Isaiah 58:5

Isaiah 58:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Is 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?
• New International Version (NIV)Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord?

Context of Isaiah 58:5

3Why have we fasted if you are not aware of it? Why have we inflicted pain on ourselves if you don’t pay attention? Don’t you see that on the days you fast, you do what you want to do? You mistreat all your workers. 4Don’t you see that when you fast, you quarrel and fight and beat your workers? The way you fast today keeps you from being heard in heaven. Is this the kind of fasting I have chosen? Should people humble themselves for ⌞only⌟ a day? Is fasting just bowing your head like a cattail and making your bed from sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call fasting? Is this an acceptable day to the Lord? 6This is the kind of fasting I have chosen: Loosen the chains of wickedness, untie the straps of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke. 7Share your food with the hungry, take the poor and homeless into your house, and cover them with clothes when you see ⌞them⌟ naked. Don’t refuse to help your relatives.

Isaiah 58:5 word by word

הֲכָזֶ֗ה יִֽהְיֶה֙ צ֣וֹם אֶבְחָרֵ֔הוּ י֛וֹם עַנּ֥וֹת אָדָ֖ם נַפְשׁ֑וֹ הֲלָכֹ֨ף כְּאַגְמֹ֜ן רֹאשׁ֗וֹ וְשַׂ֤ק וָאֵ֙פֶר֙ יַצִּ֔יעַ הֲלָזֶה֙ תִּקְרָא־צ֔וֹם וְי֥וֹם רָצ֖וֹן לַיהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Is it such a fastצוֹםtsôm tsôm · fastH6685
• that I have chosenבָּחַרbâchar · to chooseH977
• a dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• for a manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• to afflictעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
• his soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: myselfH5315
• to bow downכָּפַףkâphaph · to bendH3721
• his headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• as a bulrushאַגְמֹן'agmôn · bulrushH100
• and to spreadיָצַעyatsa‛ · to layH3331
• sackclothשַׂקώaq · sackclothH8242
• and ashesאֵ֫פֶר'êpher · ashesH665
• wilt thou callקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call byH7121
• thisזֶהzeh · thisH2088
• and an acceptableרָצוֹןrâtsôn râtsôn · acceptanceH7522
• to the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Isaiah 58:5

• 2 Chronicles 20:3Frightened, Jehoshaphat decided to ask for the Lord’s help. He announced a fast throughout Judah.
• Ezra 10:6Then Ezra left the front of God’s temple and went to the room of Jehohanan, son of Eliashib. Ezra didn’t eat any food or drink any water while he was there. He was mourning because these former exiles had been so unfaithful.
• Nehemiah 9:1When the Israelites assembled on the twenty-fourth day of this month, they fasted, wore sackcloth, and threw dirt on their heads.
• Esther 4:3In every province touched by the king’s command and decree, the Jews went into mourning, fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many put on sackcloth and ashes.
• Daniel 9:3So I turned to the Lord God and looked to him for help. I prayed, pleaded, and fasted in sackcloth and ashes.
• Zechariah 7:5“Tell all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these past 70 years, did you really do it for me?
• Isaiah 58:3Why have we fasted if you are not aware of it? Why have we inflicted pain on ourselves if you don’t pay attention? Don’t you see that on the days you fast, you do what you want to do? You mistreat all your workers.
• Leviticus 16:29“This will be a permanent law for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month both native Israelites and foreigners must humble themselves. They must do no work.
• 1 Kings 21:27When Ahab heard these things, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟ and dressed in sackcloth. He fasted, lay in sackcloth, and walked around depressed.
• 2 Kings 6:30When the king heard the woman say this, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟. As he was walking on the city wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.
• Job 2:8Job took a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself as he sat in the ashes.
• Jonah 3:5The people of Nineveh believed God. They decided to fast, and everyone, from the most important to the least important, dressed in sackcloth.
• Isaiah 49:8This is what the Lord says: In the time of favor I will answer you. In the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you. I will appoint you as my promise to the people. You will restore the land. You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance.
• Isaiah 61:2⌞He has sent me⌟ to announce the year of the Lord’s good will and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all those who grieve.
• Psalms 69:13May my prayer come to you at an acceptable time, O Lord. O God, out of the greatness of your mercy, answer me with the truth of your salvation.
• Luke 4:19to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Commentaries on Isaiah 58:5

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? - Is this such a mode of fasting as I have appointed and as I approve? A day for a man to afflict his soul? - Margin, To afflict his soul for a day.‘ The reading in the text is the more correct; and the idea is, that the pain and inconvenience experienced by the abstinence from food was not the end in view in fasting. This seems to have been the mistake which they made, that they supposed there was something…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. 5This passage uses strong language to show the problem with the people’s fasting. Their fasting was only outward religious behavior. They did not truly repent or do what is right. Fasting without sincere hearts and righteous actions is empty. It is only for show. People wore sackcloth and put ashes on their heads to show sorrow and mourning. acceptable to the LORD?: The people wrongly believed that God would bless them if they performed the correct…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. for a man to afflict his soul--The pain felt by abstinence is not the end to be sought, as if it were meritorious; it is of value only in so far as it leads us to amend our ways (Is 58:6, 7). bow ... head ... sackcloth--to affect the outward tokens, so as to "appear to men to fast" (Mt 6:17, 18; 1Ki 21:27; Es 4:3).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 58:5

• Bulrush
• Fasting
• Hypocrisy

In the dictionaries

• Aloud
• Bulrush
• Light
• Abstinence
• Commentaries
• Guilt
• Head
• Isaiah
• Rush
• Saviour

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