Daily Verse Isaiah 58:6
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This one really resonnates with me for several reasons. 1. JW bondage and 2. Vaccine Madates
But here is what Bible Scholars say about this verse:
58:6–7 God defines the true piety that he does bless, for it is true to his non-oppressive gospel (cf. 1:17; James 1:27). Is not this …? Is it not …? God dignifies his dishonest people with appeals to reasoned thought (cf. Isa. 1:18). every yoke. Every form of oppression (cf. Deut. 28:48; 1 Kings 12:4).
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1346). Crossway Bibles.
58:6 After condemning the people’s idea of fasting, God defined what he understood to be legitimate and effective fasting. The emphasis is on social justice. Fasting must be connected to behavior that helps the exploited find freedom. The yoke is often an image of exploitation and bondage.
Longman, T., III. (2017). Isaiah. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 1125). Holman Bible Publishers.
6. loose … bands of wickedness—that is, to dissolve every tie wherewith one has unjustly bound his fellow men (Le 25:49, &c.). Servitude, a fraudulent contract, &c.
undo … heavy burdens—Hebrew, “loose the bands of the yoke.”
oppressed—literally, “the broken.” The expression, “to let go free,” implies that those “broken” with the yoke of slavery, are meant (Ne 5:10–12; Je 34:9–11, 14, 16). Jerome interprets it, broken with poverty; bankrupt.
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 496). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
58:6–7. Fasting was to encourage a person to respond positively to God’s commands. In the Old Testament only one fast was commanded-the annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29, 31). Only after the fall of Jerusalem were fast days instituted (Zech. 7:3, 5; 8:19). Ironically on the other hand many specific commands were not being followed. So the Lord reminded the people that they should be just (Isa. 58:6) and openhanded with those in need-the hungry (cf. v. 10), the poor … the naked (v. 7). The Israelites were to consider themselves members of one family who at one time had been slaves in Egypt. Therefore they were not to neglect each other. When someone shared with one in need, it was a reminder that everything he owned belonged to the Lord.
Martin, J. A. (1985). Isaiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1113). Victor Books.
6 If God chose a fast that would please him, what would he prescribe? In this and the following verse he lists three things that related directly to the needs of that time. The situation appears similar to that a few decades later, in Nehemiah’s time. The people felt enslaved and in bondage (Neh 9:36). Part of that bondage was undoubtedly political since they were a Persian colony. This led to oppression from local officials and from powerful neighbors (Neh 4; 5:15) in the form of heavy taxes, usurious loans, and generally unfavorable economic conditions (Neh 5). It also led to enslavement to other Jews when debts could not be repaid (Neh 5:4–5).
God chooses acts that would remedy these conditions, as indeed the work of leaders like Nehemiah did. He first calls for “opening the bonds of wickedness,” breaking the “yoke,” and setting free the oppressed. This might have been heard as a call to rebellion. Egypt rose up in revolt against high taxes at about this time. However, Nehemiah, a loyal officer of the Persian bureaucracy, perceived the roots of slavery in the greed of fellow Jews and the ambition of corrupt officials. He prohibited the charging of unjust interest on loans (Neh 5:7–8) and set the example by returning fields and homes to people who had lost them for unjust debt (Neh 5:9–12). It was easy to blame the system or the faraway government. God demanded that people clean up their own affairs, their own neighborhood. That was true liberation and the kind of fast that God approved. “You [pl.] shall break every yoke!” There is no excuse for holding a brother or sister in bondage of any kind.
Watts, J. D. W. (2005). Isaiah 34–66 (Revised Edition, Vol. 25, p. 843). Thomas Nelson, Inc.
But here is what Bible Scholars say about this verse:
58:6–7 God defines the true piety that he does bless, for it is true to his non-oppressive gospel (cf. 1:17; James 1:27). Is not this …? Is it not …? God dignifies his dishonest people with appeals to reasoned thought (cf. Isa. 1:18). every yoke. Every form of oppression (cf. Deut. 28:48; 1 Kings 12:4).
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1346). Crossway Bibles.
58:6 After condemning the people’s idea of fasting, God defined what he understood to be legitimate and effective fasting. The emphasis is on social justice. Fasting must be connected to behavior that helps the exploited find freedom. The yoke is often an image of exploitation and bondage.
Longman, T., III. (2017). Isaiah. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 1125). Holman Bible Publishers.
6. loose … bands of wickedness—that is, to dissolve every tie wherewith one has unjustly bound his fellow men (Le 25:49, &c.). Servitude, a fraudulent contract, &c.
undo … heavy burdens—Hebrew, “loose the bands of the yoke.”
oppressed—literally, “the broken.” The expression, “to let go free,” implies that those “broken” with the yoke of slavery, are meant (Ne 5:10–12; Je 34:9–11, 14, 16). Jerome interprets it, broken with poverty; bankrupt.
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 496). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
58:6–7. Fasting was to encourage a person to respond positively to God’s commands. In the Old Testament only one fast was commanded-the annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29, 31). Only after the fall of Jerusalem were fast days instituted (Zech. 7:3, 5; 8:19). Ironically on the other hand many specific commands were not being followed. So the Lord reminded the people that they should be just (Isa. 58:6) and openhanded with those in need-the hungry (cf. v. 10), the poor … the naked (v. 7). The Israelites were to consider themselves members of one family who at one time had been slaves in Egypt. Therefore they were not to neglect each other. When someone shared with one in need, it was a reminder that everything he owned belonged to the Lord.
Martin, J. A. (1985). Isaiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1113). Victor Books.
6 If God chose a fast that would please him, what would he prescribe? In this and the following verse he lists three things that related directly to the needs of that time. The situation appears similar to that a few decades later, in Nehemiah’s time. The people felt enslaved and in bondage (Neh 9:36). Part of that bondage was undoubtedly political since they were a Persian colony. This led to oppression from local officials and from powerful neighbors (Neh 4; 5:15) in the form of heavy taxes, usurious loans, and generally unfavorable economic conditions (Neh 5). It also led to enslavement to other Jews when debts could not be repaid (Neh 5:4–5).
God chooses acts that would remedy these conditions, as indeed the work of leaders like Nehemiah did. He first calls for “opening the bonds of wickedness,” breaking the “yoke,” and setting free the oppressed. This might have been heard as a call to rebellion. Egypt rose up in revolt against high taxes at about this time. However, Nehemiah, a loyal officer of the Persian bureaucracy, perceived the roots of slavery in the greed of fellow Jews and the ambition of corrupt officials. He prohibited the charging of unjust interest on loans (Neh 5:7–8) and set the example by returning fields and homes to people who had lost them for unjust debt (Neh 5:9–12). It was easy to blame the system or the faraway government. God demanded that people clean up their own affairs, their own neighborhood. That was true liberation and the kind of fast that God approved. “You [pl.] shall break every yoke!” There is no excuse for holding a brother or sister in bondage of any kind.
Watts, J. D. W. (2005). Isaiah 34–66 (Revised Edition, Vol. 25, p. 843). Thomas Nelson, Inc.