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Isaiah 58

Isa. 58:3 KJV (With Strong’s)

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3
Whereforea have we fasted
tsuwm (Hebrew #6684)
to cover over (the mouth), i.e. to fast
KJV usage: X at all, fast.
Pronounce: tsoom
Origin: a primitive root
, say they, and thou seest
ra'ah (Hebrew #7200)
to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)
KJV usage: advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), X sight of others, (e-)spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.
Pronounce: raw-aw'
Origin: a primitive root
not? wherefore have we afflicted
`anah (Hebrew #6031)
to depress literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitive (in various applications, as follows)
KJV usage: abase self, afflict(-ion, self), answer (by mistake for 6030{/SI}}}6030{/SI}}/SI}}6030}6030{/SI}{/SI}), chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing (by mistake for 6030{/SI}}}6030{/SI}}/SI}}6030}6030{/SI}{/SI}), speak (by mistake for 6030{/SI}}}6030{/SI}}/SI}}6030}6030{/SI}{/SI}), submit self, weaken, X in any wise.
Pronounce: aw-naw'
Origin: a primitive root (possibly rather ident. with 6030{/SI}}}6030{/SI}}/SI}}6030}6030{/SI}{/SI} through the idea of looking down or browbeating)
b our soul
nephesh (Hebrew #5315)
properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
KJV usage: any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead(-ly), desire, X (dis-)contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-)self, them (your)-selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
Pronounce: neh'-fesh
Origin: from 5314
, and thou takest no knowledge
yada` (Hebrew #3045)
to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.) (as follow)
KJV usage: acknowledge, acquaintance(-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, (un-)awares, can(-not), certainly, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be (ig-)norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have (knowledge), (be, make, make to be, make self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have (understanding), X will be, wist, wit, wot.
Pronounce: yaw-dah'
Origin: a primitive root
? Behold, in the day
yowm (Hebrew #3117)
a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
KJV usage: age, + always, + chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever(-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year(-ly), + younger.
Pronounce: yome
Origin: from an unused root meaning to be hot
of your fast
tsowm (Hebrew #6685)
or tsom {tsome}; from from 6684; a fast: --fast(-ing).
Pronounce: tsome
ye find
matsa' (Hebrew #4672)
properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present
KJV usage: + be able, befall, being, catch, X certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), X have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-)on, meet (with), X occasion serve, (be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.
Pronounce: maw-tsaw'
Origin: a primitive root
pleasure
chephets (Hebrew #2656)
pleasure; hence (abstractly) desire; concretely, a valuable thing; hence (by extension) a matter (as something in mind)
KJV usage: acceptable, delight(-some), desire, things desired, matter, pleasant(-ure), purpose, willingly.
Pronounce: khay'-fets
Origin: from 2654
, and exact
nagas (Hebrew #5065)
to drive (an animal, a workman, a debtor, an army); by implication, to tax, harass, tyrannize
KJV usage: distress, driver, exact(-or), oppress(-or), X raiser of taxes, taskmaster.
Pronounce: naw-gas'
Origin: a primitive root
all your ψlabors
`atseb (Hebrew #6092)
a (hired) workman
KJV usage: labour.
Pronounce: aw-tsabe'
Origin: from 6087
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a
Mal. 3:14• 14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts? (Mal. 3:14)
b
Lev. 16:29• 29And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or the stranger that sojourneth among you; (Lev. 16:29)
ψ
griefs, or, things wherewith ye grieve others.

More on:

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Day,
Fast; Fasting,
Soul; Spirit

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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have we fasted.
Num. 23:4• 4And God [Elohim] met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. (Num. 23:4)
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Mic. 3:9‑11• 9Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
 10They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
 11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet do they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us. (Mic. 3:9‑11)
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Zech. 7:5‑7• 5Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
 6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
 7Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, when the south and the lowland were inhabited? (Zech. 7:5‑7)
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Mal. 3:14• 14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts? (Mal. 3:14)
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Matt. 20:11‑12• 11And when they received it, they murmured against the householder,
 12saying, These last have spent one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. (Matt. 20:11‑12)
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Luke 15:29• 29And he, answering, said to his father, Behold, these many years I serve thee, and never have I transgressed a commandment of thine; and to me thou hast never given a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. (Luke 15:29)
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Luke 18:9‑12• 9And he spoke also to some, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and made nothing of all the rest [of them], this parable:
 10Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer.
 11The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus to himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer.
 12I fast twice in the week, I tithe everything that I acquire. (Luke 18:9‑12)
afflicted.
Lev. 16:29,31• 29And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or the stranger that sojourneth among you;
 31It is a Sabbath of solemn rest among you, and ye shall afflict your souls; it is a Sabbath forever. (Lev. 16:29,31)
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Lev. 23:27• 27Also on the tenth day of the seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. (Lev. 23:27)
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Psa. 69:10• 10And I wept [away] my soul in fasting;{HR}And it was for reproaches to me. (Psa. 69:10)
in.
Dan. 10:2‑3• 2In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks:
 3I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. (Dan. 10:2‑3)
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Jonah 3:6‑8• 6And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
 7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water;
 8and let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; and let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. (Jonah 3:6‑8)
exact.
Neh. 5:7• 7And I consulted with myself; and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. (Neh. 5:7)
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Prov. 28:9• 9He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law,{HR}Even his prayer is an abomination. (Prov. 28:9)
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Jer. 34:9‑17• 9that every man should let his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, go free, that none should exact service of them, that is, of a Jew his brother.
 10When all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should let his manservant, and everyone his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them anymore, then they obeyed and let them go.
 11But afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
 12And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
 13Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
 14At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
 15And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
 16but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids.
 17Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jer. 34:9‑17)
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Matt. 18:28‑35• 28But that bondman, on going out, found one of his fellow-bondmen who owed him a hundred denarii, and having laid hold he was grasping his throat, saying, Pay what thou owest.
 29His fellow-bondman then, falling at his feet, besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee.
 30And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay what was owing.
 31But his fellow-bondmen, having seen what was being done, were greatly grieved, and went and fully explained to their lord all that was done.
 32Then his lord, having summoned him, saith to him, Wicked bondman, all that debt I forgave thee, since thou didst beseech me:
 33oughtedst not thou also to have pitied thy fellow-bondman, as I also pitied thee?
 34And his lord, in wrath, delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was owing to him.
 35Thus also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if ye forgive not from your hearts each his brother. (Matt. 18:28‑35)
labours.
or, things wherewith ye grieve others.
Heb.griefs.
Isa. 47:6• 6I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. (Isa. 47:6)
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Ex. 2:23‑24• 23And it came to pass during these many days, that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and cried; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
 24And God heard their groaning; and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. (Ex. 2:23‑24)
• Yet they were but a mask, and when this was removed, what was beneath? Verses 3-5 show us what was beneath. Their “fast” was really a time of pleasure. There was exaction, strife, debate, the ill-treatment of others, though they bowed down their heads in a false humility and spread sackcloth and ashes beneath them. (“Isaiah 58” by F.B. Hole)

J. N. Darby Translation

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—Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not; have afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find what pleaseth you, and exact all yourd labours.

JND Translation Notes

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d
i.e. "all labours due to you."

W. Kelly Translation

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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 [your own] pleasure, and exact all your labours.