Isaiah 58:3

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“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! 2Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. 4What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

Isaiah 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 23:4and God met him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.”
• Micah 3:9Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right.
• Zechariah 7:5“Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting?
• Malachi 3:14“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?
• Matthew 20:11When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,
• Luke 15:29but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.
• Luke 18:9Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:
• Leviticus 16:29“On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves. Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you.
• Leviticus 23:27“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord.
• Psalms 69:10When I weep and fast, they scoff at me.
• Daniel 10:2When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks.
• Jonah 3:6When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.
• Nehemiah 5:7After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.
• Proverbs 28:9God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law.
• Jeremiah 34:9He had ordered all the people to free their Hebrew slaves—both men and women. No one was to keep a fellow Judean in bondage.
• Matthew 18:28“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

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

• Fasting
• Hypocrisy
• Presumption
• Unbelief

In the dictionaries

• Aloud
• Light
• Abstinence
• Commentaries
• Exact
• 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