Isaiah 58:4

Isaiah 58:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, 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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.
• New Living Translation (NLT)What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.

Context of Isaiah 58:4

2For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3‘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. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5Is 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? 6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Isaiah 58:4 word by word

הֵ֣ן לְרִ֤יב וּמַצָּה֙ תָּצ֔וּמוּ וּלְהַכּ֖וֹת בְּאֶגְרֹ֣ף רֶ֑שַׁע לֹא־תָצ֣וּמוּ כַיּ֔וֹם לְהַשְׁמִ֥יעַ בַּמָּר֖וֹם קוֹלְכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, ye fastצוּםtsûm · to fastH6684
• for strifeרִיבrîyb rib · strifeH7379
• and debateמַצָּהmatstsâh · strifeH4683
• and to smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
• with the fistאֶגְרֹף'egrôph · fistH106
• of wickednessרֶ֫שַׁעresha‛ · wickednessH7562
• dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• to make your voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
• to be heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• on highמָרוֹםmârôm · heightH4791

Cross-references for Isaiah 58:4

• 1 Kings 21:9In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people.
• Proverbs 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable— how much more so when brought with evil intent!
• Matthew 6:16“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
• Luke 20:47They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
• John 18:28Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.
• Acts 23:1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”
• Philippians 1:14And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
• Joel 2:13Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
• Jonah 3:7This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.

Commentaries on Isaiah 58:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Ye fast for strife and debate - How often is this the case! A whole nation are called to fast to implore God's blessing on wars carried on for the purposes of wrath and ambition. To smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day "To smite with the fist the poor. Wherefore fast ye unto me in this manner" - I follow the version of the Septuagint, which gives a much better sense than the present reading of the Hebrew. Instead of לא…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Behold, ye fast for strife and debate - This is a third characteristic of their manner of fasting, and a third reason why God did not regard and accept it. They were divided into parties and factions, and probably made their fastings an occasion of augmented contention and strife. How often has this been seen! Contending denominations of Christians fast, not laying aside their strifes; contending factions in the church fast in order to strengthen their…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. 1-4This is a charge against religious Israelites who were pleased with themselves because of their religious activities.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. ye shall not fast--rather, "ye do not fast at this time, so as to make your voice to be heard on high," that is, in heaven; your aim in fasting is strife, not to gain the ear of God [Maurer] (1Ki 21:9, 12, 13). In English Version the sense is, If you wish acceptance with God, ye must not fast as ye now do, to make your voice heard high in strife.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 58:4

• Fasting
• Hypocrisy
• Strife

In the dictionaries

• Aloud
• Fast
• Light
• Commentaries
• Guilt
• Isaiah
• 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