Isaiah 58:7 · Bible study
Isaiah 58:7 Commentary: The True Fast Defined
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
How God redefines fasting: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, true worship that pleases Him.
Research Summary
- Meaning: True fasting consists of feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, and not hiding from one's own flesh.
- Key words: paras (break/distribute), merudim (homeless wanderers), basar (flesh/kindred).
- Main debate: Does this redefine fasting as mercy (replacement view) or correct hypocrisy among those who already fast (corrective view)?
- Theological theme: Justice and compassion are inseparable from true worship of God.
- Best use: Preaching on repentance, social ethics, and biblical fasting; small group studies on justice.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
WEB World English Bible 2000
Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
KJV King James Version 1769
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself?
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring to thy house the needy wanderers; when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
¿ No es que partas tu pan con el hambriento, y á los pobres errantes metas en casa; que cuando vieres al desnudo, lo cubras, y no te escondas de tu carne?
Por acaso não é também que repartas teu pão com o faminto, e aos pobres desamparados recolhas em casa, e vendo ao nu, que o cubras, e não te escondas de tua carne?
Partage ton pain avec celui qui a faim,
brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, und die, so im Elend sind, führe ins Haus; so du einen nackt siehst, so kleide ihn, und entzieh dich nicht von deinem Fleisch.
Is het niet, dat gij den hongerige uw brood mededeelt, en de armen, verdrevenen in huis brengt? Als gij een naakte ziet, dat gij hem dekt, en dat gij u voor uw vlees niet verbergt?
Non è egli questo: che tu divida il tuo pane con chi ha fame, che tu meni a casa tua gl’infelici senz’asilo, che quando vedi uno ignudo tu lo copra, e che tu non ti nasconda a colui ch’è carne della tua carne?
Ułamuj łaknącemu chleba twego, a ubogich wygnańców wprowadź do domu twego; ujrzyszli nagiego, przyodziej go, a przed ciałem swojem nie ukrywaj się.
раздели с голодным хлеб твой, и скитающихся бедных введи в дом; когда увидишь нагого, одень его, и от единокровного твоего не укрывайся.
不是 要把你的餅 分 給飢餓的人，將飄流 的窮人 接到 你家中， 見 赤身 的給他衣服遮體，顧恤自己的骨肉 而不 掩藏嗎？
Is it not to give your bread to those in need, and to let the poor who have no resting-place come into your house? to put a robe on the unclothed one when you see him, and not to keep your eyes shut for fear of seeing his flesh?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 58:7
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse defines the fast God truly desires, not as abstinence from food but as active compassion for the needy. The opening question uses the Hebrew verb paras (to break or divide), indicating a generous sharing of one's own provisions, not mere leftovers (Clarke, Barnes). The group described as “the poor who are cast out” translates the rare noun merudim, meaning wanderers or homeless, people with no place of their own (Cambridge, Gill). The final call “hide not thyself from thine own flesh” uses basar, a word that includes blood relatives but also all who share our common humanity (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Barnes). The consensus is clear: God rejects a fast that stops at personal piety and requires concrete deeds of mercy.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Replacement view: The verse presents acts of mercy as the fast itself; ritual fasting is understood as being replaced by ethical action.
- Corrective view: Ritual fasting remains valid but must be accompanied by compassion to be acceptable to God; the verse rebukes hypocrisy.
What is clear: God condemns fasting that coexists with exploitation and indifference; He commands concrete compassion for the vulnerable.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition of fasting | All traditions agree that God desires fasting to be accompanied by or expressed in acts of mercy. | Some see the verse as redefining fasting entirely as ethical action (fasting = mercy), while others see it as a corrective to a fasting practice that was already expected but corrupted. |
| Identity of 'your own flesh' | All affirm that this includes blood relatives and the Israelite community. | Some limit it to kin or covenant community; others extend it to all humanity based on shared creation (Genesis 2:23). |
| Conditionality of the promises | The blessings in verses 8, 12 follow obedience to this command. | Christians disagree whether these promises are primarily temporal (restoration of the land) or also spiritual and eschatological (final salvation). |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 58 belongs to the post-exilic corpus (chapters 56, 66), addressed to a community that had returned from Babylon but still struggled with hardship. The people had resumed religious observances, including regular fasts, yet their society remained exploitative. In verse 3 they complain that God does not notice their piety. The prophet turns their accusation back: their fasting is accompanied by “oppressing all your laborers” and “striking with the fist of wickedness” (v.4). The external rites, bowing the head like a reed, lying in sackcloth and ashes (v.5), were standard in the ancient Near East. But God declares those gestures meaningless when injustice continues.
Hospitality was a sacred duty in Israel. Abraham ran to welcome strangers (Genesis 18:2,5); Lot insisted on sheltering visitors in Sodom (Genesis 19:2). The law required leaving gleanings for the poor and returning a neighbor's lost animal (Deuteronomy 22:1, 4). Isaiah intensifies this tradition: true fasting means not just leaving gleanings but actively “distribute your bread” and “bring the homeless into your house.” The word merudim evokes people displaced by war or economic collapse. A powerful example appears in 2 Chronicles 28:15, where the people of Samaria clothed the naked captives, fed them, and carried the weak on donkeys to Jericho, a picture of the fast God chooses.
“Your own flesh” echoes the kinship language of ancient Israel (Judges 9:2; Genesis 37:27). Commentators note that the phrase also reaches beyond family to every human being, since all share the same flesh. To hide from them is to deny the bond God created.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Isaiah 58:7. The Hebrew text is stable across major manuscripts. Adam Clarke mentions a marginal note about a rasure in the Bodleian MS regarding the reading of merudim, but this does not alter the sense.
Reception History
The early church paired fasting with almsgiving, as Keil notes: they were connected by law. The Didache and early preachers often linked this verse to charitable practice. In the Middle Ages, it supported monastic hospitality toward pilgrims and the poor. During the Reformation, Calvin and others used the passage to criticize reliance on empty ceremonies without love. In modern times, liberation theology reads it as a call to structural justice, and many churches include it in Lenten liturgies as a reminder that worship and compassion belong together.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Fast God Chooses: Breaking Bread for the Hungry. The Hebrew verb paras means to break or divide. Fasting that pleases God involves sharing what you have, not hoarding it. This is not charity from surplus but a deliberate distribution of your own portion.
- The Fast God Chooses: Sheltering the Homeless. The word merudim (wanderers, cast out) points to people without a place to lay their head. Bringing them into your house costs convenience and safety, mirroring Abraham's hospitality.
- The Fast God Chooses: Clothing the Naked and Embracing Your Flesh. Covering the naked restores dignity. “Your own flesh” includes both family and all humanity. To hide from them is to break the bond of creation and covenant.
Five-point outline
- Share your bread, practical provision for the hungry.
- Bring in the homeless, open your home and heart to the displaced.
- Clothe the naked, meet visible needs that protect dignity.
- Don't hide from your own flesh, resist the urge to look away from suffering relatives and neighbors.
- Receive God's promise, light, healing, and answered prayer follow (vv.8, 9).
Illustration hooks
- A family decides to skip a meal together and uses the grocery money to buy food for a neighbor who just lost her job. They bring the groceries and stay to talk.
- A church offers its building as an overnight shelter during a cold snap. Members take turns sleeping there, not just donating money, and they get to know the guests.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does this mean I should stop fasting from food altogether?
- What if I can’t afford to give or don’t have a home to offer?
Leading a Discussion
This verse challenges our assumptions about religious practice. The people in Isaiah’s day thought their fasting should earn God’s favor. But God asks a different question: Is your fasting making a difference in the lives of the hungry, the homeless, the naked? This guide will help your group explore what true worship looks like.
Discussion questions
- What specific actions does this verse describe? List them.
- Who are the people mentioned? (hungry, homeless, naked, “your own flesh”)
- Why does God connect fasting with these particular acts of mercy?
- The phrase “hide yourself” (Hithpael of ‘alam) suggests deliberate avoidance. When do we tend to hide from those in need?
- What would it look like for your group to practice the kind of fast described here, even if you aren’t fasting from food?
- Is there someone in your life who fits “your own flesh” that you have been avoiding? How might you take a step toward them this week?
- How can we support each other in making space for generosity without burning out?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 18:2 | He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, |
| Genesis 18:5 | I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.” |
| Genesis 19:2 | and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.” |
| Genesis 19:14 | Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. |
| Judges 9:2 | “Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” |
| Judges 19:20 | The old man said, “Peace be to you! Just let me supply all your needs, but don’t sleep in the street.” |
| Judges 19:21 | So he brought him into his house, and gave the donkeys fodder. Then they washed their feet, and ate and drank. |
| II Chronicles 28:15 | The men who have been mentioned by name rose up and took the captives, and with the plunder clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them, gave them sandals, gave them something to eat and to drink, anointed them, carried all the feeble of them on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws a specific link between religious fasting and practical charity: the food you avoid during a fast should go to the hungry. He warns against saving that day's provisions for yourself — a fast that does not result in giving is hollow and misses the point.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights the Hebrew word for "deal" as distributing bread the way a father provides for his children. He stresses that this duty toward the hungry, the homeless, and the naked was a cardinal virtue in the East. Notably, he emphasizes not hiding from your own flesh, meaning kindred who are dependent on you.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge commentary highlights the vivid Hebrew metaphor behind "break forth as the dawn," picturing dawn splitting the sky open like water bursting through a crack. It also notes that the word for "health" literally means new flesh forming in a healing wound, linking physical recovery to the restoration of both people and ruins.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Bible notes emphasize that true fasting is inseparable from practical mercy—feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked. The phrase “hide not thyself from thine own flesh” underscores a refusal to ignore the needs of one’s own family or community as a failure of genuine religion.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill identifies the needy as persecuted believers and ministers cast out for conscience's sake. He urges readers to welcome these exiles into their homes and not hide from helping fellow Christians, even those accused as rebels. For Gill, true fasting means tangible relief to the suffering household of faith.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB focuses on the precise meanings of the Hebrew terms, showing that true fasting demands practical charity. "Flesh" refers not only to blood relatives but also to all people as common descendants of Adam and especially to fellow believers in Christ, whom we must not neglect or ignore in their need.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch draw a sharp contrast between two kinds of fasting. Outward acts of bowing the head and wearing sackcloth mean nothing to God when selfish business continues; true fasting that pleases Him consists of releasing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked. This passage exposes the self-righteous delusion that ritual alone merits reward.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
For Lange, chapters 58 and 59 serve as a bridge where the prophet descends from prophetic heights to confront the people's false piety. He insists the people's complaint that God is unjust masks their own hollow worship, which combines fasting with oppression. True repentance, which alone restores their relationship with God, must show itself in practical acts of releasing the oppressed and feeding the hungry.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry sees these people as following Cain's path: angry at God because their fasting went unrecognized. They boast of their religious efforts while overlooking the selfishness and oppression that accompany them, treating God as unjust for not accepting services they themselves valued too highly.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley broadens the phrase thy own flesh to include every person, not just relatives. Refusing to help someone is barbarous because we all share one human nature. He insists we feed, shelter, and clothe others the same way we would want done for ourselves if we were in their place.