Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 58:3
3“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers.
Isaiah 58:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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 pleasure, and exact all your labours.
- New International Version (NIV)‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
- English Standard Version (ESV)'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers.
Context of Isaiah 58:3
1“Cry out loudly, don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. 2They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.” “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. 4You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high. 5Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?
Read all of Isaiah 58Isaiah 58:3 word by word
לָ֤מָּה צַּ֙מְנוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א רָאִ֔יתָ עִנִּ֥ינוּ נַפְשֵׁ֖נוּ וְלֹ֣א תֵדָ֑ע הֵ֣ן בְּי֤וֹם צֹֽמְכֶם֙ תִּמְצְאוּ־חֵ֔פֶץ וְכָל־עַצְּבֵיכֶ֖ם תִּנְגֹּֽשׂוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Wherefore have we fastedצוּםtsûm · to fastH6684
- and thou seestרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- have we afflictedעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
- our soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: myselfH5315
- and thou takest no knowledgeיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- Behold, in the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- of your fastצוֹםtsôm tsôm · fastH6685
- ye findמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
- pleasureחֵ֫פֶץchêphets · pleasureH2656
- and exactנָגַשׂnâgaώ · to oppressH5065
- all your laboursעָצֵב‛âtsêb · workerH6092
Cross-references for Isaiah 58:3
- Numbers 23:4God met with him and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”
- Micah 3:9Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything that is right,
- Zechariah 7:5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?
- Malachi 3:14You have said, “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping his requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Armies?
- Matthew 20:11When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner:
- Luke 15:29But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends.
- Luke 18:9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:
- Leviticus 16:29“This is to be a permanent statute for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial and do no work, both the native and the alien who resides among you.
- Leviticus 23:27“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly and practice self-denial; you are to present a food offering to the Lord.
- Psalms 69:10I mourned and fasted, but it brought me insults.
- Daniel 10:2In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.
- Jonah 3:6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- Nehemiah 5:7After seriously considering the matter, I accused the nobles and officials, saying to them, “Each of you is charging his countrymen interest.” So I called a large assembly against them
- Proverbs 28:9Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law — even his prayer is detestable.
- Jeremiah 34:9As a result, each was to let his male and female Hebrew slaves go free, and no one was to enslave his fellow Judean.
- Matthew 18:28“That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
Commentaries on Isaiah 58:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Have 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Wherefore have we fasted - They had fasted much, evidently with the expectation of delivering themselves from impending calamities, and securing the divine favor. They are here introduced as saying that they had been disappointed. God had not interposed as they had expected. Chagrined and mortified, they now complain that he had not noticed their very conscientious and faithful regard for the duties of religion. And thou seest not? - All had been in vain…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-12Verses 3-12 A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not express true sorrow for sin, and does not promote the putting away of sin, it is not a fast. These professors had shown sorrow on stated or occasioned fasts. But they indulged pride, covetousness, and malignant passions. To be liberal and merciful is more acceptable to God than mere fasting, which, without them, is vain and hypocritical. Many who seem humble in God's house, are hard at home…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Fasting should be a time of self-deprivation in order to focus on God and pleasing him (Leviticus 16:29; see Zechariah 7:5). However, these people were only interested in pleasing themselves and continuing in their sins.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. 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--(Le 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 58:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 58
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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