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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58: the fast the Lord has chosen and the sabbath called a delight

General context

An unnamed hearer is told to cry aloud like a trumpet and show the Lord's people and the house of Jacob their sins. The Lord says they seek him daily and delight to know his ways as if they were a righteous nation, asking for ordinances of justice. They complain that they fast and afflict their souls and he takes no notice. He answers that on their fast days they find pleasure and exact all their labours, fasting for strife and to strike with the fist. He asks whether bowing the head like a bulrush and lying in sackcloth and ashes is the fast he has chosen. The fast he has chosen is to loose the bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, free the oppressed, break every yoke, feed the hungry, house the poor who are cast out, clothe the naked and not hide from one's own flesh. Then their light will break forth like morning, their health spring up, righteousness go before them and the Lord's glory behind. When they call, the Lord will answer, Here I am. If they remove the yoke, the pointing finger and vain speech, and give themselves to the hungry and afflicted, their darkness will be as noonday; the Lord will guide them and satisfy them in drought, and they will be like a watered garden. Their descendants will rebuild the old waste places, and they will be called the repairer of the breach and the restorer of paths. If they turn their foot from the sabbath and call it a delight, honouring the Lord rather than their own pleasure and words, they will delight in the Lord, ride on the high places of the earth, and be fed with the heritage of Jacob their father.

Cited passages: Isaiah 58:1, Isaiah 58:2, Isaiah 58:3, Isaiah 58:4, Isaiah 58:5, Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 58:7, Isaiah 58:8, Isaiah 58:9, Isaiah 58:10, Isaiah 58:11, Isaiah 58:12, Isaiah 58:13, Isaiah 58:14

Isaiah 58 (KJV)

1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

2Yet 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 the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

3Wherefore 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 pleasure, and exact all your labours.

4Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7Is 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?

8Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.

9Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

11And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

12And 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.

13If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

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Historical context

The one commanded to cry aloud is not named; the verse gives an order and a message but no messenger's identity. The people are identified as my people and the house of Jacob, and Jacob is later called their father, but no king, city, date or occasion is given. The people's own complaint is quoted, and the chapter distinguishes their words from the Lord's answer: they say they fasted and were not seen; he says they found pleasure on the fast day and exacted their labours. The chapter does not describe a particular fast day or say how often they fasted. The old waste places and the breach to be repaired are mentioned without saying what was broken or by whom. The sabbath is called my holy day and the holy of the Lord, and the condition attached is turning away one's foot from doing one's own pleasure on it; no further sabbath rules are given here. Every promise in the chapter is conditional, marked by if and then, and nothing in the chapter reports whether the conditions were met.

Cited passages: Isaiah 58:1, Isaiah 58:14, Isaiah 58:3, Isaiah 58:12, Isaiah 58:13, Isaiah 58:9, Isaiah 58:10

Literary context

The chapter is an argument by question. The people ask two questions, why have we fasted and why have we afflicted our soul, and the Lord answers with four of his own, each beginning is it or is not this, that redefine the word fast. The first pair describes the fast they keep, bowed heads, sackcloth and ashes; the second pair describes the fast he has chosen, and its verbs are all about other people, loose, undo, let go free, break, deal bread, bring to thy house, cover. After the redefinition the chapter runs on if and then. Three conditions are set, removing the yoke, giving oneself to the hungry, and keeping the sabbath, and each is followed by promises in the language of light and water: light like the morning, darkness as the noonday, a watered garden, a spring whose waters fail not. The Lord's answer, Here I am, reverses the complaint that he does not see. Two titles are conferred, The repairer of the breach and The restorer of paths to dwell in. The chapter ends on the same word it used for the people's false piety, delight: they delighted to know his ways; now they are to call the sabbath a delight and delight themselves in the Lord.

Cited passages: Isaiah 58:3, Isaiah 58:5, Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 58:7, Isaiah 58:8, Isaiah 58:10, Isaiah 58:11, Isaiah 58:9, Isaiah 58:12, Isaiah 58:2, Isaiah 58:13, Isaiah 58:14

Key moments

  1. Cry aloud like a trumpet (Isaiah 58:1). A messenger is told to show the house of Jacob their sins.
  2. Why have we fasted? (Isaiah 58:3). The people complain the Lord ignores their fasting, and he says they exact their labours on that day.
  3. Bowed head like a bulrush (Isaiah 58:5). The Lord asks whether sackcloth and a bowed head are the fast he chose.
  4. The fast the Lord has chosen (Isaiah 58:6). The chosen fast is to break yokes and let the oppressed go free.
  5. Here I am (Isaiah 58:9). The Lord promises to answer when they call, if they remove the yoke and the pointing finger.
  6. Repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12). Their descendants will rebuild waste places and they will be named restorers of paths.
  7. The sabbath a delight (Isaiah 58:13). If they honour the sabbath instead of their own pleasure, they will delight in the Lord.

For reflection

The people fast and afflict their souls while exacting all their labours from others on the same day. How would a person tell whether a religious practice has become a way of not seeing the people right in front of them?

People in this chapter