Isaiah 58:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Just as a prisoner, bound and held captive, inflicts harm upon those around him, in the same way, fasting becomes an accusation against those who inflict suffering on the needy. If they display such cruelty in their fasting, how much more will their actions reflect when they do not fast?

They proclaim, "We have fasted yet not perceived You; we have humbled our souls yet not seen You." They do not say this because God is unaware of their humility through fasting; rather, it is due to their failure to recognize their own wrongdoings as they assert, "You have not seen, nor have You understood." Yet, the God of all perceives the efforts of some, revealed through their prayers and righteous paths, for He hears their cries for help. He explains why He did not accept the fasts of those who did not truly humble themselves, stating, "During your fasting, you fulfill your own desires."

Indeed, fasting is commendable, prayer is advantageous, and humbling oneself before God is profoundly beneficial, as it is written, "I will humble my soul by fasting, and prayer shall return to my innermost being" (Psalm 34:13). Similarly, the great king David proclaimed, "The knees shall be weary from fasting, and the flesh shall be changed for the sake of oil" (Psalm 108:24). The Lord calls His people, saying, "Return to me with fasting, weeping, and mourning" (Joel 2:12), for He is merciful to those who humbly labor. However, it is foolish for those seeking forgiveness to provoke the Lawgiver, showing anger by neglecting to fulfill what they are commanded. Those who approach God must be completely pure, radiant in good works, and free from all sin. Therefore, He declares, "You fasted, but I did not see it; I was indifferent to your humility, which was not honored with reward, for during your fasting you satisfy your own desires."

Those who wish to fast with true purity should refrain from their own inclinations, strive for what pleases God, and bow humbly before His will. However, the Israelites of that period acted otherwise; they pursued their own desires, disregarding the will of the Lawgiver, leading their companions into disputes and conflicts. Instead of fostering peace among adversaries, they sought to provoke discord. They oppressed the humble, not merely with physical actions but through insults, injustices, and various forms of oppression. How could those who fast be praised when such moral impurity was present among them, and how could the prayers of such sinful individuals be accepted?

Clearly, they delve into the scriptures of the prophets and Moses, repeating the divine laws applicable to the Jews: ‘the wicked shall seek Me, and shall not find Me.’ For it is written, ‘Whosoever seeketh shall find’ (Matthew 7:8), and those who do not find shall stand accused of their lack of earnest search; the Lord reveals Himself to those who seek Him with sincerity, and is near to those who trust in Him. Therefore, since they have neglected the righteousness and judgments of God—attributes that point to Christ as highlighted in the Psalmist's words, ‘O God, give Thy judgment to the King, and Thy righteousness to the Son of the King’ (Psalm 71:1)—they take pride in a hollow adherence to the law, while the righteous do not boast in mere knowledge of Scripture but express their faith through action, saying, ‘The way of Thy commandments flowed when Thou enlargedst my heart’ (Psalm 118:32).

They challenge Me about My judgments of righteousness and express a desire to draw close to Me. They ask, ‘Why have we fasted and You did not see; why have we humbled our souls and You did not acknowledge?’ Behold, on the day of your fasting, your desires are being satisfied, yet you extort from all those in your debt. You fast for disputes and quarrels, striking with wicked fists. The Septuagint states: ‘They ask Me now for judgment and righteousness, desiring to approach God, saying, Why have we fasted, and You have not observed, we have humbled our souls, and You have not acknowledged?’ For in the days of your fasts, your desires are met, and you exhaust all who are under your power, fasting for disputes and conflicts, beating the meek with your fists. There is another folly among the Jews, who mistakenly think their clear conscience grants them confidence—they seek righteous judgment and echo the words of the saints, saying: ‘Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked uprightly’ (Psalm 23:1), and ‘Try me, O Lord, and test me; examine my heart and my mind’ (Psalm 26:2). They plead, ‘Judge my case and deliver me’ (Psalms 118:154). They seek to approach God, not understanding that true proximity is not determined by location but by inner disposition and diligent practice. Hence, the Scriptures instruct us on what it means to draw near to God, declaring, ‘Seek the Lord, and when He draws near to you, let the wicked abandon his ways and the unrighteous his thoughts.’ For the Lord is close to those who draw near to Him and who live righteously, empowered to say, ‘It is good for me to cling to God’ (Psalm 72:28). If the Almighty is indeed the Father of truth and righteousness, then no one who is deceitful or unjust can enter His presence, as it is written, ‘Neither shall the wicked stand in Thy sight, nor shall the unjust endure before Thy eyes’ (Psalm 5:6). They complain, ‘Why have we fasted, and You have not noticed; we have humbled our souls, and You have not considered?’ They accuse the Lord of wrongdoing because He does not regard their good deeds, offering merely the hunger of their bellies without demonstrating virtue, failing to partake of the substantial sustenance that God created for the faithful and those who understand the truth, receiving it gratefully. Instead, as Proverbs says, ‘These feed on the bread of wickedness, but they are drunk with the wine of transgression’ (Proverbs 4:17). The Pharisee, who partook of such fare, boasted among his many proud claims that he fasted twice a week (Luke 18)—he drank not from the vineyard of Sorek, but from Sodom’s vineyard, whose wine is the wrath of dragons and the poisonous venom of asps, and their clusters are bitter fruit (Deuteronomy 32). God rebukes them through the prophet, stating, ‘The sins of My people devour them’ (Hosea 4:8), and again: ‘Wherefore has wickedness triumphed, and its unrighteousness grown so widespread, and the fruit of falsehood has been harvested’ (Hosea 10:13). Therefore, since they questioned God about why their fasting and humility went unnoticed, they forget the ancient reason God disregarded Cain’s offerings; although he brought them rightly, he did not share justly with his brother (Genesis 4), showing no love for God, as Scripture commands, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul’ (Matthew 22:37, Matthew 22:39). Thus God pointed out that He does not reject fasting, but rather the actions taken during fasts, stating, ‘In the days of your fasts, your desires are met, so that you fulfill not His desires but your own,’ which Paul criticizes in his letter to the Ephesians: ‘...according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we all lived at one time in the lusts of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others’ (Eph. 2:2-3). The subsequent interpretation from the Septuagint aligns better with Theodotion and Symmachus, stating that they extort from those in their debt. This illustrates the danger of demanding payment from the impoverished who cannot repay, and of seizing the garment given as a pledge from the weary debtor, lest their outcry reach God. For he who shows mercy to the poor is lending to God (Proverbs 19:17), while he who extorts from the needy commits violence against God. To emphasize this point further, we later read: ‘Loose the bonds of wickedness and untie the bonds of the oppressors.’ Surely this refers to the documents or receipts of debt. What good is the pallor of faces from fasting, or fasting for quarrels and strife, as Scripture says: ‘He who loves sin delights in strife’ (Proverbs 17). The servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle (2 Timothy 2), emulating Him who said: ‘Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart’ (Matthew 11:29), ensuring that humility is genuine, not feigned, and seeks not the praise of men, but has its essence within the soul. You, He states, fast and strike the humble with your fists, subjugating the meek to humiliation. Therefore a bishop must not be a violent individual (1 Timothy 2:3). For how can one who cannot control their hands or tongue restrain their passions? This kind of fasting is condemned by the Lord at the onset of this prophet’s message: ‘My soul hates your fasts and your idleness, your new moons and Sabbaths and your other feasts’ (Isaiah 1:13-14). Thus it is commanded through the prophet Joel: ‘Sanctify the fast, proclaim a holy assembly’ (Joel 2:15), that we may fast from our sins, sanctifying our fasts through good deeds and healing from transgressions. It follows: ‘Let the bridegroom leave his chamber and the bride her pavilion’ (Joel 2:16), that during the fast we may immerse ourselves in prayer, ensuring our spiritual man is not nourished by the flesh of the beast, which was consumed by the nations of Ethiopia. We do not present this because we shun the fasts; through them Daniel, the man of desires, received prophetic insight (Daniel 9), the Ninevites averted Divine wrath (Jonah 3), Elijah (1 Kings 19), and Moses (Exodus 34), through forty days of fasting were sustained by God’s love. Moreover, the Lord Himself fasted for that same duration in the wilderness, establishing the annual observance of fasting. For it is futile to have an empty stomach while simultaneously engaging in actions that displease God, not to mention putting on a façade of fasting before others only to receive their admiration, for such individuals will be barred from the kingdom of heaven, having already received their reward (Matthew 6). The apostle also asserts that even if one gave their body to be burned or exalted without the love of God (1 Corinthians 13)—which comes from the heart—it would be in vain.

Do not fast as you do today, hoping your voice might pierce the heavens. Is this the fast I desire, that a man should afflict his soul all day long, bend his neck like a reed, and cover himself in sackcloth and ashes? Is this the fast that is pleasing to the Lord? The Septuagint states: ‘Why do you fast for Me as you do today with the expectation of being heard? Such a fast is not what I have chosen, nor such a day to humble your soul. Not if you bend your neck like a reed, nor wear rags and ashes, will you effectively call this fast pleasing.’ God teaches how to perform fasting rightly, warning against the kind of practices He rejects. He directs us not to raise our voices in prayer in public spaces or on street corners for people to notice (Matthew 6), nor should we shout loudly like the Pharisees, whom the Lord judges to be guilty. Thus, the Lord dismisses the prayers of the Pharisees, guiding His disciples on proper prayer (Matthew 6): they should shut the door to their hearts and speak privately to God, who listens to the silent pleas of the spirit. They should cry out in their hearts, ‘Abba, Father’ (Romans 8:15), and not allow their faces to appear wan, but wash and anoint themselves. John the Evangelist states, ‘You also have an anointing from the Holy One’ (1 John 2:20), indicating that such anointing renders one holy. For God does not merely seek an outer semblance of humility through physical grime or the affliction of the body, failing to serve His desires. Thus, true fasting must align with spiritual integrity, not simply impose a burden on the body to appear humble. Let not a person don rags or lie on ashes, as we read in the accounts of David and Ahab (2 Samuel 3; 2 Samuel 21), but instead fulfill the call to righteousness. The Apostle mentions his frequent fasts (2 Corinthians 6, 2 Corinthians 11), and the Lord teaches that once the Bridegroom is taken from His followers, they will indeed fast (Mark 2). The penitent confesses in the Psalms, ‘I will eat ashes like bread, and mingle my drink with weeping’ (Psalm 101:10). As it is written, ‘When they were cold to me, I was veiled’ (Psalm 34:13). This demonstrates that we must first fulfill what pleases the Lord and not neglect the other duties.

He reveals to the discontented Jews that they have mistakenly presumed they could earn His approval through ritualistic devotion while neglecting the call to genuine humanity. As they rigorously observe fasts, they simultaneously engage in self-indulgence, pursuing their own desires and ignoring the ethical demands of God’s law. In doing so, they act contrary to His will, treating their servants harshly and with a lack of mercy, overwhelming them with laborious tasks and severe punishments.