1The prophet, being sent to reprove hypocrisy, sheweth the difference between a counterfeit fast and a true: 8he declareth what blessings shall attend a godly performance of the duties of the latter, 13and the observance of the sabbath.
1CRY aloud, 1spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
1 Cease not, or refrain not your voice.
22Yet they 3seek me 4daily, and 5delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they 6ask of me the ordinances of justice; 7they take delight in approaching to God.
2 Or, For they seek me daily.
3 That is, come into the temple, to bring their offerings to Me, and there to make their prayers; but it is not from the heart, it is done only in hypocrisy.
4 Hebr. day, day. See Psalm 61 on verse 8.
5 That is, make a show as if they had a true delight in it, to hear the priests read and expound the law.
6 Namely, through the prophets.
7 Hebr. they have a delight to the approaching of God, that is, they behave themselves outwardly so, as if they took delight in it, and as if they had a true, earnest desire to know My commandments, and to order their life accordingly.
3 ¶ 8Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore 9have we afflicted our soul, and 10thou takest no knowledge? 11Behold, in the day of your fast 12ye find pleasure, and exact 13all your labours.
8 These are the words of hypocrites who think to merit much at the hand of God by their hypocritical and outward worship.
9 Namely, by fasting and suffering hunger. See Lev. 16:29.
10 That is, pretendest Thyself as if Thou didst not know it?
11 This is the answer of the Lord to the preceding question of the Jews, as if He said: Will ye know the cause why your fast does not please Me? Behold, I will tell you; your hypocrisy is the cause of it, for, while ye fast, ye cease not to commit gross sins.
12 That is, ye do whatsoever ye please, as verse 13. Or, ye are diligent to find and enjoy that wherein ye take pleasure and delight.
13 Hebr. sorrows, that is, labor, which your men-servants and maidservants are constrained to do with pain and sorrow. Other, all your labour, that is, all your wealth, which ye have gotten by your labor, and consequently ye exact strictly your debts that are owing you abroad. See Prov. 5:10.
4Behold, ye fast 14for strife and debate, and 15to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast 16as ye do this day, 17to make your voice to be heard on high.
14 That is, to contend with your men-servants and maidservants, debtors and others.
15 Hebr. to smite with the fist of wickedness, namely, your men-servants and maidservants.
16 Hebr. as today, or, according to this day; which some expound: as this day does require wherein God does show that He is incensed against you.
17 That is, that your prayer may be heard by God in heaven.
5Isa it such a fast 18that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict 19his 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 20an acceptable day to the LORD?
a Zech. 7:5.
18 That is, which would be acceptable unto Me.
19 Namely, only outwardly, without being touched inwardly with a legitimate sorrow and repentance for his sins, and being likewise humbled himself uprightly in the sight of God. Or thus: that a man should afflict his soul for a day?
20 Hebr. a day of acceptance of the Lord, or to the Lord.
6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose 21the bands of wickedness, to undo 22the heavy burdens, and to let 23the oppressed go free, and that ye break every 24yoke?
21 That is, the sore bondage of your brethren, who, by reason of poverty, have sold themselves unto you, and whom ye unmercifully compel to undergo hard labor, as if they were foreign slaves and bondmen, which God forbids, Lev. 25:39; see the annotation there.
22 Namely, of the yoke, or, bondage, which you lay upon your impoverished brethren, oppressing them by your usury and wicked practices.
23 Or, broken ones, that is, brought to destruction or to nothing.
24 That is, heavy and intolerable burdens. In brief, the Lord teaches in this and in the following verse that if a man would keep a true and right fast, he must abstain not only from corporal food, but he must also do the works of light.
7Isb it not 25to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor 26that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest 27the naked, that thou 28cover him; and that thou 29hide not thyself 30from thine own flesh?
b Ezek. 18:7, 16; Mat. 25:35.
25 The Hebrew word rendered here to deal signifies properly to divide into two pieces, as if a man would cut a loaf of bread in the middle, and give half of it to his needy brother.
26 The meaning is: They, who as rebels, are expelled and banished out of their own country. Other, the miserable, the oppressed, namely, by the violent dominion of great men.
27 That is, one ill-clothed. See Job 22 on verse 6.
28 Namely, with clothes.
29 Understand additionally: but that thou be moved to pity and compassion by the poverty and misery of thy brethren.
30 From your neighbor, who has one kind of flesh and blood as yourself. See the annotation at Neh. 5 on verse 5.
8¶Then shall 31thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and 32thy righteousness shall go before thee; 33the glory of the LORD 34shall be thy rereward.
31 That is, your prosperity and joy. See Esther 8 on verse 16; Job 18 on verse 6.
32 That is, the fruit of your righteousness, namely, your happiness, which the Lord shall give you by free grace. See Psalm 24 on verse 5. Others understand by this the righteousness of the Lord Christ Himself, as Jer. 23:6.
33 That is, the blessedness, which has its origin from the goodness and power of the Lord, Who thereby declares His glory.
34 Hebr. shall gather thee. See the annotations at Num. 10 on verse 25; Isa. 52 on verse 12.
9Then shalt thou call, and the LORD 35shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee 36the yoke, 37the putting forth of the finger, and 38speaking 39vanity;
35 That is, He will hear thee.
36 See verse 6.
37 That is, to threaten, when you threaten anyone with your finger, or when you, by lifting your finger or by raising up your fist, display your intention to put your power into practice.
38 Namely, when you revile and reproach your neighbor.
39 Or, vice, iniquity.
10And if thou draw out 40thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy 41the afflicted soul; then shall 42thy light rise in obscurity, and 43thy darkness be as the noonday:
40 Or, thou open thy soul, that is, your heart, yourself, your hearty goodwill and affection. The sense is: If you open your heart to the hungry, and out of compassion shall do good to the poor and hungry.
41 Or, the oppressed person.
42 Understand here by the light blessing and prosperity. See verse 8. As by darkness all kind of adversity. See the annotation at Gen. 15 on verse 12.
43 That is, your miseries and troubles shall be turned into joy.
11And the LORD shall 44guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul 45in drought, and make 46fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a 47spring of water, whose waters 48fail not.
44 As a shepherd leads his sheep.
45 Hebr. in dryness, that is, in dearth and famine.
46 Or, make fat, that is, to strengthen. See Prov. 15:30.
47 Hebr. going forth.
48 Hebr. lie not, that is, which never want water, and therefore no man comes in vain to draw water out of it. Compare Job 6 on verse 15; Job 41 on verse 9.
12And 49they that shall be of thee shall build 50the old waste places: thou shalt 51raise up the foundations 52of many generations; and thou shalt be called, 53The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
49 Hebr. they of thee, that is, your posterity which shall be born of you.
50 Hebr. the desolations or dry waste places of eternity, that is, those places which have been waste a long while, namely, the ruined houses within Jerusalem, and what has been ruined, untilled, wasted and idled a long while round about it. See Isa. 61:4.
51 Hebr. rear up, or, cause to rise.
52 That is, for many years together.
53 Hebr. a mender of breaches, or, of ruinous walls, a restorer of paths, that men may dwell again in the land.
13 ¶ 54If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; 55and call the sabbath a delight, 56the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing 57thine own ways, nor finding 58thine own pleasure, 59nor speaking thine own words:
54 That is, if you restrain your foot on the Sabbath, that you do not do whatsoever pleases you, or, for the sabbath’s sake.
55 That is, if you take delight in keeping it according to the law and will of God.
56 Other, the hallowed day of the Lord, the glorified One.
57 That is, not doing your usual works.
58 See verse 3.
59 Other, nor speak anything, namely, which is unmeet and unbecoming, as verse 9.
1460Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and 61I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and 62feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
60 That is, then you shall enjoy His mercy and blessing.
61 That is, I will highly exalt and promote you, as Deut. 32:13. See the annotation there. Others take it thus: You shall overcome everything that might be in your way and hinder you and your prosperity.
62 Or, I will give thee to eat of the inheritance of Jacob thy father, that is, you shall dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob your father, where you shall have meat and drink in abundance.