Bible Strands
Isaiah 58:4
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Isaiah to the people of Israel, responding directly to their complaint that He ignores their fasting. He addresses them during a period of ritual observance that masks ongoing self-interest and social oppression.
The words — The Hebrew לְרִיב וּמַצָּה (le-riḇ û-maṣṣâ) translates to "for strife and contention," describing the aggressive atmosphere surrounding their ritual. The phrase בְּאֶגְרֹף רֶשַׁע (be-'egrôp rešaʿ) literally means "with a fist of wickedness," depicting their fasting as a violent, self-serving act.
The thread — This pattern of corrupted worship appears in Proverbs 21:27, which condemns sacrifices brought with ill intent, and Isaiah 59:2, which states that iniquities build barriers between God and His people. Isaiah 58:5-6 immediately follows to specify that acceptable fasting requires breaking oppressive yokes and feeding the hungry.
Why it lands — The text explicitly states that fasting performed with contention and violence will not be heard on high. It requires readers to separate ritual performance from justice, demanding that outward discipline align with concrete acts of humility and mercy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 21:9 In the letters she wrote: “Proclaim a fast and give Naboth a seat of honor among the people.
- Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
- Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
- Matthew 6:16 When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
- Isaiah 59:6 Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
- Joel 2:13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- Jonah 3:7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
- Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Luke 20:47 They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
- John 18:28 Then they led Jesus away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover.