used as a warranty. But if this was commanded in the law, how much more in the gospel, where all goods are doubled and where we are ordered by no means to take an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth but instead to offer our cheek to the assailant!…When you see people freezing outside the church in the frigidity of unbelief, without the warmth of faith, impoverished and homeless, lead them home into the church and clothe them with the work of incorruption, so that, wrapped in the mantle of Christ, they will not remain in the grave.

He is finding fault, you see, with the fasts of the quarrelsome; he is looking for the fasts of the kindhearted. He is finding fault with those who oppress others; he is looking for those who give relief. He is finding fault with those who stir up strife; he is looking for those who set free. That is why, you see, during these days you restrain your desires for lawful things; it is in order not to commit unlawful things. If you refrain from your marriage rights during these days, then surely you should not drown yourself in wine or adultery on any day.In this way, in humility and charity, by fasting and giving, by restraining ourselves and forgiving, by paying out good deeds and not paying back bad ones, by turning away from evil and doing good, our prayer seeks peace and obtains it.

When you refrain from doing these things, then the things you lack will be yours. For the bearing of fruit toward the neighbor refers to the noble things of love. Love is the fulfillment of the law, as it stands written. For the fulfilling of love toward brothers and compassion are the marks of a reward with God. Seeing how to abstain from evil and doing good are not the same thing. For it does not suffice for glory with God to flee evil but to try in all ways to meet needs and do good works and hold fast to diligence in godliness … thus the old law being a schoolmaster to Christ did not introduce the fulfillment of the good for those at that time but rather taught them to restrain from evil. Thus, “do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not swear” have this force. But the perfect fulfillment of all goodness in the oracles is kept through Christ, through which we learn to fulfill those works of love toward God and our fellows.

If we carefully heed the fact that Christ hungers in the person of the poor, beloved, it will be profitable for us.… Listen and see, a coin and a kingdom. What comparison is there, beloved? You give the poor a coin and receive a kingdom from Christ; you bestow a mouthful and are given eternal life; you offer clothes, and Christ grants the forgiveness of your sins.

And that they extend mercies, exhorting them to mercy as to the hungry: break your bread for the hungry, that is, if you have little; as to the homeless: and bring the needy and the harborless into your house; as to the naked, when you shall see one naked, cover him: if I have denied to the poor what they desired (Job 31:16). And he sets out the cause of his exhortation: and despise not your own flesh, namely, because he is of the same species as you: visiting your species (Job 5:24).

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.

Deal thy bread to the hungry - But this thou canst not do, if thou eat it thyself. When a man fasts, suppose he do it through a religious motive, he should give the food of that day, from which he abstains, to the poor and hungry, who, in the course of providence, are called to sustain many involuntary fasts, besides suffering general privations. Wo to him who saves a day's victuals by his religious fast! He should either give them or their value in money to the poor. See Isa 58:6. That thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house "To bring the wandering poor into thy house" - πτωχους αστεγους, Septuagint; egenos vagosque, Vulgate; and מטלטלין metaltelin, Chaldee. They read, instead of מרודים merudim, הנודים hanudim. מר mer is upon a rasure in the Bodleian MS. The same MS. reads ביתה bayethah, in domum, "into the house." - L.

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.

deal--distribute (Job 31:16-21). cast out--rather, reduced [HORSLEY]. naked . . . cover him-- (Mat 25:36). hide . . . thyself--means to be strange towards them, and not to relieve them in their poverty (Mat 15:5). flesh--kindred (Gen 29:14). Also brethren in common descent from Adam, and brethren in Christ (Jam 2:15).

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.