Isaiah 58 commentary

The Holy Spirit had hypocrites of every age in view. Self-love and timid Christians may say, Spare thyself; dislike to the cross and other motives will say, "Spare the rich and powerful;" but God says, "Spare not:" and we must obey God, not men. We all need earnestly to pray for God's assistance in examining ourselves. Men may go far toward heaven, yet come short; and they may go to hell with a good reputation.

A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not express true sorrow for sin, and does not promote the putting away of sin, it is not a fast. These professors had shown sorrow on stated or occasioned fasts. But they indulged pride, covetousness, and malignant passions. To be liberal and merciful is more acceptable to God than mere fasting, which, without them, is vain and hypocritical. Many who seem humble in God's house, are hard at home, and harass their families. But no man's faith justifies, which does not work by love. Yet persons, families, neighbourhoods, churches, or nations, show repentance and sorrow for sin, by keeping a fast sincerely, and, from right motives, repenting, and doing good works. The heavy yoke of sin and oppression must be removed. As sin and sorrow dry the bones and weaken the strongest human constitution; so the duties of kindness and charity strengthen and refresh both body and mind. Those who do justly and love mercy, shall have the comfort, even in this world. Good works will bring the blessing of God, provided they are done from love to God and man, and wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit.

13,14 The sabbath is a sign between God and his professing people; his appointing it is a sign of his favour to them; and their observing it is a sign of their obedience to him. We must turn from travelling on that day; from doing our pleasure on that holy day, without the control and restraint of conscience; or from indulging in the pleasures of sense. On sabbath days we must not follow our callings, or our pleasures. In all we say and do, we must put a difference between this day and other days. Even in Old Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord's day, and is fitly called so still; and for a further reason, it is the Lord Christ's day, Rev. 1:10. If we thus remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, we shall have the comfort and profit of it, and have reason to say, It is good to draw near to God.

CHAPTER 58

Is 58:1-14. Reproof of the Jews for Their Dependence on Mere Outward Forms of Worship.

1. aloud--Hebrew, "with the throat," that is, with full voice, not merely from the lips (1Sa 1:13). Speak loud enough to arrest attention.

my people--the Jews in Isaiah's time, and again in the time of our Lord, more zealous for externals than for inward holiness. Rosenmuller thinks the reference to be to the Jews in the captivity practising their rites to gain God's favor and a release; and that hence, sacrifices are not mentioned, but only fasting and Sabbath observance, which they could keep though far away from the temple in Jerusalem. The same also applies to their present dispersion, in which they cannot offer sacrifices, but can only show their zeal in fastings, &c. Compare as to our Lord's time, Mt 6:16, 23; Lu 18:12.

2. Put the stop at "ways"; and connect "as a nation that," &c. with what follows; "As a nation that did righteousness," thus answers to, "they ask of Me just judgments" (that is, as a matter of justice due to them, salvation to themselves, and destruction to their enemies); and "forsook not the ordinance of their God," answers to "they desire the drawing near of God" (that God would draw near to exercise those "just judgments" in behalf of them, and against their enemies) [Maurer]. So Jerome, "In the confidence, as it were, of a good conscience, they demand a just judgment, in the language of the saints: Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity." So in Mal 2:17, they affect to be scandalized at the impunity of the wicked, and impugn God's justice [Horsley]. Thus, "seek Me daily, and desire (English Version not so well, 'delight') to know My ways," refers to their requiring to know why God delayed so long in helping them. English Version gives a good, though different sense; namely, dispelling the delusion that God would be satisfied with outward observances, while the spirit of the law, was violated and the heart unchanged (Is 58:3-14; Eze 33:31, 32; compare Joh 18:28), scrupulosity side by side with murder. The prophets were the commentators on the law, as their Magna Charta, in its inward spirit and not the mere letter.

3. Wherefore--the words of the Jews: "Why is it that, when we fast, Thou dost not notice it" (by delivering us)? They think to lay God under obligation to their fasting (Psa 73:13; Mal 3:14).

afflicted ... soul--(Le 16:29).

Behold--God's reply.

pleasure--in antithesis to their boast of having "afflicted their soul"; it was only in outward show they really enjoyed themselves. Gesenius not so well translates, "business."

exact ... labours--rather, "oppressive labors" [Maurer]. Horsley, with Vulgate, translates, "Exact the whole upon your debtors"; those who owe you labor (Ne 5:1-5, 8-10, &c.).

4. ye shall not fast--rather, "ye do not fast at this time, so as to make your voice to be heard on high," that is, in heaven; your aim in fasting is strife, not to gain the ear of God [Maurer] (1Ki 21:9, 12, 13). In English Version the sense is, If you wish acceptance with God, ye must not fast as ye now do, to make your voice heard high in strife.

5. for a man to afflict his soul--The pain felt by abstinence is not the end to be sought, as if it were meritorious; it is of value only in so far as it leads us to amend our ways (Is 58:6, 7).

bow ... head ... sackcloth--to affect the outward tokens, so as to "appear to men to fast" (Mt 6:17, 18; 1Ki 21:27; Es 4:3).

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; Jr 34:9-11, 14, 16). Jerome interprets it, broken with poverty; bankrupt.

7. deal--distribute (Job 31:16-21).

cast out--rather, reduced [Horsley].

naked ... cover him--(Mt 25:36).

hide ... thyself--means to be strange towards them, and not to relieve them in their poverty (Mt 15:5).

flesh--kindred (Ge 29:14). Also brethren in common descent from Adam, and brethren in Christ (Jas 2:15).

8. light--emblem of prosperity (Is 58:10; Job 11:17).

health--literally, a long bandage, applied by surgeons to heal a wound (compare Is 1:6). Hence restoration from all past calamities.

go before thee--Thy conformity to the divine covenant acts as a leader, conducting thee to peace and prosperity.

glory ... reward--like the pillar of cloud and fire, the symbol of God's "glory," which went behind Israel, separating them from their Egyptian pursuers (Is 52:12; Ex 14:19, 20).

9. Then ... call ... answer--when sin is renounced (Is 65:24). When the Lord's call is not hearkened to, He will not hear our "call" (Psa 66:18; Pr 1:24, 28; 15:29; 28:9).

putting forth of ... finger--the finger of scorn pointed at simple-minded godly men. The middle finger was so used by the Romans.

speaking vanity--every injurious speech [Lowth].

10. draw out thy soul--"impart of thine own subsistence," or "sustenance" [Horsley]. "Soul" is figurative for "that wherewith thou sustainest thy soul," or "life."

light ... in obscurity--Calamities shall be suddenly succeeded by prosperity (Psa 112:4).

11. satisfy ... in drought--(Is 41:17, 18). Literally, "drought," that is, parched places [Maurer].

make fat--rather, "strengthen" [Noyes]. "Give thee the free use of thy bones" [Jerome], or, "of thy strength" [Horsley].

watered garden--an Oriental picture of happiness.

fail not--Hebrew, "deceive not"; as streams that disappoint the caravan which had expected to find water, as formerly, but find it dried up (Job 6:15-17).

12. they ... of thee--thy people, the Israelites.

old waste places--the old ruins of Jerusalem (Is 61:4; Eze 36:33-36).

foundations of many generations--that is, the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their foundations, for many ages; called in the parallel passage (Is 61:4), "the former desolations"; and in the preceding clause here, "the old waste places." The literal and spiritual restoration of Israel is meant, which shall produce like blessed results on the Gentile world (Am 9:11, 12; Ac 15:16, 17).

be called--appropriately: the name truly designating what thou shalt do.

breach--the calamity wherewith God visited Israel for their sin (Is 30:26; 1Ch 15:13).

paths to dwell in--not that the paths were to be dwelt in, but the paths leading to their dwellings were to be restored; "paths, so as to dwell in the land" [Maurer].

13. (Is 56:2; Ne 13:15-22). The Sabbath, even under the new dispensation, was to be obligatory (Is 66:23).

foot--the instrument of motion (compare Pr 4:27); men are not to travel for mere pleasure on the Sabbath (Ac 1:12). The Jews were forbidden to travel on it farther than the tabernacle or temple. If thou keep thy foot from going on thy own ways and "doing thy pleasure," &c. (Ex 20:10, 11).

my holy day--God claims it as His day; to take it for our pleasure is to rob Him of His own. This is the very way in which the Sabbath is mostly broken; it is made a day of carnal pleasure instead of spiritual "delight."

holy of the Lord--not the predicate, but the subject; "if thou call the holy (day) of Jehovah honorable"; if thou treat it as a day to be honored.

him--or else, it, the Sabbath.

not doing ... own way--answering to, "turn away thy foot from the Sabbath."

nor finding ... pleasure--answering to, "doing thy pleasure." "To keep the Sabbath in an idle manner is the sabbath of oxen and asses; to pass it in a jovial manner is the sabbath of the golden calf, when the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose again to play; to keep it in surfeiting and wantonness is the sabbath of Satan, the devil's holiday" [Bishop Andrewes].

nor speaking ... words--answering to, "call Sabbath a delight ... honorable." Man's "own words" would "call" it a "weariness"; it is the spiritual nature given from above which "calls it a delight" (Am 8:5; Mal 1:13).

14. delight ... in ... Lord--God rewards in kind, as He punishes in kind. As we "delight" in keeping God's "Sabbath," so God will give us "delight" in Himself (Ge 15:1; Job 22:21-26; Psa 37:4).

ride upon ... high places--I will make thee supreme lord of the land; the phrase is taken from a conqueror riding in his chariot, and occupying the hills and fastnesses of a country [Vitringa], (De 32:13; Mi 1:3; Ha 3:19). Judea was a land of hills; the idea thus is, "I will restore thee to thine own land" [Calvin]. The parallel words, "heritage of Jacob," confirm this (Ge 27:28, 29; 28:13-15).

mouth of ... Lord ... spoken it--a formula to assure men of the fulfilment of any solemn promise which God has made (Is 40:5).

Cry aloud, spare not - Never was a louder cry against the hypocrisy, nor a more cutting reproof of the wickedness, of a people professing a national established religion, having all the forms of godliness without a particle of its power. This chapter has been often appointed to be read on political fast days for the success of wars carried on for - God knows what purposes, and originating in - God knows what motives. Politically speaking, was ever any thing more injudicious?

Have we adopted our soul "Have we afflicted our souls" - Twenty-seven MSS. (six ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-six of De Rossi's, and two of my own, and the old edition of 1488 have the noun in the plural number, נפשינו naphsheynu, our souls; and so the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate. This reading is undoubtedly genuine.

In the day of your fast ye find pleasure - Fast days are generally called holidays, and holidays are days of idleness and pleasure. In numberless cases the fast is turned into a feast.

And exact all your labors - Some disregard the most sacred fast, and will oblige their servant to work all day long; others use fast days for the purpose of settling their accounts, posting up their books, and drawing out their bills to be ready to collect their debts. These are sneaking hypocrites; the others are daringly irreligious.

Ye fast for strife and debate - How often is this the case! A whole nation are called to fast to implore God's blessing on wars carried on for the purposes of wrath and ambition.

To smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day "To smite with the fist the poor. Wherefore fast ye unto me in this manner" - I follow the version of the Septuagint, which gives a much better sense than the present reading of the Hebrew. Instead of רשע לא resha lo, they seem to have read in their copy רש על מה לי rash al mah lli. The four first letters are the same, but otherwise divided in regard to the words; the four last are lost, and א aleph added in their place, in order to make some sort of sense with רשע ל. The version of the Septuagint is, και τυπτετε τυγμαις ταπεινον· ἱνα τι μοι νηστευετε - as above.

Let the oppressed go free - How can any nation pretend to fast or worship God at all, or dare to profess that they believe in the existence of such a Being, while they carry on the slave trade, and traffic in the souls, blood, and bodies, of men! O ye most flagitious of knaves, and worst of hypocrites, cast off at once the mask of religion; and deepen not your endless perdition by professing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, while ye continue in this traffic!

Deal thy bread to the hungry - But this thou canst not do, if thou eat it thyself. When a man fasts, suppose he do it through a religious motive, he should give the food of that day, from which he abstains, to the poor and hungry, who, in the course of providence, are called to sustain many involuntary fasts, besides suffering general privations. Wo to him who saves a day's victuals by his religious fast! He should either give them or their value in money to the poor. See Isa 58:6.

That thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house "To bring the wandering poor into thy house" - πτωχους αστεγους, Septuagint; egenos vagosque, Vulgate; and מטלטלין metaltelin, Chaldee. They read, instead of מרודים merudim, הנודים hanudim. מר mer is upon a rasure in the Bodleian MS. The same MS. reads ביתה bayethah, in domum, "into the house." - L.

And thine health shall spring forth speedily "And thy wounds shall speedily be healed over" - Et cicatrix vulneris tui cito obducetur "And the scar of thy wounds shall be speedily removed." Aquila's Version, as reported by Jerome, with which agrees that of the Chaldee.

The glory "And the glory" - Sixteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate add the conjunction ו vau, וכבוד vechabod.

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry "If thou bring forth thy bread to the hungry" - "To draw out thy soul to the hungry," as our translators rightly enough express the present Hebrew text, is an obscure phrase, and without example in any other place. But instead of נפשך naphshecha, thy soul, eight MSS. (three ancient) of Kennicott's and three of De Rossi's read לחמך lachmecha, thy bread; and so the Syriac renders it. The Septuagint express both words, τον αρτον εκ της ψυχης σου, "thy bread from thy soul." I cannot help thinking, however, that this reading is a gloss, and should not be adopted. To draw out the soul in relieving the poor, is to do it, not of constraint or necessity, but cheerfully, and is both nervous and elegant. His soul pities and his hand gives.

And make fat thy bones "And he shall renew thy strength" - Chaldaeus forte legit יחכיף עצמתך yachaliph otsmathecha; confer cap. Isa 40:29, Isa 40:31, et Isa 41:1. - Secker. "The Chaldee perhaps read יחליף עצמתך yachaliph otsmathecha. "The Chaldee has וגופך יחיי בחיי עלמא veguphach vechaiyey bechaiyey alma, "and he will vivify thy body in life eternal." The rest of the ancients seem not to know what to make of יחליץ yachalits; and the rendering of the Vulgate, which seems to be the only proper one, ossa tua liberabit, "he will deliver thy bones," makes no sense. I follow this excellent emendation; to favor which it is still farther to be observed that three MSS., instead of עצמתיך atsmotheycha, have עצמתך otsmathecha, singular. - L.

The restorer of paths to dwell in "The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants" - To this purpose it is rendered by the Syriac, Symmachus, and Theodotion.

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath - The meaning of this seems to be, that they should be careful not to take their pleasure on the Sabbath day, by paying visits, and taking country jaunts; not going, as Kimchi interprets it, more than a Sabbath day's journey, which was only two thousand cubits beyond the city's suburbs. How vilely is this rule transgressed by the inhabitants of this land! They seem to think that the Sabbath was made only for their recreation!

From doing thy pleasure - The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee, for עשות asoth, manifestly express מעשות measoth. So likewise a MS. has it, but with the omission of the words שבת רגלך shabbath raglecha. - L.

The holy of the Lord "And the holy feast of Jehovah" - Twenty-eight MSS. (seven ancient) add the conjunction ו vau, ולקדוש velikedosh; and so the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. One of my own has the same reading.

Nor speaking thine own words "From speaking vain words" - It is necessary to add some epithet to make out the sense; the Septuagint say, angry words; the Chaldee, words of violence. If any such epithet is lost here, the safest way is to supply it by the prophet's own expression, Isa 58:9, ודבר און vedabar aven, vain words; that is, profane, impious, injurious, etc. "The additional epithet seems unnecessary; the Vulgate and Syriac have it not; and the sense is good without it; two ways, first by taking ודבר vedabar for a noun, and דבר dabur for the participle pahul, and rendering, - 'From pursuing thy pleasure, and the thing resolved on.'

Or, secondly, by supposing the force of the preposition מ mem to have been continued from the verb ממצוא mimmetso to the verb ודבר vedabber immediately following; and rendering, - 'From executing thy pleasure, and from speaking words concerning it.'

But the first seems the easier rendering."

Dr. Jubb.

Then shalt thou delight thyself - If all fasts and religious observances be carried on in the spirit and manner recommended above, God's blessing will attend every ordinance. But in public fasts, prescribed not in the Book of God, but by the rulers of nations in general (very unfit persons) care should be taken that the cause is good, and that God's blessing may be safely implored in it.

France has lately fasted and prayed that they might be able to subjugate Spain, restore and establish the horrible inquisition, and utterly destroy all the liberties of the people! Is this such a fast as God hath chosen? - a.d. 1823.

Yet - They cover all their wickedness with a profession of religion. Delight - There are many men who take some pleasure in knowing God's will and word, and yet do not conform their lives to it. As - As if they were a righteous people. Forsook - As if they were not guilty of any apostacy from God, or disobedience to God's precepts. Ask - As if they resolved to observe them. In approaching - In coming to my temple to hear my word, and to offer sacrifices.

Afflicted - Defrauded our appetites with fasting, of which this phrase is used, Levit 16:29. Ye find - Either you indulge yourselves in sensuality, as they did, Isa 22:13. But this does not agree with that afflicting of their souls which they now professed, and which God acknowledges; or you pursue and satisfy your own desires: though you abstain from bodily food, you do not mortify your sinful inclinations. Exact - Your money, got by your labour, and lent to others, either for their need or your own advantage, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigour, when either the general law of charity, or God's particular law, commanded the release, or at least the forbearance of them.

Behold - Your fasting days, wherein you ought in a special manner to implore the mercy of God, and to shew compassion to men, you employ in injuring or quarrelling with your brethren, your servants or debtors, or in contriving mischief against them. Heard - In strife and debate. By way of ostentation.

Chosen - Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a metonymy, because we delight in what we freely chuse. For a day - This may be understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his soul in, and that either from even to even, Lev 23:32, or from morning to evening, or for a little time. Wilt thou call - Canst thou suppose it to be so? A fast - It being such an one as has nothing in it, but the dumb signs of a fast, nothing of deep humiliation appearing in it, or, real reformation proceeding from it. Acceptable day - A day that God will approve of.

The bands - The cruel obligations of usury and oppression.

Cast out - And thereby become wanderers, having no abiding place. To thy house - That thou be hospitable, and make thy house a shelter to them that have none of their own left. Hide not - That seek no occasion to excuse thyself. Thy own flesh - Some confine this to our own kindred; but we can look on no man, but there we contemplate our own flesh, and therefore it is barbarous, not only to tear, but not to love and succour him. Therefore feed him as thou wouldest feed thyself, or be fed; shelter him as thou wouldest shelter thyself, or be sheltered; clothe him as thou wouldest clothe thyself, or be clothed; if in any of these respects thou wert in his circumstances.

Thy light - Happiness and prosperity. Break forth - It shall not only appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, notwithstanding all difficulties, as the sun breaks, and pierces through a cloud. Thy health - Another metaphor to express the same thing. Righteousness - The reward of thy righteousness. Before thee - As the morning - star goes before the sun. The glory - His glorious power and providence. Thy rereward - Thus the angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.

Answer - He will give an effectual demonstration, that he hears thee. Here l am - A phrase that notes a person to be ready at hand to help. Take away - From among you. The yoke - All those pressures and grievances before mentioned. Putting forth - Done by way of scoff, or disdainful insulting. Vanity - Any kind of evil words.

Draw out - Or, open, as when we open a store, to satisfy the wants of the needy. Thy soul - Thy affection, thy pity and compassion. Thy darkness - In the very darkness of the affliction itself thou shalt have comfort.

Guide thee - Like a shepherd. And he adds continually to shew that his conduct and blessing shall not be momentary, or of a short continuance, but all along as it was to Israel in the wilderness. Satisfy - Thou shalt have plenty, when others are in scarcity. Make fat - This may be spoken in opposition to the sad effects of famine, whereby the flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and the bones that were not seen, stick out. A garden - If thou relieve the poor, thou shalt never be poor, but as a well - watered garden, always flourishing. Fail not - Heb. deceive not, a metaphor which farther notes also the continuance of this flourishing state, which will not be like a land - flood, or brooks, that will soon be dried up with drought. Thou shalt be fed with a spring of blessing, that will never fail.

They shall be of thee - Thy posterity. Waste places - Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to come. The breach - Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished. Paths - Those paths that led from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds. To dwell in - These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be re - inhabited.

If - If thou take no unnecessary journeys, or do any servile works on the sabbath - day. A delight - Performing the duties of it with chearfulness, delighting in the ordinances of it. Holy - Dedicated to God, consecrated to his service.

In the Lord - In his goodness and faithfulness to thee, and in the assurance of his love and favour. To ride - Thou shalt be above the reach of danger. Feed thee - Thou shalt enjoy the good of the land of Canaan, which God promised as an heritage to Jacob, and his seed, Gen 35:12.

1 CRy aloud , spare not , lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

The Prophet having in the foregoing Chapter noted and censured divers gross miscarriages of the Jews proceeds upon the same Subject in this Chapter, and in Gods name expostulates with them for other misdemeanours.

Forbear not to speak whatsoever I command thee for the conviction of this People.

Marginal references: Heb. wi[illegible: 1+ letters] the throat.

2 Yet they seek me daily , and delight to know my ways , as a nation that did righteousness , and forsook not the ordinance of their God : they ask of me the ordinances of justice : they take delight in approaching to God .

They cover all their wickedness with a profession of Religion, from time to time resorting to my house, pretending to ask Counsel of me, and to desire and seek my Favour and Blessing.

Either 1. They seem to delight in it: for men are oft said in Scripture to be, or do, that which they seem or profess to be, or do, as Mat. 13. 12. that which he hath is thus explained in Luk. 8. 18. that which he seemeth to have, and Rom. 7. 9. I was alive, i. e. I falsly thought my self to be alive. See also Phil. 3. 9. Or 2. They really delight; for this is evident, that there are many men who take some pleasure in the knowledge of Gods Will and Word, and yet do not conform their Lives to it.

As if they were a righteous and godly People.

As if they were not guilty of any Apostacy from God, or neglect of, or disobedience to Gods precepts.

As if they desired and resolved to observe them.

Of which see the second note upon this verse.

In coming to my Temple to hear my Word, and to offer Sacrifices.

Marginal references: Heb. judgment. Jer. 5. 4. & 8. 7.

3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not ? wherefore have we afflicted our soul , and thou takest no knowledg? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure , and exact all your labours .

They complain of hard usage from God, that although they prayed, and fasted, and kept the rest of Gods ordinances, all which are synecdochically comprehended under the title of fasting, all their labor was lost, and God neither regarded nor delivered them.

Defrauded and pinched our Appetites with fasting, of which this Phrase is used, Lev. 16. 29. & 23. 27, 29.

In those solemn days of fasting which I have appointed: or, in those times when I have called you by the course of my Providence, and counsels of my Prophets, unto fasting, and weeping and mourning, &c. Isa. 22. 12.

Either 1. You indulge your selves in sensuality, as they did, Isa. 22. 13. But this doth not agree with that afflicting of their Souls which they now professed, and which God acknowledgeth, v. 5. Or rather 2. You pursue and satisfie your own Lusts: though you abstain from bodily food, you do not mortifie your own sinful concupiscences, and when you are restrained from outward Acts, yet even then your Thoughts and Affections are set upon, and working toward those things which gratifie your fleshly Inclinations and worldly Interests.

Your money got by your labour, and lent to others either for their need, or your own advantage: for Labour is oft put for Wealth, as Deut. 28. 33. Isa. 45. 14, &c. Heb. your griefs, not passively, those things which are grievous to you, but actively such as are very grievous and burdensom to others, either hard Service, above the strength of your Servants, or beyond the time limited by God for their Service, of which see an Instance, Ier. 34. 13, 14, 15, 16. or debts, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigour and cruelty, when either the general Law of Charity, or Gods particular and positive Law, commanded the release or at least the forbearance of them; of which see an instance, Nehem. 5. 1, 2, &c.

Marginal references: Or, things wherewith ye grieve others.; Heb. grief.

4 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.

Your fasting days, wherein you ought in a special manner to implore the Mercy of God, and to shew compassion to Men, you imploy in a great measure in injuring or quarreling with your Brethren, your Servants, or Debtors, or in contriving mischief against them, as if the design of your fasting and praying to God, were only to obtain a licence to oppress Men. Compare Mat. 23. 14.

Or, with a wicked fist, a Genitive of the Adjunct. To deal rigorously and injuriously with your Servants or Debtors, which Servants, it may be, had sold themselves to the year of Redemption, Exod. 21. 2. Lev. 25. 39, 40, 50. You handle them with an hard hand, the word is used for fist, Exod. 21. 18. the LXX add the humble, poor, or inferiour person, and that not only their Debtors with a summum jus exact rigour, which seems elsewhere to be expressed by grinding the face, ch. 3. 15. and in that Parable by taking by the Throat, Mat. 18. 28. but also their Servants out of meer Will and Pleasure, and in contempt of them, treating them opprobriously as Christ was handled in contempt and scorn, Mat. 26. 67, 68. Ioh. 18. 22.

Either 1. In strife and Debate, in which Mens Passions shew themselves by loud clamours. Or 2. So as to cause the cry of the oppressed, by reason of your injuries, of what kind soever, to enter into the Ears of God, which is a crying sin, whether it proceed from unmercifulness, Exod. 22. 25, 26, 27. which sometimes encreaseth to rage, 2 Chr. 28. 9. or from injustice, ch. 5. 7. or from fraud and deceit, Ia[illegible: 1+ letters]. 5. 4. The Scripture doth frequently express whatever sin is against Charity in special, as also general complex sins, by crying, Gen. 18. 20, 21. Ion. 1. 2. Or 3. By way of Ostentation, to note their Hypocrisie, they love to be taken notice of by others, Mat. 6. 2, 5, 16. or, their Folly, supposing that they shall be heard for their much speaking, upon which account Baals Priests are mocked by E[illegible: 1+ letters]ijah, 1 Kin. 18. 27, 28. 4. Voice here relates principally to their Prayer, it is a Synecdoche of the kind; so the sense is, this is not the way to have your Prayers heard, if you desire that, you must fast in another manner, and abstain from all kind of oppression: And this seems best to suit the Context, which is to shew what kind of fast the Lord reproves, and what he approves in the following verses.

Marginal references: Or, ye fast not as this day▪

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen ? a day for a man to afflict his soul ? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? wilt thou call this a fast , and an acceptable day to the LORD ?

Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a Metonymy, because we delight in what we freely chuse.

Or, to afflict his Soul for a day: It is an Hypallage, and so it may be understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his Soul in, and that either from even to even, Lev. 23. 32. or from morning to evening, Iudg. 20. 26. 2 Sam. 3. 35. or else, to afflict his Soul for a little time.

Or, keep himself low, or chassi[illegible: 1+ letters]e the Body for want of Food, viz. outwardly without any inward sorrow, or compunction for sin working a true Humiliation in the sight of God.

Put here Synecdochically for the Body or Person, as is usual in Scripture, Gen. 46. 18, 22, 25. Lev. 2. 2, 4. & 7. 20, 21, 27. & 22. 11.

The Jews to express their sorrow, made use of Sackcloth and Ashes two ways: 1. Sometimes by putting on Sackcloth upon their Bodies, as 1 Kin. 21. 27. Ps. 69. 11. and casting ashes upon their Heads, 2 Sam. 13. 19. And 2. Sometimes by spreading Sackcloth under them, and lying down upon Ashes, Esth. 4. 3. Iob 2. 8. The Intent of Sackcloth was to afflict the Body by its unpleasing harshness, and of Ashes to represent their own vileness, as being but Dust and Ashes; their putting of them on might note their uneasiness under sin, and laying on them their self-abhorrency, shaming themselves for it. Quer. Are such Rites now convenient on a day of Humiliation to help us in our afflicting of our selves? Answ. Gospel Services neither require them, or need them, respecting more the Inward afflicting of the Soul with godly sorrow, and deep contrition; yet may they carry this instruction along with them, that our Ornaments, our best and gawdy Apparel, ought to be laid aside, as not suiting either the ground and cause, or the end and design of days of Humiliation.

i. e. Canst thou upon a rational account as a meer man call it so? Canst thou think, suppose, or believe it to be so?

It being such an one as hath nothing in it, but the lifeless skeleton and dumb signs of a Fast, nothing of deep Humiliation appearing in it, or, real Reformation proceeding from it: Not that the Prophet blames them for these external Rites in this outward way of afflicting themselves. For this he commands, Lev. 23. 27, 31, 32. and appoints certain Rites to be used, Lev. 16. 19, 21. And these particular Rites were frequent in their solemn Humiliations, 1 Kin. 21. 27. Esth. 4. 3. Dan. 9. 3. used also by the Heathen, Ion. 3. 5, 6. See Mat. 11. 21. But that which he condemns is their Hypocrisie in separating true Humiliation from them: for bodily exercise profiteth little, 1 Tim. 4▪ 8.

A day that God will approve of, as before. Heb. a day of acceptance, or that will turn to a good account on your behalf.

y Here the Prophet sets down those ext[illegible: 1+ letters]al gestures and postures in particular, which they did join with [illegible: 1+ letters]eir hypocritical fasts, as he had mentioned it before in general. To bow down, bowing is the posture of Mourners, Psal. 35. 14. and here it is either, as if through weakness of Body their Heads did hang down; or counterfeitly, to represent the posture of true penitents, moving sometimes their Heads this way, and that way, as the word signifieth, not unlike the ballance of a Clock, as the Bullrush moved by the Wind boweth itself down, waving to and fro, in a kind of circular, or semicircular motion, the contrary motion of lifting up the Head being an Indication of Pride, ch. 3. 16. It is the guise of Hypocrites to put on affected Countenances, Mat. 6. 16.

Marginal references: Zech. 7. 5.; Lev. 16. 2[illegible: 1+ letters].; Or, to afflict his soul for a day.

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? to loose the bands of wickedness , to undo the heavy burdens , and to let the oppressed go free , and that ye break every yoke ?

Or, approve, as before v. 5. or, ought not such a Fast to be accompanied with such things as these, where he is now about to shew the concomitants of a true Fast, with reference to the thing in hand, namely, to exercise works of Charity, consisting partly in acts of Self-denial in this Verse, and partly in doing good to those in distress in the next. In this verse he instanceth in some particulars, and closeth with a general.

viz. The cruel obligations of Usury and Oppression.

Heb. bundles, a Metaphor, possibly pointing at those many bundles of Writings, as Bills, Bonds, Mortgages, and acknowledgments, which the Usurers had lying by them. The former may relate to unjust and unlawful Obligations extorted by force, or fear, which he would have cancelled; This latter to just Debts contracted through Poverty and necessity, the rigour whereof he would have abated, whether by reason of loans upon too hard conditions, called a drawing them into a net, Psal. 10. 9. and so much is implied, Prov. 6. 5. or, under too hard circumstances, whether they were loans of Food, or money, of which the People so bitterly complained, Neh. 5. 1, 2, 3, 4. and is expresly forbid Exod. 22. 25. For Debts may be called Burdens, 1. Because they lie as a great load upon the Debtors Spirits, under which who ever can walk up and down easily, doth not so much excel in fortitude as in folly. 2. Because they usually introduce Poverty, Slavery, Imprisonment, &c.

Heb. broken, i. e. like a bruised Reed, so crushed and weakned, that they have no consistency or ability, either to satisfie their Creditors, or support themselves, and we usually call such insolvent persons, broken, that cannot look upon themselves to be, sui juris, but wholly at anothers Mercy; you have the same kind of oppression, and the same words used Amos 4. 1.

Either in a large sense▪ viz. any ways grieved or vexed, whether by the gripings of Usury, or the bondage of Slavery accompanied with cruel usage; or, more peculiarly (according to some) relating to their being confined, and shut up in Prisons, which latter sense the word, free may possibly seem to favour, the former being comprised in that general expression that follows of breaking every yoke.

Namely, That is grievous, a Metaphor, i. e. free them from all sorts of Vexation, whatever it is that held them under any Bondage; the LXX refer it to Bonds and Writings: But it seems more general the word properly signifies that stick or cord that holds both ends of the yoke, that it spring not out, or fall off from the neck on which it is laid, Exod. 25. 14. where the same word is used for staves, and called the bands of the Yoke, Lev. 26. 13. I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright, the same thing that God would have them do here.

Marginal references: Heb. the bundles of the yoke.; Jer. 34. 9.; Heb. broken.

7 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 thy self from thine own flesh ?

Viz. The Fast that pleaseth me, supplied from the former verse; having shewed the evil they are to abstain from in order to an acceptable Fast, viz. cruelty, he here speaks of the duty that is required, viz. Mercy, as a manifestation of Repentance, Dan. 4. 27. Luk. 19. 8. For there are two parts of Justice, one to do no man wrong, the other to do good to all. Which two ought always to accompany each other, and cannot be parted, especially in acts of Humiliation, and as by those evils mentioned he understands all other evil whatsoever, that they are to be abstained from as the consequence of a day of Humiliation, so under these duties mentioned are comprised all the duties that we are to set upon as the effect of true Repentance; and he instanceth rather in those of the second Table than those of the first, not that they are to be neglected, but because chearful performance of external duties to our Neighbour, is the clearest discovery and indication of our inward Piety towards God, 1 Ioh. 4. 20.

The word properly signifies to divide, or break into parts, for the more equal and expeditious doing whereof, they were wont of old to ba[illegible: 1+ letters]e their Leaves with curs or clefts in them, more or fewer according to the bigness of the Loaf, not much unlike that which we ordinarily call buns. It implies, that as none is obliged to give away all, so none is exempted from giving some, but a distribution to be made according to the abilities of Rich and Poor, or, the meaning is, what thou sparest on thy fasting day from thine own Belly, thou give it to refresh the bowels of the hungry: What thou takest from thy self, give to another, that thy poor Neighbours Body may be refreshed by that, from the abstinence whereof thine own is afflicted.

Bread is taken for all necessaries for the Support of humane Life, and here for all kind of Food; and it is here limited by a term of propriety, Thy, Which may seem to have some Emphasis in it; see my note on Eccles. 11. 1. speaking of their grinding and oppressing the poor, he would have them be sure to give of their own, not that which of right is anothers, and thou hast, it may be unjustly gotten. For to refresh some poor with that which thou hast gotten by the oppressing of others, and thereby possibly made them poor, will turn but to a bad account, it will bring a curse upon thy house, or Family, Proverbs 15. 27. or will transfer thy Estate over to such strangers, that will manage it as thou shouldest have done▪ Prov. 28. 8.

i. e. Voluntarily, without pressing. Invite, encourage, freely accommodate.

Viz. That are not only needy, and necessitous, as to their present condition, but helpless, and shiftless as to the means of getting out of it.

And thereby [illegible: 1 word] wanderers, having no abiding place; or rather, suffered [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] no where, such are mentioned Heb. 11. 37, 38. Or, this word coming from a root that signifies to rebel, it may be applied to such as have been adjudged, whether wrongfully or no, Rebels, and therefore cast out, viz. of favour and protection, and so become as banished ones, or Pilgrims in another Country; or afflicted, as in the margent, viz. grievously oppressed by the cruelty of great men, whereby they are cast out of their possessions, and so become wanderers, seeking Relief abroad.

That thou be hospitable, and make thy house a shelter to them that have none of their own left, but as we usually say, cast out of house and home; see Act. 16. 34.

i. e. Either that have no cloaths, or that are so meanly cloathed they have scarce enough to cover their nakedness, 1 Cor. 4. 11. where naked is to be taken as hunger and thirst is, not absolutely starved, so neither quite stripped: But either in a ragged and undecent condition, as to others sight, or so thinly and insufficiently cloathed as not to defend him from the injury of weather, as to his own sense of feeling.

i. e. That thou give him raiment suited to these wants, or that wherewith he may proc[illegible: 1+ letters]re cure it, Iam. 2. 15, 16. most of these circumstances we find were the cases of the Apostles, 1 Cor. 4 11.

That thou not only seek to occasion to excuse thy self, either by absence, or discountenancing, and disowning of him; but that out of compassion thou apply thy self heartily to his speedy relief, that thou beest not like that Priest, and Levite, Luk. 10. 31, 32. but like the good Samaritan, Luk. 10. 33, 34, 35. not giving him occasion to complain as David, Psal. 142. 4.

Some confine this to our own kindred, and Relations, and Family, and this the LXX seem to favour, who render it, Those of thine own House, of thine own seed overlook not; agreeable to that of 1 Tim. 5. 8. where the Apostle useth the same word that the LXX doth for Kindred: But this would confine our Charity within too narrow a compass, in as much as often, nay most commonly, the necessities of others are greater than our own; neither is it congruous that the other words should be taken in the greatest latitude, and this alone confined within so narrow a compass: 'Tis true the Hebrews by their own feesh do mostly understand those who are of the same Stock, or Lineage, and Tribe, as Gen. 37. 27. & 2 Sam. 19. 12, 13. and thus many understand Paul's meaning, Rom. 11. 14. But here it is to be taken more generally, for every man, he being thine own nature; and in this latitude our Saviour interprets the relation of neighbour to that Lawyer, Luk. 10. 29, 30, &c. We can look on no man, but there we contemplate our own flesh, and therefore it is barbarous, not only to tear, but not to love and succour our own flesh, Neh. 5. 5. In which soever of these two senses you take it, there is a note of similitude to be understood; so that the sense is this, Break thy bread, &c. to them as unto thine own flesh; be not more severe to them, than thou wouldest be to thy self; and thus it agrees with that of our Saviour Mat. 22. 39. and with that of the Apostle, Eph. 5. 29. in short feed him as thou wouldst feed thy self, or have it fed; shelter him as thou wouldest shelter thy self, or have it sheltered; cloath him as thou wouldest cloath thy self, or be cloathed; if in any of these respects thou wert in his circumstances.

Marginal references: Ezek. 18. 7, 16. Mat. 2[illegible: 1+ letters], 35.; Heb. break▪; Or, [illegible: 1 word] ▪

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning , and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee , the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward .

It is put in general for all happiness and prosperity; as all kind of Adversity and Calamity is set forth and resembled by darkness; but here more particularly for a comfortable and free Estate after their dark and calamitous condition in the Babylonish Captivity; for the like reason Iosephus tells us, lib. 12. cap. 11. that the Jews instituted a Feast to be observed by their posterity, upon the account of the service of the Temple being re-established, which they called, The Feast of Lights, because, saith he, so great a Happiness brake forth upon them beyond their hope.

Here is a Metaphorieal allusion in a Metonimical Expression, viz. of the efficient, describing the comfortable effect of humbling themselves in a right manner, which, like the day light, shall break forth from the blackness of their night of affliction, & bring with it the joy and comfort of all good things; And he doth not only say this light shall appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, not withstanding all difficulties, as the Sun breaks, and pierceth through a cloud, noting how ready God is to help his People, when they are rightly humbled, how quickly, and how clearly Salvation shall break [illegible: 1+ letters]orth upon them.

Another Metaphor to express the same thing, unless there may be this difference, the Light with reference to their outward state, and Health with reference to the inward delight of their Minds, in both to describe the compleat satisfaction they should have: Deliverances out of great pressures are often in Scripture represented by the Recovery of Health, as ch. 57. 18. & Ier. 8. 22. and this Prophet especially delights in this Metaphor; because all affliction is as it were a sickness to the Soul, altering the Heart and Countenance, See Neh. 2. 2, 3. and a recovery out of this estate maketh the Heart glad, and the Countenance chearful, Esth. 8. 16, 17. Ier. 33. 6. compare v. 10, 11. Hence the LXX render it Medicines.

Either 1. Thy uprightness and sincerity, Gen. 30. 33. Or 2. The reward of thy Righteousness, by a Metonymy, ch. 48. 18. Psal. 24. 5. and here perhaps it may particularly relate to their works of Mercy, and Charity, it being the thing in hand, and often so called, Psal. 112. 9. and applied by the Apostle to this purpose, 2 Cor. 9. 9. It brings temporal, spiritual, and eternal Blessings, and all this not of desert but free Grace, as a reward, that naturally springs forth from the faithfulness of his Promises, as the Harvest from the Earth, when the seed is sown, see Hos 10. 12. so the fruit and reward of our Righteousness springs not from our deserts, but from Gods Righteousness, Heb. 6. 10. O[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word]. The witness of thy Righteousness, by what thou doest thou wilt appear to be righteous. Psal. 37. 6. For such a notion as this was vulgarly sucked in, that Adversity did never befal a person or People, but for their sins, and was strongly urged by way of argument against Iob's Integrity by his Friends, therefore thy being delivered shall be as a testimony of thy Righteousness. Or 4. The fruit and effect of thy Righteousness, viz. the due, just, and right order of thy Government which, as Calvin saith, is a sign of Gods fatherly kindness; things that are now in a confusion he will bring into right order again, i. e. Justice shall be duly administred, and men shall carry themselves justly all the Land over, See Isa. 32. 16, 17, 18. Or 5. Christs Righteousness, Ier. 23. 6. compare with 33. 16. Then the meaning is, He shall go in and out before thee.

As it were making way for thy better state, as the break of day, or the morning Star goes before the Sun.

i. e. The glory of his Power and Providence, or his glorious Power shall be seen in bringing thee up from Captivity, and defending thee from their pursuit; or, as some, a glorious state shall succeed this thy calamitous condition, and called the Glory of the Lord to express the greatness of this glory, as very great mountains are called the mountains of God, and tall Cedars the Cedars of God, the glorious Lord▪ by a Metonymy of the Adjunct.

Heb. shall gather thee, thus the word is used concerning Dan, who was appointed to bring up the Rear, or to close up the march of the Israelites, when they marched from the Wilderness of Sinai, Num. 10. 25. This Office God takes upon himself; for it argues great skill, and courage, and makes much for the Honour and Glory of a Commander, both to gather up all the stragglers, that none be picked up by the Enemy, which relates to the Hebrew word of gathering, and to secure and cover the Rear of his Army; Thus the Angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, Exod. 14. 19.

Marginal references: Job 11. 17. Ch. 50. 10. & 59. 9. 10.; Ch. 52. 12.; Heb. [illegible: 1+ letters]hall gather thee up.

9 Then shalt thou call e, and the LORD shall answer , thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am : if thou take away from the midst of thee, the yoke , the putting forth of the finger , and speaking vainly .

He will give an effectual demonstration, that he hears thee, by the real answer that he will give to thy request, Psal. 34. 17. & 99. 6. & 118. 5.

A Phrase that notes a person to be ready at hand, for Work, as Isaiah, ch. 6. 8. or for Help, as God here, and Psal. 46. 1. or both, Psal. 145. 18, 19.

Not a Geometrical middle, or center, but having a place among others, the meaning is, from among you.

i. e. All those pressures and Grievances before mentioned v. 6. all that barbarous slavery they brought their Brethren into, the particulars expressed by that one Hebrew word, motah, three times used in this Chapter.

There being often an indication of a mans Mind by the postures of several parts of the Body, as of Lust, Malice, Scorn, Revenge, &c. Prov. 6. 12, 13, 14. this putting forth of the finger may point at divers things all springing from two roots; either the secret malice of the Heart, or unjust and open violence. It is used 1. Sometimes by way of scoff, reproof, or disdainful insulting, as the Pharisee seems to point at the Publican, Luke 18. 11. pointing with the Finger, like winking with the Eye, seeming to indicate somthing that may cause shame in another; and this is reckoned among great afflictions, Hebr. 11. 36. See 2 Chron. 36. 16. Ier. 20. 7. 2. Sometimes for beating, or other injurious treating men, seizing either their Persons or Estates; such a putting forth of the Hand you have mentioned, 1 Sam. 22. 17. and this agrees well to the fist of wickedness, v. 4. and so the Finger may be put by a Synecdoche for the Hand, and that which before was called the Fist, may▪ be here called the Finger. 3. Sometimes as a token of putting Suitors by, and refusing to hear their Petitions, and requests, seeking to them for Mercy and Pity. 4. Sometimes to express an angry Mind, stirring up itself, either to the imperious commanding of a thing, or to Revenge, whether by the gesture alone, or accompanied with menacing expressions, signifying thereby a purpose to put our power in execution.

Heb. aven, it signifies a Lye, or Iniquity, as Psal. 5. 5. and 6. 8. and so the sense may be, if thou dost not proceed to indecent Expressions in thy strifes, brawls, and threatnings with thy Finger, which seldom is done without sin; and thus the counsel here may suit with our Saviours Matt. 5. 21, 22. viz. not only not stretch out thine hand against thy Brother, but not so much as be lavish with thy tongue, so speaking vanity may be a Meiosis, for not railing, the LXX render it muttering, which is an incompleat kind of speaking, whereby we reproach another in low, informed, undigested Expressions: But it seems here rather to signifie Affliction, not only because the word used in this place doth properly so signifie, but because it is most agreeable to the matter discoursed of, and the Chaldee render it violence, and then the sence is, speaking words of affliction, or that will vex and grieve, like those words of Nabal to Davids Servants, 1 Sam. 25. 10, 11. Prov. 18. 23. And thus it relates to their harsh and unjust Commands, wherewith they were wont to burden their Servants, a Synecdoche of the kind.

l They made great complaint, v. 3. that God took no notice of their Services, which complaint God seems now to satisfie, q. d. these conditions observed, call upon me, and thou shalt see I will regard, Psal. 34. 15. See Isa. 1. 18.

10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfie the afflicted soul ; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day .

Or, open, as when we break open a Store, or Magazine to satisfie the wants of the needy, it implies Bounty and Liberality. A Phrase contrary to that of shutting up the Bowels, 1 Joh. 3. 17.

Thy affection, i. e. thy pity and compassion, a Metonymy of the Subject, as one that condoles with them in their misery; affectionately, and with delight, Rom. 12. 8. 2 Cor. 9. 7. God loves a chearful giver, as well as a liberal giver, not grudgingly, not of constraint, not because thou must, but because thou wilt, not out of necessity, but of choice: Compassion and Mercy in a work is more than the work of Mercy itself; for this is somthing only without a man but the other is somthing from within, and of himself: This argues a Sympathy, which the other doth not, all without this being as nothing, 1 Cor. 13. 3.

Here the Prophet notes the work that is to be done, as in the former Expression the affection wherewith it is to be done, otherwise it would be no more than what the Apostle Iames reproves, Iam. 2. 15, 16. and the Psalmist joyns them both together, Psal. 37. 21. And then further it implies a compleat and proportionable answering of his wants, that the supply answer the necessity, that is, be such as may satisfie, not barely keep him from starving.

i. e. The person afflicted with wants.

This is the same promise, and expressed in the same figure, as in ver. 8. See the same phrase opened there. The Hebrews delight to express the same things often by a little altering of the phrase; onely here it seems to be carried to an higher degree: There the Light shall break forth, but here Light shall be in obscurity.

In the very darkness of the affliction itself thou shalt have comfort, Psal. 112. 4. There it shall be as the morning still increa sing here as the noon-day in its Zenith, and height of perfection, which shall be without so much as any shadow of affliction▪

11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfie thy soul in drought , and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be like a watered garden , and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not .

Viz. like a Shepherd, Psal. 23. 1, 2, 3. or, as the Vulgar, shall give thee rest, and so it may relate to the rest that God would give them in Iudea, upon their return from Captivity, as answering to their complaints in Babylon, Lam. 5. 5. And he adds continually, to shew that his conduct and blessing shall not be momentary, or of a short continuance, but all along, as he did to Israel in the Wilderness, not leaving them, till he brought them into Canaan.

Heb. Droughts, or, drought of droughts; which being in the plural number, notes extremity of drought, Psa. 78. 72. Skilfulnesses, that is, great skill: And Prov. 1. 20. Wisdoms, i. e. exeellent wisdom; and consequently great scarcity and famine: The meaning is, that when thy lot shall fall in the extremity of such a condition, either as to time, or place, he will abundantly satisfie thy soul, i. e. thee, by a Synecdoche, thou shalt have plenty, when others are in scarcity.

Or, make nimble, and so the expression relates to bones full of marrow, which causeth agility and nimbleness, a state of health and strength; see Prov. 15. 30. Or, it notes chearfulness, which is often the cause of bones well covered with fat, therefore a broken, or a sorrowful spirit is said to dry up the bones, Prov. 17. 22. This may be spoken in opposition to the sad effects of Famine, whereby the flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and the bones that were not seen, stick out, Iob 33. 21. they cleave to the skin, Psa. 102. 5. And thus it may have respect to their afflicted estate in Babylon, where they complain that their bones were broken, La[illegible: 1+ letters]. 3. 4. but now in their return their bones should not only be made whole, but strong, and in good condition; see Psal. 51. 8. Our English Annotations, after divers senses given, chuse to close with the Vulgar Translation, he will deliver, or set free thy bones, and so the word doth signifie, Prov. 11. 8, 9. Some make each expression of these promises to answer as suitable, and conditional rewards of their several duties, ex. gr. If thou conduct the cast-outs, and harbourless to thy house, ver. 7. God will guide and conduct thee continually: If thou draw forth thy soul to the hungry, so as to satisfie them, ver. 10. God will satisfie thee in a time of drought, and in famine thou shalt have sufficient, Psal. 33. 19. If thou let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, ver. 6. & 9. then God will make thy bones to rejoyce, by delivering them from their burdens, i. e. if thou wilt free them, he will free thee. And if thou continue thus to draw forth thy soul, that it be ever running to the refreshing of the needy, thou shalt be as a spring of waters that shall never fail thee, but like the Widdows Oil, ever flowing: If thou relieve the poor, thou shalt never be poor, but as a well watered garden, alwaies flourishing; see Prov. 3. 9, 10.

Like a Garden, for the pleasure and beauty of it, a Paradise; like a garden watered for the continual flourishing of thy estate, there shall be no withering, or decay upon thy prosperous condition, Psal. 1. 3, 4. contrary to what is said of the wicked, Psal. 37. 2, 10, 20, 35, 36. And thus Ieremiah speaks of the return of this same People, Ier. 31. 12.

Heb. deceive not, a Metaphor which further notes also the continuance of this flourishing state, which will not be like a land flood, or brooks, that will soon be dried up with drought; see Iob 6. 15. but will be fed with a spring of blessing, that will never fail; a very significant Metaphor, it being the nature of springs, spontaneously and freely, as it were to pour out their bowels to all, that upon their wants come to receive it; neither is ever scanty, but flows still like fresh Milk to the Breast the more it is drawn; hence God is called a fountain of goodness.

Marginal references: Or thee.; Heb. droughts.; Or, make nimble thy b[illegible: 1+ letters]nes.; Heb. l[illegible: 1+ letters]e, or deceive.

12 And they that shall be of thee , shall build the old wast places : thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations , and thou shalt be called , The repairer of the breach , the restorer of paths to dwell in .

i. e. Either 1. A remnant of thee among the Captivity, that shall be as persons raised from the dead: Or, 2. Thy Posterity, expressed thus, because they sprang, or proceeded from them.

Heb. wasts of eternity, i. e. which have lain long waste. For holam doth not alwaies signifie what is bounded by no time, but what respects a long time, looking either forward, as Gen. 13. 15. Exod. 21. 6. or, backward, as here, viz. the space of seventy years, and so may truly be rendred the wasts of an Age. By wast places he means the City, and Temple, with Cities, and places adjacent, turned as it were all into a wast, or wilderness, void and untilled, and which was done not onely by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, but by Sennacherib also, and the [illegible: 1+ letters]her Kings of Assyria. They had lain so long desolate, that the Foxes inhabited them instead of men, Lam. 5. 18. And it was turned so much into a Desert, that they were forced to fight with the Beasts that possessed it, to get their food, Lam. 5. 9.

Either the foundations that were laid many generations ago, as those of Ierusalem, which was not only built, but was the head of a Kingdom in the daies of Melchizedek, who was King thereof in the daies of Abraham, as appears, Gen. 14. 18. If that Salem were Ierusalem, as is generally agreed, and Iosephus writes lib. 1. antiquit. cap. 10. who was born about the 300th year after the Flood, the superstructures were now destroyed, viz. of Ierusalem, and divers other Cities; or, that shall continue for many generations yet to come.

Thou shalt be honoured with this Title, as we use to say the Father of our Countrey, i. e. deservedly so called because thou art so; the like phrase, chap. 48. 8.

Breach is put here collectively for Breaches, which were made by God's Judgments breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their Towns and Cities to be demolished, and their State broken, chap. 5. 5.

Such an one was Moses, Psal. 106. 23. And this tends to the same sense with the former expression, because men were wont to make paths over those Breaches, to go the nearest way; or, it may more particularly point at the recovering of the Ancient paths, and bringing them into their wonted course, which were either those chief Streets through the Gates of the Cities, or other Lanes out of those Streets, which were now forgotten and lost, partly by being covered with rubbish, and partly by those shorter paths that were trod, and made over the Breaches; such a Restorer of paths was Nehemiah, Neh. 6. 1. And we read of the several Repairers he made use of, Neh. 3 Or, those paths that led from City to City, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds, for want of Travellers, or safety of travelling, (of something a like case we read in the time of the Judges, Iudg. 5. 6. 7.) and so lost as in a wilderness, wherein there is no way, and by building up those Cities again, the several paths leading to them would be restored.

These accommodations being all recovered their ancient Cities might be fit to be re-inhabited.

Marginal references: Chap. 61. 4.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath , from doing thy pleasure on my holy day , and call the sabbath a delight , the holy of the LORD , honourable , and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways , nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words .

This is taken, either, properly, i. e. if thou take no unnecessary journeys, or do any servile works either of hand or foot that are forbidden on the Sabbath day, the instrument being here put for the work; or, Metaphorically, i. e. if thou keep thy mind, and affections clear, and restraining thy self from whatever may prophane it, as David did concerning the word, Psal. 119. 101. Feet are often put for the Affections, Eccl. 5. 1. because the mind is moved by the affections, as the body is by the feet, if we do not let our thoughts be extravagant either upon impertinencies, or unlawful things. The sum is, if thou be careful not to break the Sabbath.

Or for the Sabbath's sake, whether we understand it more largely, of the occasional Sabbath in solemn humiliations, or otherwise set apart for sacred services, which is called a Sabbath, Lev. 16. 31. and 23. 32. Days of this nature were set apart before the captivity, Ch. 22. 12. Ier. 36. 9. and also in the Captivity, Zech. 7. 5. And thus it may be pertinent to the occasion of this discourse, v. 3. And further, though Sabbath be here only mentioned, yet it may take in every institution of God, that they were in a capacity of observing during their captivity; Thus I conceive it is understood, ch. 56. 1, 2. Or, whether we take it more particularly for the weekly Sabbath, such a carriage doth God expect, as doth become it.

Satisfying thy lusts, and the corruption of thy will▪

i. e. on my Sabbath, which is an holy day.

Full of delights in thy Judgment, not looking on it as a burthen; and Practice, performing the duties of it with cheerfulness, delighting in the ordinances of it, and so the Sabbath by a Metonymy is put for the works of the Sabbath, the time being put for the things that ought to be done in that time; Therefore Calling here is not only a verbal, but affectionate calling, the understanding assenting, the will consenting, and the actions conforming thereto; this delight appears in the Saints of God in their breathings after it, as it did frequently in David, Psal. 27. 4. & 36. 8. & 42. 1. with many more.

Or to the Lord. i. e. dedicated to him, consecrated to his service. The Jews had a law that no man might take from the Sabbath▪ to add to the prophane days, but he might on the contrary.

viz. the chief of days, worthy of all honour, and therefore honourable, because holy; and so shall honour, either it. i. e. the day; or▪ him. i. e. the Lord, whose day it is. For to sanctify God, and to sanctify his day is all one, compare ch. 8. 13. [illegible: 1+ letters]with Exod. 20. 8. thus esteem it an honour as well as a pleasure.

Or works, or course of life; a mans whole course being described by a way or walk, Gen. 17. 1. Eph. 5. 8.

Viz. That are properly thine own. i. e. thine own in opposition to what God commands, proceeding from the corruption of Nature, and vanity of the mind, or not speaking words. i. e. vainly, impertinently, and not suitable to the work of the day, tending neither to thy profit, or pleasure; or rather injurious, revengeful▪ or reproachful words, contrary to rest, quiet, and sedate composedness of the Sabbath. And thus it refers to what was their usual▪ practice upon their solemn assemblies, or Sabbaths towards their poor brethren, which they are charged with, ver. 3. and is called speaking vanity. v. 9. See there: and accordingly the seventy render it, if thou speak not a word in anger.

14 Then shalt thou delight thy self in the LORD, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth , and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

This hath reference to the foregoing verse. If thou wilt delight thy self in the Sabbath, then thou shalt delight in the God of the Sabbath; or, thou shalt have cause to delight in the Lord, viz. in his goodness, and faithfulness to thee, and so shalt live by faith in him as the fountain of all good, as Psal. 37. 4. in the assurance of his love and favour, Psal. 33. 21. and that in great abundance, Psal. 36. 8. Such delights as no wicked man can have, Prov. 14. 10.

Thou shalt be above the reach of danger, ch. 33. 16. Or, it may have respect to their being brought out of Babylon, which lay very low in respect of Iudea, called the Earth, as it is elsewhere, Luke 23. 44. and high, both in respect of the scituation of it, as also its mountainousness: Or, the expression may import the subduing of their enemies, as it is, Deut. 33. 29. Riding is oft used for conquering, Psal. 45. 4. See the note there, Rev. 6. 2. The sense is, they shall come out of Babylon, not sneakingly as on foot, but triumphantly and gloriously riding, as God brought Israel out of Aegypt harnassed, in good order, and with an high hand; or, they shall ride to, and fro in their Chariots at their pleasure.

i. e. Thou shalt enjoy the good of the land of Canaan, which God had promised as an heritage to Iacob, and his seed, Gen. 35. 12. and feed on the fruits of it. Quest. Why doth he say of the heritage of Iacob, and not of Abraham, or Isaac. Answ. Because the whole Posterity of Iacob was within the Covenant, but Ishmael and Esau, one the seed of Isaac, the other the seed of Abraham, were both excluded.

This is to express the certainty, and indubitableness of it, being from the mouth of him who cannot lie: see of the same expression of assurance, ch. 1. 20. & 40. 5. And this Calvin refers both to what was spoken in the beginning of the chapter, that it was in vain for those hypocrites to contend with God; & also as the confirmation of his promise, if they would rightly observe those promises, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, he speaks of himself, as of a man by a Prosopopaeia: Or, it may relate to the Prophet, the Lord, whose mouth and instrument I am.

Marginal references: Deut. 32. [illegible: 1 word] ▪

Isa 58:1-2

As the last prophecy of the second book contained all the three elements of prophetic addresses - reproach, threat, and promise - so this, the first prophecy of the third book, cannot open in any other way than with a rehearsal of one of these. The prophet receives the commission to appear as the preacher of condemnation; and whilst Jehovah is giving the reason for this commission, the preaching itself commences. “Cry with full throat, hold not back; lift up thy voice like a bugle, and proclaim to my people their apostasy, and to the house of Jacob their sins. And they seek me day by day, and desire to learn my ways, like a nation which has done righteousness, and has not forsaken the right of their God: they ask of me judgments of righteousness; they desire the drawing near of Elohim.” As the second prophecy of the first part takes as its basis a text from Micah (Mic 2:1-4), so have we here in Isa 58:1 the echo of Mic 3:8. Not only with lisping lips (1Sa 1:13), but with the throat (Psa 115:7; Psa 149:6); that is to say, with all the strength of the voice, lifting up the voice like the shōphâr (not a trumpet, which is called חצצרה, nor in fact any metallic instrument, but a bugle or signal horn, like that blown on new year’s day: see at Psa 81:4), i.e., in a shrill shouting tone. With a loud voice that must be heard, with the most unsparing publicity, the prophet is to point out to the people their deep moral wounds, which they may indeed hide from themselves with hypocritical opus operatum, but cannot conceal from the all-seeing God. The ו of ואותי does not stand for an explanatory particle, but for an adversative one: “their apostasy ... their sins; and yet (although they are to be punished for these) they approach Jehovah every day” (יום יום with mahpach under the first יום, and pasek after it, as is the general rule between two like-sounding words), “that He would now speedily interpose.” They also desire to know the ways which He intends to take for their deliverance, and by which He desires to lead them. This reminds us of the occurrence between Ezekiel and the elders of Gola (Eze 20:1.; compare also Eze 33:30.). As if they had been a people whose rectitude of action and fidelity to the commands of God warranted them in expecting nothing but what was good in the future, they ask God (viz., in prayer and by inquiring of the prophet) for mishpetē tsedeq, “righteous manifestations of judgment” i.e., such as will save them and destroy their foes, and desire qirbath 'Elōhı̄m, the coming of God, i.e., His saving parousia. The energetic futures, with the tone upon the last syllable, answer to their self-righteous presumption; and יחפצוּן is repeated, according to Isaiah’s most favourite oratorical figure, at the close of the verse.

Isa 58:3-4

There follow now the words of the work-righteous themselves, who hold up their fasting before the eyes of God, and complain that He takes no notice of it. And how could He?! “'Wherefore do we fast and Thou seest not, afflict our soul and Thou regardest not?' Behold, on the day of your fasting ye carry on your business, and ye oppress all your labourers. Behold, ye fast with strife and quarrelling, and with smiting with the fist maliciously closed: ye do not fast now to make your voice audible on high.” By the side of צוּם (root צם, to press, tie up, constrain) we have here the older expression found in the Pentateuch, נפשׁ ענּה, to do violence to the natural life. In addition to the fasting on the day of atonement (the tenth of the seventh month Tizri), the only fast prescribed by the law, other fasts were observed according to Zec 7:3; Zec 8:19, viz., fasts to commemorate the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem (10th Tebeth), its capture (17th Tammuz), its destruction (9th Aibb), and the murder of Gedaliah (3rd Tizri). The exiles boast of this fasting here; but it is a heartless, dead work, and therefore worthless in the sight of God. There is the most glaring contrast between the object of the fast and their conduct on the fast-day: for they carry on their work-day occupation; they are then, more than at any other time, true taskmasters to their work-people (lest the service of the master should suffer form the service of God); and because when fasting they are doubly irritable and ill-tempered, this leads to quarrelling and strife, and even to striking with angry fist (בּאגרף, from גּרף, to collect together, make into a ball, clench). Hence in their present state the true purpose of fasting is quite unknown to them, viz., to enable them to draw near with importunate prayer to God, who is enthroned on high (Isa 57:15).The ancient church called a fast statio, because he who fasted had to wait in prayer day and night like a soldier at his post. See on this and what follows, the Shepherd of Hermas, iii. Sim. 5, and the Epistle of Barnabas, c. iii.

The only difficulty here is the phrase חפץ מצא. In the face of Isa 58:13, this cannot have any other meaning than to stretch one’s hand after occupation, to carry on business, to occupy one’s self with it - חפץ combining the three meanings, application or affairs, striving, and trade or occupation. מצא, however, maintains its primary meaning, to lay hold of or grasp (cf., Isa 10:14; Targ. צרכיכון תּבעין אתּוּן, ye seek your livelihood). This is sustained by what follows, whether we derive עצּביכם (cf., חלּקי, Isa 57:6) from עצב (et omnes labores vestros graves rigide exigitis), נגשׂ (from which we have here תּנגּשׂוּ for תּגּשׂוּ, Deu 15:3) being construed as in 2Ki 23:35 with the accusative of what is peremptorily demanded; or (what we certainly prefer) from עצב; or better still from עצב morf ll (like עמל): omnes operarios vestros adigitis (urgetis), נגשׂ being construed with the accusative of the person oppressed, as in Deu 15:2, where it is applied to the oppression of a debtor. Here, however, the reference is not to those who owe money, but to those who owe labour, or to obligations to labour; and עצב does not signify a debtor (an idea quite foreign to this verbal root), but a labourer, one who eats the bread of sorrows, or of hard toil (Psa 127:2). The prophet paints throughout from the life; and we cannot be persuaded by Stier’s false zeal for Isaiah’s authorship to give up the opinion, that we have here a figure drawn from the life of the exiles in Babylon.

Isa 58:5-7

Whilst the people on the fast-day are carrying on their worldly, selfish, everyday business, the fasting is perverted from a means of divine worship and absorption in the spiritual character of the day to the most thoroughly selfish purposes: it is supposed to be of some worth and to merit some reward. This work-holy delusion, behind which self-righteousness and unrighteousness were concealed, is met thus by Jehovah through His prophet: “Can such things as these pass for a fast that I have pleasure in, as a day for a man to afflict his soul? To bow down his head like a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him - dost thou call this a fast and an acceptable day for Jehovah? Is not this a fast that I have pleasure in: To loose coils of wickedness, to untie the bands of the yoke, and for sending away the oppressed as free, and that ye break every kind of yoke? Is it not this, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to take the poor and houseless to thy home; when thou seest a naked man that thou clothest him, and dost not deny thyself before thine own flesh?” The true worship, which consists in works of merciful love to one’s brethren, and its great promises are here placed in contrast with the false worship just described. הכזה points backwards: is such a fast as this a fast after Jehovah’s mind, a day on which it can be said in truth that a man afflicts his soul (Lev 16:29)? The ה of הלכף is resumed in הלזה; the second ל is the object to תּקרא expressed as a dative. The first ל answers to our preposition “to” with the infinitive, which stands here at the beginning like a casus absol. (to hang down; for which the inf. abs. הכפוף might also be used), and as in most other cases passes over into the finite (et quod saccum et cinerem substernit, viz., sibi: Ges. §132, Anm. 2). To hang down the head and sit in sackcloth and ashes - this does not in itself deserve the name of fasting and of a day of gracious reception (Isa 56:7; Isa 61:2) on the part of Jehovah (ליהוה for a subjective genitive).

Isa 58:6 and Isa 58:7 affirm that the fasting which is pleasant to Jehovah consists in something very different from this, namely, in releasing the oppressed, and in kindness to the helpless; not in abstinence form eating as such, but in sympathetic acts of that self-denying love, which gives up bread or any other possession for the sake of doing good to the needy.The ancient church connected fasting with almsgiving by law. Dressel, Patr. Ap. p. 493.

There is a bitter irony in these words, just as when the ancients said, “not eating is a natural fast, but abstaining form sin is a spiritual fast.” During the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans a general emancipation of the slaves of Israelitish descent (who were to be set free, according to the law, every three years) was resolved upon and carried out; but as soon as the Chaldeans were gone, the masters fetched their liberated slaves back into servitude again (Jer 34:8-22). And as Isa 58:6 shows, they carried the same selfish and despotic disposition with them into captivity. The זה which points forwards is expanded into infin. absolutes, which are carried on quite regularly in the finite tense. Mōtâh, which is repeated palindromically, signifies in both cases a yoke, lit., vectis, the cross wood which formed the most important part of the yoke, and which was fastened to the animal’s head, and so connected with the plough by means of a cord or strap (Sir. 30:13; 33:27).I have already observed at Isa 47:6, in vindication of what was stated at Isa 10:27, that the yoke was not in the form of a collar. I brought the subject under the notice of Prof. Schegg, who wrote to me immediately after his return from his journey to Palestine to the following effect: “I saw many oxen ploughing in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the neighbourhood of Ephesus; and in every case the yoke was a cross piece of wood laid upon the neck of the animal, and fastened to the pole of the plough by a cord which passed under the neck of the animal.”

It is to this that אגדּות, knots, refers. We cannot connect it with mutteh, a state of perverted right (Eze 9:9), as Hitzig does. רצוּצים are persons unjustly and forcibly oppressed even with cruelty; רצץ is a stronger synonym to עשׂק (e.g., Amo 4:1). In Isa 58:7 we have the same spirit of general humanity as in Job 31:13-23; Eze 18:7-8 (compare what James describes in Jam 1:27 as “pure religion and undefiled”). לחם (פרשׂ) פרץ is the usual phrase for κλᾶν (κλάζειν) ἄρτον. מרוּדים is the adjective to עניּים, and apparently therefore must be derived from מרד: miserable men who have shown themselves refractory towards despotic rulers. But the participle mârūd cannot be found elsewhere; and the recommendation to receive political fugitives has a modern look. The parallels in Lam 1:7 and Lam 3:19 are conclusive evidence, that the word is intended as a derivative of רוּד, to wander about, and it is so rendered in the lxx, Targ., and Jerome (vagos). But מרוד, pl. מרוּדים, is no adjective; and there is nothing to recommend the opinion, that by “wanderers” we are to understand Israelitish men. Ewald supposes that מרוּדים may be taken as a part. hoph. for מוּרדים, hunted away, like הממותים in 2Ki 11:2 (Keri המּמתים); but it cannot be shown that the language allowed of this shifting of a vowel-sound. We prefer to assume that מרוּדים (persecuted) is regarded as part. pass., even if only per metaplasmum, from מרד, a secondary form of רוּד (cf., מכס, מלץ, מצח, makuna). Isa 58:7 is still the virtual subject to אבחרהוּ צום. The apodosis to the hypothetical כּי commences with a perf. consec., which then passes into the pausal future תתעלּם. In hsilgnE:egaugnaL \מבשׂרך (from thine own flesh) it is presupposed that all men form one united whole as being of the same flesh and blood, and that they form one family, owing to one another mutual love.

Isa 58:8-12 The prophet now proceeds to point out the reward of divine grace, which would follow such a fast as this, consisting of self-renouncing, self-sacrificing love; and in the midst of the promise he once more reminds of the fact, that this love is the condition of the promise. This divides the promises into two. The middle promise is linked on to the first; the morning dawn giving promise of the “perfect day” (Pro 4:18). The first series of promises we have in Isa 58:8, Isa 58:9. “Then will thy light break forth as the morning dawn, and thy healing will sprout up speedily, and thy righteousness will go before thee, the glory of Jehovah will follow thee. Then wilt thou call and Jehovah will answer; thou wilt beseech, and He will say, Here am I!” The love of God is called “light” in contrast with His wrath; and a quiet cheerful life in God’s love is so called, in contrast with a wild troubled life spent in God’s wrath. This life in God’s love has its dawn and its noon-day. When it is night both within and around a man, and he suffers himself to be awakened by the love of God to a reciprocity of love; then does the love of God, like the rising sun, open for itself a way through the man’s dark night and overcome the darkness of wrath, but so gradually that the sky within is at first only streaked as it were with the red of the morning dawn, the herald of the sun. A second figure of a promising character follows. The man is sick unto death; but when the love of God stimulates him to reciprocal love, he is filled with new vigour, and his recovery springs up suddenly; he feels within him a new life working through with energetic force like a miraculous springing up of verdure from the earth, or of growing and flowering plants. The only other passages in which ארוּכה occurs are in the books of Jeremiah, Chronicles, and Nehemiah. It signifies recovery (lxx here, τὰ ἰάματά σου ταχὺ ἀνατελεῖ, an old mistake for ἱμάτια, vestimenta), and hence general prosperity (2Ch 24:13). It always occurs with the predicate עלתה (causative העלה, cf., Targ. Psa 147:3, ארכא אסּק, another reading ארוּכין), oritur (for which we have here poetically germinat) alicui sanitas; hence Gesenius and others have inferred, that the word originally meant the binding up of a wound, bandage (impontiru alicui fascia). But the primary word is ארך = ארך, to set to rights, to restore or put into the right condition (e.g., b. Sabbath 33 b, “he cured his wounded flesh”), connected with אריך, Arab. ârak, accommodatus; so that ארוּכה, after the form מלוּכה, Arab. (though rarely) arika, signifies properly, setting to rights, i.e., restoration.

The third promise is: “thy righteousness will go before thee, the glory of Jehovah will gather thee, or keep thee together,” i.e., be thy rear-guard (lxx περιστελεῖ σε, enclose thee with its protection; אסף as in מאסּף, Isa 52:12). The figure is a significant one: the first of the mercies of God is δικαιοῦν, and the last δοξάζειν. When Israel is diligent in the performance of works of compassionate love, it is like an army on the march or a travelling caravan, for which righteousness clear and shows the way as being the most appropriate gift of God, and whose rear is closed by the glory of God, which so conducts it to its goal that not one is left behind. The fourth promise assures them of the immediate hearing of prayer, of every appeal to God, every cry for help.

But before the prophet brings his promises up to their culminating point, he once more lays down the condition upon which they rest. “If thou put away from the midst of thee the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking of evil, and offerest up thy gluttony to the hungry, and satisfiest the soul that is bowed down: thy light will stream out in the darkness, and thy darkness become like the brightness of noon-day. And Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in droughts, and refresh thy bones; and thou wilt become like a well-watered garden, and like a fountain, whose waters never deceive. And thy people will build ruins of the olden time, foundations of earlier generations wilt thou erect; and men will call thee repairers of breaches, restorers of habitable streets.” מוטה, a yoke, is here equivalent to yoking or oppression, as in Isa 58:6, where it stands by the side of רשׁע. שׁלח־אצבּא (only met with here, for שׁלח, Ges. §65, 1,a), the stretching out of the finger, signifies a scornful pointing with the fingers (Pro 6:13, δακτυλοδεικτεῖν) at humbler men, and especially at such as are godly (Isa 57:4). דּבּר־און, the utterance of things which are wicked in themselves and injurious to one’s neighbour, hence sinful conversation in general. The early commentators looked for more under נפשׁך, than is really meant (and so does even Stier: “they soul, thy heart, all thy sympathetic feelings,” etc.). The name of the soul, which is regarded here as greedily longing (Isa 56:11), is used in Deu 24:6 for that which nourishes it, and here for that which it longs for; the longing itself (appetitus) for the object of the longing (Psychol. p. 204). We may see this very clearly from the choice of the verb תּפק (a voluntative in a conditional clause, Ges. §128, 2), which, starting from the primary meaning educere (related to נפק, Arabic anfaqa, to give out, distribute, nafaqa, distribution, especially of alms), signifies both to work out, acquire, carry off (Pro 3:13; Pro 8:35, etc.), and also to take out, deliver, offer, expromere (as in this instance and Psa 140:9; Psa 144:13). The soul “bowed down” is bowed down in this instance through abstinence. The apodoses commence with the perf. cons. וזרח. אפלה is the darkness caused by the utter absence of light (Arab. afalat esh - shemsu, “the sun has become invisible”); see at Job 10:22. This, as the substantive clause affirms, is like the noon-day, which is called צהרים, because at that point the daylight of both the forenoon and afternoon, the rising and setting light, is divided as it were into two by the climax which it has attained. A new promise points to the fat, that such a man may enjoy without intermission the mild and safe guidance of divine grace, for which נחה (הנחה, syn. נהל) is the word commonly employed; and another to the communication of the most copious supply of strength. The ἅπαξ γεγρ בצחצחות does not state with what God will satisfy the soul, as Hahn supposes (after Jerome, “splendoribus”), but according to צסהיחה (Psa 68:7) and such promises as Isa 43:20; Isa 48:21; Isa 49:10, the kind of satisfaction and the circumstances under which it occurs, viz., in extreme droughts (Targ. “years of drought”). In the place of the perf. cons. we have then the future, which facilitates the elevation of the object: “and thy bones will He make strong,” יחליח, for which Hupfeld would read יחליף, “will He rejuvenate.” חחליץ is a denom. of חלוּץ, expeditus; it may, however, be directly derived from a verb חלץ, presupposed by חלצים, not, however, in the meaning “to be fat” (lxx πιανθήσεται, and so also Kimchi), but “to be strong,” lit., to be loose or ready for action; and b. Jebamoth 102 b has the very suitable gloss גרמי זרוזי (making the bones strong). This idea of invigorating is then unfolded in two different figures, of which that of a well-watered garden sets forth the abundance received, that of a spring the abundance possessed. Natural objects are promised, but as a gift of grace; for this is the difference between the two testaments, that in the Old Testament the natural is ever striving to reach the spiritual, whereas in the New Testament the spiritual lifts up the natural to its own level. The Old Testament is ever striving to give inwardness to what was outward; in the New Testament this object is attained, and the further object now is to make the outward conformed to the inward, the natural life to the spiritual.

The last promise (whether the seventh or eighth, depends upon whether we include the growing of the morning light into the light of noon, or not) takes its form from the pining of the exiles for their home: “and thy people (ממּך) build” (Ewald, §295,c); and Böttcher would read ממך וּבנּוּ; but מן with a passive, although more admissible in Hebrew than in Arabic, is very rarely met with, and then more frequently in the sense of ἀπό than in that of ὑπό, and בּנּוּ followed by a plural of the thing would be more exact than customary. Moreover, there is no force in the objection that ממּך with the active can only signify “some of thee,” since it is equivalent to ממך אשׁר, those who sprang from thee and belong to thee by kindred descent. The members born to the congregation in exile will begin, as soon as they return to their home, to build up again the ruins of olden time, the foundations of earlier generations, i.e., houses and cities of which only the foundations are left (Isa 61:4); therefore Israel restored to its fatherland receives the honourable title of “builder of breaches,” “restorer of streets (i.e., of places much frequented once) לשׁבת” (for inhabiting), i.e., so that, although so desolate now (Isa 33:8), they become habitable and populous once more.

Isa 58:13-14

The third part of the prophecy now adds to the duties of human love the duty of keeping the Sabbath, together with equally great promises; i.e., it adds the duties of the first table to those of the second, for the service of works is sanctified by the service of worship. “If thou hold back thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy business on my holy day, and callest the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, reverer, and honourest it, not doing thine own ways, not pursuing thy business and speaking words: then wilt thou have delight in Jehovah, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the land, and make thee enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy forefather, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.” The duty of keeping the Sabbath is also enforced by Jeremiah (Jer 17:19.) and Ezekiel (Eze 20:12., Eze 22:8, Eze 22:26), and the neglect of this duty severely condemned. Chapter 56 has already shown the importance attached to it by our prophet. The Sabbath, above all other institutions appointed by the law, was the true means of uniting and sustaining Israel as a religious community, more especially in exile, where a great part of the worship necessarily feel into abeyance on account of its intimate connection with Jerusalem and the holy land; but whilst it was a Mosaic institution so far as its legal appointments were concerned, it rested, in a way which reached even beyond the rite of circumcision, upon a basis much older than that of the law, being a ceremonial copy of the Sabbath of creation, which was the divine rest established by God as the true object of all motion; for God entered into Himself again after He had created the world out of Himself, that all created things might enter into Him. In order that this, the great end set before all creation, and especially before mankind, viz., entrance into the rest of God, might be secured, the keeping of the Sabbath prescribed by the law was a divine method of education, which put an end every week to the ordinary avocations of the people, with their secular influence and their tendency to fix the mind on outward things, and was designed by the strict prohibition of all work to force them to enter into themselves and occupy their minds with God and His word. The prophet does not hedge round this commandment to keep the Sabbath with any new precepts, but merely demands for its observance full truth answering to the spirit of the letter. “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath” is equivalent to, if thou do not tread upon its holy ground with a foot occupied with its everyday work. עשׂות which follows is not elliptical (= מעשׂות answering to משּׁבּת, an unnecessary and mistaken assumption), but an explanatory permutative of the object “thy foot:” “turn away thy foot,” viz., from attending to thy business (a defective plural) on my holy day. Again, if thou call (i.e., from inward contemplation and esteem) the Sabbath a pleasure (‛ōneg, because it leads thee to God, and not a burden because it leads thee away from thine everyday life; cf., Amo 8:5) and the holy one of Jehovah (on this masculine personification of the Sabbath, see Isa 56:2), “mekhubbâd,” honoured = honourable, honorandus, and if thou truly honourest him, whom Jehovah has invested with the splendour of His own glory (Gen 2:3 : “and sanctified it”), “not” (מן = ὥστε μὴ) “to perform thy ways” (the ordinary ways which relate to self-preservation, not to God), “not to attend to thine own business’ (see at Isa 58:3) “and make words,” viz., words of vain useless character and needless multitude (דּבּר־דּברas in Hos 10:4, denoting unspiritual gossip and boasting);Hitzig observes, that “the law of the Sabbath has already received the Jewish addition, 'speaking is work.' “ But from the premiss that the sabbatical rest of God was rest from speaking His creating word (Psa 33:6), all the conclusion that tradition has ever drawn is, that on the Sabbath men must to a certain extent rest מהדבור as well as ממעשׂה; and when R. Simon b. Jochai exclaimed to his loquacious old mother on the Sabbath, “Keeping the Sabbath means keeping silence,” his meaning was not that talking in itself was working and therefore all conversation was forbidden on the Sabbath. Tradition never went as far as this. The rabbinical exposition of the passage before us is the following: “Let not thy talking on the Sabbath be the same as that on working days;” and when it is stated once in the Jerusalem Talmud that the Rabbins could hardly bring themselves to allow of friendly greetings on the Sabbath, it certainly follows from this, that they did not forbid them. Even the author of the ש לה (הברית לוחות שׂני) with its excessive ceremonial stringency goes no further than this, that on the Sabbath men must abstain from חול דברי. And is it possible that our prophet can have been more stringent than the strictest traditionalists, and wished to make the keeper of the Sabbath a Carthusian monk? There could not be a more thorough perversion of the spirit of prophecy than this. then, just as the Sabbath is thy pleasure, so wilt thou have thy pleasure in Jehovah, i.e., enjoy His delightful fellowship (על־ה תּתענּג, a promise as in Job 22:26), and He will reward thee for thy renunciation of earthly advantages with a victorious reign, with an unapproachable possession of the high places of the land - i.e., chiefly, though not exclusively, of the promised land, which shall then be restored to thee - and with the free and undisputed usufruct of the inheritance promised to thy forefather Jacob (Psa 105:10-11; Deu 32:13 and Deu 33:29) - this will be thy glorious reward, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. Thus does Isaiah confirm the predictions of Isa 1:20 and Isa 40:25 (compare Isa 24:3).

A Charge against the People. (b. c. 706.)

1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

When our Lord Jesus promised to send the Comforter he added, When he shall come he shall convince (John xvi. 7, 8); for conviction must prepare for comfort, and must also separate between the precious and the vile, and mark out those to whom comfort does not belong. God had appointed this prophet to comfort his people (ch. xl. 1); here he appoints him to convince them, and show them their sins.

I. He must tell them how very bad they really were, v. 1. 1. He must deal faithfully and plainly with them. "Though they are called the people of God and the house of Jacob, though they wear an honourable title and character, by which they are interested in many glorious privileges, yet do not flatter them, but show them their transgressions and their sins, be particular in telling them their faults, what sins are committed among them, which they do not know of, nay, what sins are committed by them which they do not acknowledge to be sins; though in some things they are reformed, let them know that in other things they are still as bad as ever. Show them their transgressions and their sins, that is, all their transgressions in their sins, their sins and all the aggravations of them," Lev. xvi. 21. Note, (1.) God sees sin in his people, in the house of Jacob, and is displeased with it. (2.) They are often unapt and unwilling to see their own sins, and need to have them shown them, and to be told, Thus and thus thou hast done. 2. He must be vehement and in good earnest herein, must cry aloud, and not spare, not spare them (not touch them with his reproofs as if he were afraid of hurting them, but search the wound to the bottom, lay it bare to the bone), not spare himself or his own pains, but cry as loud as he can; though he spend his strength and waste his spirits, though he get their ill-will by it and get himself into an ill name, yet he must not spare. He must lift up his voice like a trumpet, to make those hear of their faults that were apt to be deaf when admonition was addressed to them. He must give his reproofs in the most powerful and pressing manner possible, as one who desired to be heeded. The trumpet does not give an uncertain sound, but, though loud and shrill, is intelligible; so must his alarms be, giving them warning of the fatal consequences of sin, Ezek. xxxiii. 3.

II. He must acknowledge how very good they seemed to be, notwithstanding (v. 2): Yet they seek me daily. When the prophet went about to show them their transgressions they pleaded that they could see no transgressions which they were guilty of; for they were diligent and constant in attending on God's worship—and what more would he have of them? Now,

1. He owns the matter of fact to be true. As far as hypocrites do that which is good, they shall not be denied the praise of it; let them make their best of it. It is owned that they have a form of godliness. (1.) They go to church, and observe their hours of prayer: They seek me daily; they are very constant in their devotions and never omit them nor suffer any thing to put them by. (2.) They love to hear good preaching; They delight to know my ways, as Herod, who heard John gladly, and the stony ground, that received the seed of the word with joy; it is to them as a lovely song, Ezek. xxxiii. 32. (3.) They seem to take great pleasure in the exercises of religion and to be in their element when they are at their devotions: They delight in approaching to God, not for his sake to whom they approach, but for the sake of some pleasing circumstance, the company, or the festival. (4.) They are inquisitive concerning their duty and seem desirous only to know it, making no question but that then they should do it: They ask of me the ordinances of justice, the rules of piety in the worship of God, the rules of equity in their dealings with men, both which are ordinances of justice. (5.) They appear to the eye of the world as if they made conscience of doing their duty: They are as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinances of their God; others took them for such, and they themselves pretended to be such. Nothing lay open to view that was a contradiction to their profession, but they seemed to be such as they should be. Note, Men may go a great way towards heaven and yet come short; nay, may go to hell with a good reputation. But,

2. He intimates that this was so far from being a cover or excuse for their sin that really it was an aggravation of it: "Show them their sins which they go on in notwithstanding their knowledge of good and evil, sin and duty, and the convictions of their consciences concerning them."

A Charge against the People. (b. c. 706.)

3 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 pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4 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. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 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?

Here we have, I. The displeasure which these hypocrites conceived against God for not accepting the services which they themselves had a mighty opinion of (v. 3): Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Thus they went in the way of Cain, who was angry at God, and resented it as a gross affront that his offering was not accepted. Having gone about to put a cheat upon God by their external services, here they go about to pick a quarrel with God for not being pleased with their services, as if he had not done fairly or justly by them. Observe, 1. How they boast of themselves, and magnify their own performances: "We have fasted, and afflicted our souls; we have not only sought God daily (v. 2), but have kept some certain times of more solemn devotion." Some think this refers to the yearly fast (which was called the day of atonement), others to their arbitrary occasional fasts. Note, It is common for unhumbled hearts to be proud of their professions of humiliation, as the Pharisee (Luke xviii. 12), I fast twice in the week. 2. What they expected from their performances. They thought God should take great notice of them, and own himself a debtor to them for their services. Note, It is a common thing for hypocrites, while they perform the external services of religion, to promise themselves that acceptance with God which he has promised only to the sincere; as if they must be accepted of course, or for a compliment. 3. How heinously they take it that God had not put some particular marks of his favour upon them, that he had not immediately delivered them out of their troubles and advanced them to honour and prosperity. They charge God with injustice and partiality, and seem resolved to throw up their religion, and justify themselves in doing so with this, that they had found no profit in praying to God, Job xxi. 14, 15; Mal. iii. 14. Note, Reigning hypocrisy often breaks out in daring impiety and an open contempt and reproach of God and religion for that which the hypocrisy itself must bear all the blame of. Sinners reflect upon religion as a hard and melancholy service, and on which there is nothing to be got by, when really it is owing to themselves that it seems so to them, because they are not sincere in it.

II. The true reason assigned why God did not accept their fastings, nor answer the prayers they made on their fast-days; it was because they did not fast aright—to God, even to him, Zech. vii. 5. They fasted indeed, but they persisted in their sins, and did not, as the Ninevites, turn every one from his evil way; but in the day of their fast, notwithstanding the professed humiliations and covenants of that day, they went on to find pleasure, that is, to do whatsoever seemed right in their own eyes, lawful or unlawful, quicquid libet, licet—making their inclinations their law; though they seemed to afflict their souls, they still gratified their lusts as much as ever. 1. They were as covetous and unmerciful as ever: "You exact all your labours from your servants, and will neither release them according to the law nor relax the rigour of their servitude." This was their fault before the captivity, Jer. xxxiv. 8, 9. It was no less their fault after their captivity, notwithstanding all their solemn fasts, Neh. v. 5. "You exact all your dues, your debts" (so some read it); "you are as rigorous and severe in extorting what you demand from those that are poor as ever you were, though it was at the close of the yearly fast that the release was proclaimed." 2. They were contentious and spiteful (v. 4): Behold, you fast for strife and debate. When they proclaimed a fast to deprecate God's judgments, they pretended to search for those sins which provoked God to threaten them with his judgments, and under that pretence perhaps particular persons were falsely accused, as Naboth in the day of Jezebel's fast, 1 Kings xxi. 12. Or the contending parties among them upon those occasions were bitter and severe in their reflections one upon another, one side crying out, "It is owing to you," and the other, "It is owing to you, that our deliverance is not wrought." Thus, instead of judging themselves, which is the proper work of a fast-day, they condemned one another. They fasted for strife, with emulation which should make the most plausible appearance on a fast-day and humour the matter best. Nor was it only tongue-quarrels that were fomented in the times of their fasting, but they came to blows too: You smite with the fist of wickedness. The cruel task-masters beat their servants, and the creditors their insolvent debtors, whom they delivered to the tormentors; they abused poor innocents with wicked hands. Now while they thus continued in sin, in those very sins which were directly contrary to the intention of a fasting day, (1.) God would not allow them the use of such solemnities: "You shall not fast at all if you fast as you do this day, causing your voice to be heard on high, in the heat of your clamours one against another, or in your devotions, which you perform so as to make them to be taken notice of for ostentation. Bring me no more of these empty, noisy, vain oblations," ch. i. 13. Note, Those are justly forbidden the honour of a profession of religion that will not submit to the power of it. (2.) He would not accept of them in the use of them: "You shall not fast, that is, it shall not be looked upon as a fast, nor shall the voice of your prayers on those days be heard on high in heaven." Note, Those that fast and pray, and yet go on in their wicked ways, do but mock God and deceive themselves.

III. Plain instructions given concerning the true nature of a religious fast.

1. In general, a fast is intended, (1.) For the honouring and pleasing of God. It must be such a performance as he has chosen (v. 5); it must be an acceptable day to the Lord, in the duties of which we must study to approve ourselves to him and obtain his favour, else it is not a fast, else there is nothing done to any purpose. (2.) For the humbling and abasing of ourselves. A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it do not express a genuine sorrow for sin, and do not promote a real mortification of sin, it is not a fast; the law of the day of atonement was that on that day they should afflict their souls, Lev. xvi. 29. That must be done on a fast-day which is a real affliction to the soul, as far as it is yet unregenerate and unsanctified, though a real pleasure and advantage to the soul as far as it is itself.

2. It concerns us therefore to enquire, on a fast-day, what it is that will be acceptable to God, and afflictive to our corrupt nature, and tending to its mortification.

(1.) We are here told negatively what is not the fast that God has chosen, and which does not amount to the afflicting of the soul. [1.] It is not enough to look demure, to put on a grave and melancholy aspect, to bow down the head like a bulrush that is withered and broken: as the hypocrites, that were of a sad countenance, and disfigured their faces, that they might appear unto men to fast, Matt. vi. 16. Hanging down the head did indeed well enough become the publican, whose heart was truly humbled and broken for sin, and who therefore, in token of that, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven (Luke xviii. 13); but when it was only mimicked, as here, it was justly ridiculed: it is but hanging down the head like a bulrush, which nobody regards or takes any notice of. As the hypocrite's humiliations are but like the hanging down of a bulrush, so his elevations in his hopes are but like the flourishing of a bulrush (Job viii. 11, 12), which, while it is yet in its greenness, withers before any other herb. [2.] It is not enough to do penance, to mortify the body a little, while the body of sin is untouched. It is not enough for a man to spread sackcloth and ashes under him, which may indeed give him some uneasiness for the present, but will soon be forgotten when he returns to stretch himself upon his beds of ivory, Amos vi. 4. Wilt thou call this a fast? No, it is but the shadow and carcase of a fast. Wilt thou call this an acceptable day to the Lord? No, it is so far from being so that the hypocrisy of it is an abomination to him. Note, The shows of religion, though they show ever so fair in the eye of the world, will not be accepted of God without the substance of it.

(2.) We are here told positively what is the fast that God has chosen, what that is which will recommend a fast-day to the divine acceptance, and what is indeed afflicting the soul, that is, crushing and subduing the corrupt nature. It is not afflicting the soul for a day (as some read it, v. 5) that will serve; no, it must be the business of our whole lives. It is here required, [1.] That we be just to those with whom we have dealt hardly. The fast that God has chosen consists in reforming our lives and undoing what we have done amiss (v. 6): To loose the bands of wickedness, the bands which we have wickedly tied, and by which others are bound out from their right or bound down under severe usage. Those which perhaps were at first bands of justice, tying men to pay a due debt, become, when the debt is exacted with rigour from those whom Providence has reduced and emptied, bands of wickedness, and they must be loosed, or they will bring us into bonds of guilt much more terrible. It is to undo the heavy burden laid on the back of the poor servant, under which he is ready to sink. It is to let the oppressed go free from the oppression which makes his life bitter to him. "Let the prisoner for debt that has nothing to pay be discharged, let the vexatious action be quashed, let the servant that is forcibly detained beyond the time of his servitude be released, and thus break every yoke; not only let go those that are wrongfully kept under the yoke, but break the yoke of slavery itself, that it may not serve again another time nor any by made again to serve under it." [2.] That we be charitable to those that stand in need of charity, v. 7. The particulars in the former verse may be taken as acts of charity, that we not only release those whom we have unjustly oppressed—that is justice, but that we contribute to the rescue and ransom of those that are oppressed by others, to the release of captives and the payment of the debts of the poor; but those in this verse are plainly acts of charity. This then is the fast that God has chosen. First, To provide food for those that want it. This is put first, as the most necessary, and which the poor can but a little while live without. It is to break thy bread to the hungry. Observe, "It must be thy bread, that which is honestly got (not that which thou hast robbed others of), the bread which thou thyself hast occasion for, the bread of thy allowance." We must deny ourselves, that we may have to give to him that needeth. "Thy bread which thou hast spared from thyself and thy family, on the fast-day, if that, or the value of it, be not given to the poor, it is the miser's fast, which he makes a hand of; it is fasting for the world, not for God. This is the true fast, to break thy bread to the hungry, not only to give them that which is already broken meat, but to break bread on purpose for them, to give them loaves and not to put them off with scraps." Secondly, To provide lodging for those that want it: It is to take care of the poor that are cast out, that are forced from their dwelling, turned out of house and harbour, are cast out as rebels (so some critics render it), that are attainted, and whom therefore it is highly penal to protect. "If they suffer unjustly, make no difficulty of sheltering them; do not only find out quarters for them and pay for their lodging elsewhere, but, which is a greater act of kindness, bring them to thy own house, make them thy own guests. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for though thou mayest not, as some have done, thereby entertain angels, thou mayest entertain Christ himself, who will recompense it in the resurrection of the just. I was a stranger and you took me in." Thirdly, To provide clothing for those that want it: "When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, both to shelter him from the injuries of the weather and to enable him to appear decently among his neighbours; give him clothes to come to church in, and in these and other instances hide not thyself from thy own flesh." Some understand it more strictly of a man's own kindred and relations: "If those of thy own house and family fall into decay, thou art worse than an infidel if thou dost not provide for them." 1 Tim. v. 8. Others understand it more generally; all that partake of the human nature are to be looked upon as our own flesh, for have we not all one Father? And for this reason we must not hide ourselves from them, not contrive to be out of the way when a poor petitioner enquires for us, not look another way when a moving object of charity and compassion presents itself; let us remember that they are flesh of our flesh and therefore we ought to sympathize with them, and in doing good to them we really do good to our own flesh and spirit too in the issue; for thus we lay up for ourselves a good foundation, a good bond, for the time to come.

A Charge against the People; Encouragement to Israelites Indeed. (b. c. 706.)

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Here are precious promises for those to feast freely and cheerfully upon by faith who keep the fast that God has chosen; let them know that God will make it up to them. Here is,

I. A further account of the duty to be done in order to our interest in these promises (v. 9, 10); and here, as before, it is required that we both do justly and love mercy, that we cease to do evil and learn to do well. 1. We must abstain from all acts of violence and fraud. "Those must be taken away from the midst of thee, from the midst of thy person, out of thy heart" (so some); "thou must not only refrain from the practice of injury, but mortify in thee all inclination and disposition towards it." Or from the midst of thy people. Those in authority must not only not be oppressive themselves, but must do all they can to prevent and restrain oppression in all within their jurisdiction. They must not only break the yoke (v. 6), but take away the yoke, that those who have been oppressed may never be re-enslaved (as they were Jer. xxxiv. 10, 11); they must likewise forbear threatening (Eph. vi. 9) and take away the putting forth of the finger, which seems to have been then, as sometimes with us, a sign of displeasure and the indication of a purpose to correct. Let not the finger be put forth to point at those that are poor and in misery, and so to expose them to contempt; such expressions of contumely as are provoking, and the products of ill-nature, ought to be banished from all societies. And let them not speak vanity, flattery or fraud, to one another, but let all conversation be governed by sincerity. Perhaps that dissimulation which is the bane of friendship is meant by the putting forth of the finger (as Prov. vi. 13 by teaching with the finger), or it is putting forth the finger with the ring on it, which was the badge of authority, and which therefore they produced when they spoke iniquity, that is, gave unrighteous sentences. 2. We must abound in all acts of charity and beneficence. We must not only give alms according as the necessities of the poor require, but, (1.) We must give freely and cheerfully, and from a principle of charity. We must draw out our soul to the hungry (v. 10), not only draw out the money and reach forth the hand, but do this from the heart, heartily, and without grudging, from a principle of compassion and with a tender affection to such as we see to be in misery. Let the heart go along with the gift; for God loves a cheerful giver, and so does a poor man too. When our Lord Jesus healed and fed the multitude it was as having compassion on them. (2.) We must give plentifully and largely, so as not to tantalize, but to satisfy, the afflicted soul: "Do not only feed the hungry, but gratify the desire of the afflicted, and, if it lies in your power, make them easy." What are we born for, and what have we our abilities of body, mind, and estate for, but to do all the good we can in this world with them? And the poor we have always with us.

II. Here is a full account of the blessings and benefits which attend the performance of this duty. If a person, a family, a people, be thus disposed to every thing that is good, let them know for their comfort that they shall find God their bountiful rewarder and what they lay out in works of charity shall be abundantly made up to them. 1. God will surprise them with the return of mercy after great affliction, which shall be as welcome as the light of the morning after a long and dark night (v. 8): "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and (v. 10) thy light shall rise in obscurity. Though thou hast been long buried alive thou shalt recover thy eminency; though long overwhelmed with grief, thou shalt again look pleasant as the dawning day." Those that are cheerful in doing good God will make cheerful in enjoying good; and this also is a special gift of God, Eccl. ii. 24. Those that have shown mercy shall find mercy. Job, who in his prosperity had done a great deal of good, had friends raised up for him by the Lord when he was reduced, who helped him with their substance, so that his light rose in obscurity. "Not only thy light, which is sweet, but thy health too, or the healing of the wounds thou hast long complained of, shall spring forth speedily; all thy grievances shall be redressed, and thou shalt renew thy youth and recover thy vigour." Those that have helped others out of trouble will obtain help of God when it is their turn. 2. God will put honour upon them. Good works shall be recompensed with a good name; this is included in that light which rises out of obscurity. Though a man's extraction be mean, his family obscure, and he has no external advantages to gain him honour, yet, if he do good in his place, that will procure him respect and veneration, and his darkness shall by this means become as the noon-day, that is, he shall become very eminent and shine brightly in his generation. See here what is the surest way for a man to make himself illustrious; let him study to do good. He that would be the greatest of all, and best-loved, let him by humility and industry make himself a servant of all. "Thy righteousness shall answer for thee (as Jacob says, Gen. xxx. 33), that is, it shall silence reproaches, nay, it shall bespeak thee more praises than thy humility can be pleased with." He that has given to the poor, his righteousness (that is, the honour of it) endures for ever, Ps. cxii. 9. 3. They shall always be safe under the divine protection: "Thy righteousness shall go before thee as thy vanguard, to secure thee from enemies that charge thee in the front, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward, the gathering host, to bring up those of thee that are weary and are left behind, and to secure thee from the enemies, that, like Amalek, fall upon thy rear." Observe, How good people are safe on all sides. Let them look which way they will, behind them or before them; let them look backward or forward; they see themselves safe, and find themselves easy and quiet from the fear of evil. And observe what it is that is their defence; it is their righteousness, and the glory of the Lord, that is, as some suppose, Christ; for it is by him that we are justified, and God is glorified. He it is that goes before us, and is the captain of our salvation, as he is the Lord our righteousness; he it is that is our rearward, on whom alone we can depend for safety when our sins pursue us and are ready to take hold on us. Or, "God himself in his providence and grace shall both go before thee as thy guide to conduct thee, and attend thee as thy rearward to protect thee, and this shall be the reward of thy righteousness and so shall be for the glory of the Lord as the rewarder of it." 4. God will be always nigh unto them, to hear their prayers, v. 9. As, on the one hand, he that shuts his ears to the cry of the poor shall himself cry and God will not hear him; so, on the other hand, he that is liberal to the poor, his prayers shall come up with his alms for a memorial before God, as Cornelius's did (Acts x. 4): "Then shalt thou call, on thy fast-days, which ought to be days of prayer, and the Lord shall answer, shall give thee the things thou callest to him for; thou shalt cry when thou art in any distress or sudden fright, and he shall say, Here I am." This is a very condescending expression of God's readiness to hear prayer. When God calls to us by his word it becomes us to say, Here we are; what saith our Lord unto his servants? But that God should say to us, Behold me, here I am, is strange. When we cry to him, as if he were at a distance, he will let us know that he is near, even at our right hand, nearer than we thought he was. It is I, be not afraid. When danger is near our protector is nearer, a very present help. "Here I am, ready to give you what you want, and do for you what you desire; what have you to say to me?" God is attentive to the prayers of the upright, Ps. cxxx. 2. No sooner do they call to him than he answers, Ready, ready. Wherever they are praying, God says, "Here I am hearing; I am in the midst of you." He is nigh unto them in all things, Deut. iv. 7. 6. God will direct them in all difficult and doubtful cases (v. 11): The Lord shall guide thee continually. While we are here, in the wilderness of this world, we have need of continual direction from heaven; for, if at any time we be left to ourselves, we shall certainly miss our way; and therefore it is to those who are good in God's sight that he gives the wisdom which in all cases is profitable to direct, and he will be to them instead of eyes, Eccl. ii. 26. His providence will make their way plain to them, both what is their duty and what will be most for their comfort. 6. God will give them abundance of satisfaction in their own minds. As the world is a wilderness in respect of wanderings, so that they need to be guided continually, so also is it in respect of wants, which makes it necessary that they should have continual supplies, as Israel in the wilderness had not only the pillar of cloud to guide them continually, but manna and water out of the rock to satisfy their souls in drought, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, Ps. lxiii. 1. To a good man God gives not only wisdom and knowledge, but joy; he is satisfied in himself with the testimony of his conscience and the assurances of God's favour. "These will satisfy thy soul, will put gladness into thy heart, even in the drought of affliction; these will make fat thy bones, and fill them with marrow, will give thee that pleasure which will be a support to thee as the bones to the body, that joy of the Lord which will be thy strength. He shall give thy bones rest" (so some read it), "rest from the pain and sickness which they have laboured under and been chastened with;" so it agrees with that promise made to the merciful. The Lord will make all his bed in his sickness, Ps. xli. 3. "Thou shalt be like a watered garden, so flourishing and fruitful in graces and comforts, and like a spring of water, like a garden that has a spring of water in it, whose waters fail not either in droughts or in frosts." The principle of holy love in those that are good shall be a well of living water, John iv. 14. As a spring of water, though it is continually sending forth its streams, is yet always full, so the charitable man abounds in good as he abounds in doing good and is never the poorer for his liberality. He that waters shall himself be watered. 7. They and their families shall be public blessings. It is a good reward to those that are fruitful and useful to be rendered more so, and especially to have those who descend from them to be so too. This is here promised (v. 12): "Those that now are of thee, thy princes, and nobles, and great men, shall have such authority and influence as they never had;" or, "Those that hereafter shall be of thee, thy posterity, shall be serviceable to their generation, as thou art to thine." It completes the satisfaction of a good man, as to this world, to think that those that come after him shall be doing good when he is gone. 1. They shall re-edify cities that have been long in ruins, shall build the old waste places, which had lain so long desolate that the rebuilding of them was quite despaired of. This was fulfilled when the captives, after their return, repaired the cities of Judah, and dwelt in them, and many of those in Israel too, which had lain waste ever since the carrying away of the ten tribes. 2. They shall carry on and finish that good work which was begun long before, and shall be helped over the obstructions which had retarded the progress of it: They shall raise up to the top that building the foundation of which was laid long since and has been for many generations in the rearing. This was fulfilled when the building of the temple was revived after it had stood still for many years, Ezra v. 2. Or, "They shall raise up foundations which shall continue for many generations yet to come;" they shall do that good which shall be of lasting consequence. 3. They shall have the blessing and praise of all about them: "Thou shalt be called (and it shall be to thy honour) the repairer of the breach, the breach made by the enemy in the wall of a besieged city, which whoso has the courage and dexterity to make up, or make good, gains great applause." Happy are those who make up the breach at which virtue is running out and judgments are breaking in. "Thou shalt be the restorer of paths, safe and quiet paths, not only to travel in, but to dwell in, so safe and quiet that people shall make no difficulty of building their houses by the road-side." The sum is that, if they keep such fasts as God has chosen, he will settle them again in their former peace and prosperity, and there shall be none to make them afraid. See Zech. vii. 5, 9; viii. 3-5. It teaches us that those who do justly and love mercy shall have the comfort thereof in this world.

The Sanctification of the Sabbath. (b. c. 706.)

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord , honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Great stress was always laid upon the due observance of the sabbath day, and it was particularly required from the Jews when they were captives in Babylon, because by keeping that day, in honour of the Creator, they distinguished themselves from the worshippers of the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth. See ch. lvi. 1, 2, where keeping the sabbath is joined, as here, with keeping judgment and doing justice. Some, indeed, understand this of the day of atonement, which they think is the fast spoken of in the former part of the chapter, and which is called a sabbath of rest, Lev. xxiii. 32. But, as the fasts before spoken of seem to be those that were occasional, so this sabbath is doubtless the weekly sabbath, that great sign between God and his professing people—his appointing it a sign of his favour to them and their observing it a sign of their obedience to him. Now observe here,

I. How the sabbath is to be sanctified (v. 13); and, there remaining still a sabbatism for the people of God, this law of the sabbath is still binding to us on our Lord's day.

1. Nothing must be done that puts contempt upon the sabbath day, or looks like having mean thoughts of it, when God has so highly dignified it. We must turn away our foot from the sabbath, from trampling upon it, as profane atheistical people do, from travelling on that day (so some); we must turn away our foot from doing our pleasure on that holy day, that is, from living at large, and taking a liberty to do what we please on sabbath days, without the control and restraint of conscience, or from indulging ourselves in the pleasures of sense, in which the modern Jews wickedly place the sanctification of the sabbath, though it is as great a profanation of it as any thing. On sabbath days we must not walk in our own ways (that is, not follow our callings), not find our own pleasure (that is, not follow our sports and recreations); nay, we must not speak our own words, words that concern either our callings or our pleasures; we must not allow ourselves a liberty of speech on that day as on other days, for we must then mind God's ways, make religion the business of the day; we must choose the things that please him; and speak his words, speak of divine things as we sit in the house and walk by the way. In all we say and do we must put a difference between this day and other days.

2. Every thing must be done that puts an honour on the day and is expressive of our high thoughts of it. We must call it a delight, not a task and a burden; we must delight ourselves in it, in the restraints it lays upon us and the services it obliges us to. We must be in our element when we are worshipping God, and in communion with him. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! We must not only count it a delight, but call it so, must openly profess the complacency we take in the day and the duties of it. We must call it so to God, in thanksgiving for it and earnest desire of his grace to enable us to do the work of the day in its day, because we delight in it. We must call it so to others, to invite them to come and share in the pleasure of it; and we must call it so to ourselves, that we may not entertain the least thought of wishing the sabbath gone that we may sell corn. We must call it the Lord's holy day, and honourable. We must call it holy, separated from common use and devoted to God and to his service, must call it the holy of the Lord, the day which he has sanctified to himself. Even in Old-Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord's day, and therefore it is fitly called so still, and for a further reason, because it is the Lord Christ's day, Rev. i. 10. It is holy because it is the Lord's day, and upon both accounts it is honourable. It is a beauty of holiness that is upon it; it is ancient, and its antiquity is its honour; and we must make it appear that we look upon it as honourable by honouring God on that day. We put honour upon the day when we give honour to him that instituted it, and to whose honour it is dedicated.

II. What the reward is of the sabbath—sanctification, v. 14. If we thus remember the sabbath day to keep it holy,

1. We shall have the comfort of it; the work will be its own wages. If we call the sabbath a delight, then shall we delight ourselves in the Lord; he will more and more manifest himself to us as the delightful subject of our thoughts and meditations and the delightful object of our best affections. Note, The more pleasure we take in serving God the more pleasure we shall find in it. If we go about duty with cheerfulness, we shall go from it with satisfaction and shall have reason to say, "It is good to be here, good to draw near to God."

2. We shall have the honour of it: I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, which denotes not only a great security (as that, ch. xxxii. 16, He shall dwell on high), but great dignity and advancement. "Thou shalt ride in state, shalt appear conspicuous, and the eyes of all thy neighbours shall be upon thee." It was said of Israel, when God led them triumphantly out of Egypt, that he made them to ride on the high places of the earth, Deut. xxxii. 12, 13. Those that honour God and his sabbath he will thus honour. If God by his grace enable us to live above the world, and so to manage it as not only not to be hindered by it, but to be furthered and carried on by it in our journey towards heaven, then he makes us to ride on the high places of the earth.

3. We shall have the profit of it: I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, that is, with all the blessings of the covenant and all the precious products of Canaan (which was a type of heaven), for these were the heritage of Jacob. Observe, The heritage of believers is what they shall not only be portioned with hereafter, but fed with now, fed with the hopes of it, and not flattered, fed with the earnests and foretastes of it; and those that are so fed have reason to say that they are well fed. In order that we may depend upon it, it is added, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it; you may take God's word for it, for he cannot lie nor deceive; what his mouth has spoken his hand will give, his hand will do, and not one iota or tittle of his good promise shall fall to the ground." Blessed, therefore, thrice blessed, is he that doeth this, and lays hold on it, that keeps the sabbath from polluting it.

CHAP. LVIII.

Ne frigidè arguas, & in aenigmatibus ac obſcure. Oecol. Ne parcas gutturi & voci. A Lap. Ver. 1. CRy aloud] Heb. Cry with the throat, or with full throat, as Jer. 12.6. plenis faucibus, voce ſonora, & quaſi tubali; ſet up thy Note; not only ſay to the wicked it ſhall be ill with him, chap. 3.11. there is no peace to him, chap. 57.21. but cry it aloud.

Spare not] Singulae particulae habent emphaſin; uſe utmoſt intention of ſpirit, and contention of ſpeech: thou haſt to do with an hypocritical Nation, then which kind of people nothing is more ſtupid, more uncounſelable or impenitent; for how ſhould ſuch repent as have converted converſion it ſelf into a form, yea into ſin? Beſtir thee therefore againſt theſe deaf Sea-monſters; Sic clames ut Stentora vincere poſſis. If a mans houſe be on fire, we muſt not ſpeak ſoftly (as loth to awaken him) Sir your houſe is on fire.

Lift up thy voice like a trumpet] Non ut tibia, ſed ut tuba; Not as a pipe for delight, but as a trumpet alarm againſt ſin and Satan: as all the Country was filled with the ſound of that trumpet at the giving of the Law,Exod. 19.16. and as all the world ſhall hear the ſound of that trumpet of God, 1 Theſ. 4.16. when the Law ſhall be required: ſo let the Preachers voice be a ſummons to ſpeedy repentance, or elſe to unavidable judgement. There is one that deſcanteth thus upon the words: Divers things there are ſaith he,D. Play ſ. on Matth. 5.19 that ſound louder then a trumpet; the Sea, the Thunder, or ſuch like: Yet he ſaith not Lift up thy voice as the Sea, or as the Thunder, but as a trumpet: becauſe a Trumpeter, when he ſounds his trumpet, he winds it with his mouth, and holds it with his hands; and ſo a Preacher, which is a ſpiritual Trumpeter, muſt not only, by preaching well, ſound forth the word of Truth with his mouth, but alſo by doing well, he muſt ſupport and hold it up with his hands: and then doth he lift up his voice as a Trumpet.

And ſhew my people their tranſgreſſions] Let Gods watch-men caſt away the inverſe trumpets of Furius Fulvius which ſounded a retreat when they ſhould have ſounded an alarm; but deal freely and faithfully with men ſouls, taking the ſame liberty to cry down ſin, that men take to commit ſin.

Ver. 2. Yet they ſeek me daily] In pretence at leaſt: and this their diſſembled ſanctity, double iniquity, is one of thoſe great tranſgreſſions of theirs, againſt which thou muſt declaim, yea proclaim hell-fire, in caſe they amend it not.

And delight to know my wayes] They ſeem to do ſo, by frequenting mine Ordinances, and attending to my Prieſts, whoſe lips preſerve and preſent knowledge.

As a Nation that did righteouſneſs] But it is but as a Nation that did it: they had but a form of knowledge, Rom. 2.20. and a form of godlineſs, 2 Tim. 3.5. Ejuſdem farinae nobiſcum ſunt religioſu i quidam in ſpeciem, ſaith Oecolampadius: the Church is ſtill full of ſuch hypocrites, that only act religion, play devotion, wherein they may out do better men, for the external part of religion, and pretence of zeal, as the Pharriſees in the Goſpel, faſted more then the Diſciples, wanzing their viſages, and weakning their conſtitutions with much abſtinence. The Sorcerers of Egypt ſeemed to do as much as Moſes: ſo do theſe as much or more, then ſound Chriſtians. The Apoſtles were as deceivers and yet true, 2 Cor. 6.8. but theſe are as true and yet deceivers.

They ask of me the Ordinances of Juſtice] As not willing to deviate: but they are ever learning, yet never come to the knowledge of the Truth.

And take delight in approaching to God] Which yet no hypocrite can do from the heart, Job 27.10. for God is light, and holineſſe, and therefore hated by the blind and ſoul hypocrite, Joh. 3.20. all whoſe devotions are effects rather of Art and parts then of the heart and grace: hence God abhorreth them; for he loveth truth in the inward parts, Pſal. 51.6.

Ver. 3. Wherefore have we faſted, ſay they, and thou ſeeſt not? Ecce non diu occultant ſe hypocriſis & ſuperbia. Oecol. Antonin. Philoſ. reference Vulgar. Gallic. ] Here they begin to bluſter, and their hypocriſy to bliſter out at their lips. God, they held, was not a little beholden to them: and now alſo behind hand with them. For as that Heathen Emperour ſaid once of his Gods, Non ſic deos coluimus, ut iſte nos vinceret, We have not ſerved our gods, that they ſhould ſerve us no better then to ſuffer our enemies to get the better of us: ſo were theſe proud pretenders ready to ſay of God Almighty, We have better deſerved then to be ſo ſerved; rated by theſe Prophets, and evil intreated by our enemies; beaten on both ſides. A rich Chapman, that hath had a good ſtock and trading, is loth to be a journey-man again; hee'l be trading though it be but for pins: ſo we, bankrupt in Adam, yet will be doing, and think to be ſaved for a company of poor beggerly duties, dead prayers, formal faſtings, &c. and to ſet off with God by our good deeds for our bad, as the Papiſts do, and not a few Ignorants amongſt us.

Behold in the day of your faſt] which is called a day of Reſtraint, becauſe therein you ſhould amerce your ſelves and abridge your ſelves of all ſorts of delights.

Ye find pleaſure] Ye find your own deſire, pleaſure or will: ye gratify your fleſh, purſue your ſinful luſts and purpoſes. Grande malum propria voluntas (ſaith Bernard) qua fit ut bona tua tibi bona non ſint. Chephers ſignificas id quod libet. A mans own will or pleaſure proves a great evil to him many times, making his good duties (faſtings, prayers, and the like) no way good to him. In vain is the body macera[illegible: 1 letter]ed, if mens luſts be not mortified.

And exact all your labours] i. e. Your debts and dues with rigour and extremity; not conſidering that utmoſt righ is utmoſt wrong: and that howſoever, you ſhould take another time for ſuch work. Feriu jurgia amovento, brawl not on an holy-day, was one of the laws of the twelve Tables in Rome.

Ver. 4. Behold] Take notice whence it is, that ye ſo miſcarry in your ſervices: and leave muttering againſt me.

Ye faſt for ſtrife and debate] Or, unto ſtrife and debate, i. e. On your Faſt-dayes ye contend and quarrel; being hungry you are angry; as emptineſſe whetteth choler. Sed quid prodest pallor in ore, ſi ſit livor in corde? to what purpoſe is a pale face, and a ſpiteful ſpirit? and what is an humbling day without an humbled heart? not only an irreligious incongruity, but an high provocation: like Zimries act, when all the Congregation were weeping before the door of the Tabernacle. Get thee behind, ſaid Jehu to the meſſenger, what hast thou to do with peace? Confeſſions and prayers are our meſſengers; but if the heart be not broken, there is no peace to ſuch wicked.

And to ſmite with the fist with wickedneſſe] ſc. Your ſervants, or your debtours; as Matth. 18.28. They ſhould have had, on ſuch a day eſpecially, Pacem cum hominibus, cum vitiis bellum, (which was Otho 2. His Motto) peace with men, and war with their wickedneſſes.

Ye ſhall not fast as ye do this day] For ye faſt not to God, Zech. 7.5, 11, 12. but bear fruit to your ſelves, like that empty Vine Ephraim, Hoſ. 10.1. and ſo are not a button the better for all you doe, Jer. 14.1, 2. When they fast I will not hear their cry.

To make your voyces to be heard on high] Out of oſtentation of Devotion: but ſecrecy here were a better argument of ſincerity. Or, do ye think to be heard on high. i. e. in Heaven for ſuch outſide ſervices?

Ver. 5. Is it ſuch a fast that I have choſen] No: for God hates that mar-good formality: and diſpleaſing ſervice is double diſhonour.

A day for a man to afflict his ſoul] i. e. His body a whole day at leaſt, from evening till evening, Rous his Archaeol. Attica. Levit. 23.32. or from morning till evening, Judg. 20.26. 2 Sam. 3.35. Yet ſo as that nature be chaſtiſed, not diſabled for ſervice; and that we take not the more liberty afterwards to pamper the fleſh which we have pined, as thoſe dames of Athens did in their Theſmophoria, a feaſt of Ceres; to the which they prepared themſelves with faſting: but after that, took their liquor more freely then was fit. And as the Turks do at this day in their ſolemn Faſts: they will not ſo much as taſte a cup of water,Turk. hiſt. 777. Voyage into the Levant. or waſh their mouths with water all the day long, before the ſtars appear in the sky: but then they lay the reins in the neck, and run riot.

Is it to bow down the head as a bulruſh] Whiles the heart is unbowed, and ſtands bolt upright. Hypocrites, like bulruſhes, hang down their heads for a day, while ſome ſtorm of trouble is upon them. But when a fair ſun-ſhine day is come, to dry it up again, they lift up their heads as before. Fitly, ſaith a grave Divine, is formality compared to a bulruſh; the colour is freſh, the skin ſmooth; he is very exact that can find a knot in a bulruſh: but if you pill it, what is under, but a kind of ſpungious unſubſtantial ſubſtance, of no uſe in the world worth the ſpeaking of. Such are hypocrites; a fair outſide, ſpecious pretences of piety &c. all the reſt not worth a ruſh. Pictures ſaith another, are pretty things to look on: and thats all they are good for. Christ looked on, and loved the young Phariſee, &c.

And to ſpread ſack-cloth and aſhes under him] The Jews did ſo uſually in their ſolemn mournings, Eſth. 4, 3. Jer. 6.26. The Heathens alſo did the like, Jonah 3.5. Matth. 11.21.

Wilt thou call this a faſt?] Is it not a meer mock-faſt as was that of the Phariſees? and is that of the Papiſts, who pride themſelves that day with opinion of merit, for their meer outward abſtinence. Some Proteſtants alſo faſt, but they had need to ſend, as God ſpeaks, for mourning-women, that by their cunning they may be taught to mourn, Jer. 19.17. and for reformation (the main buſineſſe of a faſt) they mind it not.

And an acceptable day to the Lord] Heb. a day of good-will, or well-liking: therefore called elſewhere a day of Atonement, or Expiation; and hath moſt excellent promiſes made to it, Joel 2.12, 18. Only there muſt be withall a turning from wicked work[illegible: 1 letter]; without which, God ſeeth no work or worth in a Faſt, Jon. 3.10. nor can it be an acceptable day to the Lord.

Ver. 6. Is not this the Fast that I have choſen] There is a three-fold Faſt; from meat, mirth, ſin: this laſt crowns both the former: and yet we ſay not (as the Papiſts falſely ſay we hold) that faſting is no more but a moral temperance, a faſting from ſin, a matter of policy.

To loſe the bands of wickedneſſe] i. e. Juramentum, literariam cautionem, vincula, carceres, ſervitutem: the unjuſt bonds and obligations of Uſurers and oppeſſors, whereby poor non-ſolvents were impriſoned, or imbondaged. Theſe are alſo here further called heavy burdens, and yokes: as elſewhere nets, Pſal. 10.9. that is, ſaith Chriſoſtom, bonds, debts, morgages.

And to let the oppreſſed go free] Heb. the bruiſed or broken, ſc. in their eſtates.

And that ye break every yoke] Cancel every unjuſt writing, ſay the Septuagint. They took twelve in the hundred in Nehemia's time: this was a yoke intolerable:Specul. Europi I pray you let us leave off this uſury ſaith he, chap. 5.10. At this day the Jews are in all places permitted to ſtrain up their uſury to eighteen in the hundred upon the Chriſtians: but then they are uſed, as the Friars, to ſuck from the meaneſt, and to be ſucked by the greateſt.

Ver. 7. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry] Thine own bread it muſt be, and that eſpecially whereof thou haſt on the faſt-day abbridged thy ſelf: for what the rich spare on ſuch a day, the poor ſhould spend. Hereby 1. Mens prayers ſhall ſpeed the better, Acts 10.4. 2. They ſhall make God their debtor, Prov. 19.17.3. That is beſt and moſt pleaſing alms to God, that is given in Church aſſemblies: for 1. It is an Ordinance of God, and a Sabbath-duty, 1 Cor. 16.1, 2. 2. Chriſt there ſitteth, and ſeeth the gift and mind of every alms-giver, Luke 21.1, 2. ſetting it down in his book of remembrance, Mal. 3.16.

And that thou bring the poor that are caſt out] Scilicet tanquam rebelles, as thoſe poor Albigenſes were in France, and their poſterity lately in Piedmont: Scultet. Annal. the Proteſtant Lorainers proſcribed for religion by their Duke, and entertained by the State of Strasborough, at the earneſt ſuit of the Miniſters there, till they could be conveniently provided for elſewhere: there being ſome thouſands of them, which, till then, were forced to feed upon hips, haws, leaves of trees, and graſſe of the field.

That thou cover him] Duties of the ſecond Table only are here enjoyned, becauſe they are excellent evidences of true piety, and pure religion, Jam. 1. ult.

And that thou hide not thy ſelf from thine own fleſh] Thy poor brother, who is of the ſame nature with thee, and is as capable of grace and glory as thy ſelf. Learn to ſee Chriſt in thy poor P[illegible: 1 letter]titioner; and thou wilt the ſooner yield, Matth. 25. Conſider alſo what is ſaid of him that ſhutteth up his bowels of compaſſion from his neceſſitous brother, 1 Joh. 3.17.

Ver. 8. Then ſhall thy light break forth as the morning] He ſaith not ſhall appear, but ſhall break forth, ut velocitatem & copiam dantis exprimeret, ſaith Chryſoſtom: that he might expreſſe the ſwiftneſſe and bountifulneſſe of God the giver of it.

And thy health ſhall ſpring forth ſpeedily] The Sun of righteouſneſs ſhall ariſe unto thee with healing under his wings, Mal. 4.2. See the Note.

And thy righteouſneſſe ſhall go before thee] Thou ſhalt have the comfort and credit of thy bounty and charity, which is oft called righteouſneſſe, as Pſal. 112.9. Dan. 4.24. Acts 10.35.

And the glory of the Lord ſhall be thy rereward] i. e. The glorious Jehovah ſhall ſee to thy ſafety. See Pſal. 27.10. with the Note. See alſo Iſa. 52.12.

Ver. 9. Then ſhalt thou call, and the Lord ſhall anſwer] Thou ſhalt have the royalty of his ear, eaſy acceſſe to, and all beſt ſucceſſe at the throne of grace: no ſuch cauſe to complain, as thou didſt, ver. 3. that thy prayers were loſt.

If thou take away from the midſt of thee] E meditullio tui, from thy very heart,Jun. by an inward reformation: ſi animo, opere, & ſermone averſaberis inhumanitatem, if thou heartily hate cruelty, and act accordingly.

The yoke] As ver. 6.

The putting forth of the finger] The finger of that wicked fiſt, ver. 4. or that finger wherewith thou threateneſt thy ſervants, or pointeſt at others in ſcorn or diſdain; as the proud Phariſee ſeemeth to have done at the poor Publican, when he ſaid I am not as that fellow, Luke. 18.11.

And speaking vanity] Or, violence (as the Chaldee here) talk concerning the wringing and wronging of others. All this muſt be done, or elſe no hope that God will hear prayers: look to it. See Pſal. 66.18. with Notes.

Ver. 10. And if thou draw out thy ſoul to the hungry] Not thy ſheaf only: relieving the neceſſitous out of deep commiſeration:Ex animo liberaliter, bilariterque. and couldeſt part with thy very life alſo for them, if duely called thereunto. Compaſſion excelleth alms and outward works of mercy: for when one giveth an alms, he giveth ſomething without himſelf: but by compaſſion, we relieve another by ſomewhat within, and from our ſelves.

And ſatisfy] Not ſave him alive only, by a ſcant allowance, priſoners pittance.

Then ſhall thy light ariſe in obſcurity] Thou ſhalt abound with bleſſings of all ſorts: See my common place of Alms.

And thy darkneſſe be as the noon-day] In agone & horrore mortis erit tibi conſolatio & ſpes ſalut[illegible: 1 letter] ac lucis. God will make thy bed in all thy ſickneſs: and comfort thee at the hour of death.

Ver. 11. And the Lord ſhall guide thee] Or, lead thee: as thou leadeſt the harbourleſs outcaſt into thine houſe, ver. 7,

And ſatisfy thy ſoul in drough] As thou didſt ſatisfy the poor hungry mans ſoul, ver. 10. See Pſal. 33.19. and Prov. 28.27. with the Notes.

And make fat thy bones] i. e. Chear up thy heart: for a ſorrowful ſpirit drieth up the bones, Prov. 17.22. The Vulgar Tranſlation hath it, he will deliver or ſet free thy bones, ſc. from bands and fetters; as thou hadſt looſed or ſet free thy poor brethren from their bands and yokes, ver. 6.

And thou ſhalt be like a watered garden] Filled with the fruits of righteouſneſs, and with ſpiritual conſolations, unspeakable and glorious joyes.

And like a ſpring of water, whoſe waters fail not] Similitudines & Allegoriae, magnam habent gratiam. Who would not now turn ſpiritual purchaſer?

Ver. 12. And they that ſhall be of thee] Thy poſterity that have taken their being and beginning from thee.

Shall build the old waſte places] Heb. the waſtes of antiquity, i. e. The ruinous places of Jeruſalem. The Apoſtles alſo, as maſter-builders, and others as builders together with them, have an happy hand in rearing the fair fabrick of the new man, that hidden man of the heart, See Epheſ. 2.20, 21, 22.

And thou ſhalt be called the Repairer of the breach] The Father of thy Country, the repairer of peace, the reſtorer of loſt liberty, &c. Such honour had Nehemiah of old; Hunniades alate, who having overthrown Meſites the Turks General, at his return into the Camp, a wonderful number of the poor Captives came, and falling at his feet and kiſſing them, gave God thanks for their deliverance by him: ſome called him the Father, ſome the Defender of his Country: the Souldiers their invincible General: the Captives their Deliverer: the women their Protectour: the young men and children their moſt loving Father. He again, with tears ſtanding in his eyes, courteouſly embraced them; rejoycing at the publick good: and himſelf, giving moſt hearty thanks to God, commanded the like to be done in all the Churches of that Province,Turk. [illegible: 2 letters]ſt. 269. &c. On the contrary, our Henry the third, for his ill managing of matters, was called Regni dilapidator; and Richard the third, The Calamity of his Country.

Ver. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabboth] If thou abſtain from Journies and all ſecular buſineſſes, as much as may be, Ezek. 22.26. Otherwiſe God will ſue thee upon an action of waſte: and the ſuperſtitious Jew will riſe up and condemn thee; who if in his journy he be overtaken by the Sabbath, he muſt ſtay, though in the midſt of a field or wood; though in danger of theeves, ſtorms, or hunger, he may not budge.

From doing thy pleaſure on mine holy day] Plutarch thought Sabbath was from Sabbos, a name of Bacchus, that ſignifieth to live jocundly and jovially. The Sabbath that many pleaſure mongers keep, may well have ſuch a derivation, and their Dies Dominicus be called dies Daemoniacus: for they make it as Bacchus his Orgies rather then Gods holy ſolemnity; as doing thereon things no day lawful, but then moſt abominable.

And call the Sabbath a delight] Counting it ſo, and making it ſo. The Jews call it Deſiderium dierum, the deſireable day: they meet it with theſe words, Veni sponſa mea, come my Spouſe. Of old, they bleſſed God for it, Neh. 9.14. and gave the whole week the denomination from it, Luk. 18.12. they ſtrictly and ſpiritually kept it: but now they think the Sabbath is not ſufficiently obſerved,Buxt. Synag. except they eat and drink largely, and give themſelves to other ſenſual delights. After dinner, the moſt of their diſcourſe is about their uſe-money, and other worldly buſineſſes, &c. They pray indeed, but it is that Elias would haſten his coming, even the next Sabbath if he pleaſe: that he might give them notice of the Meſſiah's his coming, &c. Let us take heed of being weary of the Sabbath and wiſhing it over, as they did, Am. 8.5. Mal. 1.12, 13. walk into Gods garden, taſte how good the Lord is in his Ordinances, feel a continual encreaſe of ſweetneſſe, in the pleaſure and dainties of holy duties, whereof we have ſuch variety that we cannot eaſily be ſated: ſo little need is there that we ſhould, with the R[illegible: 1 letter]bbines, expound this delight in the text, of dainty and delightful meats to be eaten on this day.

The holy of the Lord, honourable] And therefore honourable becauſe holy: as it is ſaid alſo of the Lord of the Sabbath Holy and reverend is his name, Pſal, 111.9. A holy convocation the Sabbath is called, Levit. 23.3. See Levit. 19.30. and 26.2. Let us ſanctifie this holy Reſt; elſe it will degenerate into idleneſſe, which is a ſin any day (one of Sodoms ſins) but on the Lords day a double ſin. Better not do our own work any day, than not Gods work on his day. Deb[illegible: 1 letter]t totus dies feſtivus à Chriſtiano expendi operibus ſanctis, ſaith Rob. Groſthead Biſhop of Lincoln. In decalog. praec. 3. The whole Sabbath ſhould be ſpent in holy duties. Debemus die Dominico ſolummodo ſpiritualibus gandiis repleri, we ſhould be in the ſpirit on the Lords day, and be filled with ſpiritual delights only, ſaith the Council of Paris held Anno Dom. 829. Chriſt hath for this purpoſe made us an holy Nation, and a Kingdom of Prieſts, Exod. 19.9. that is, holy and honourable: and God hath ſanctified it for a day of bleſſing to thoſe that ſanctifie it, Exod. 20.11. Ezek. 20.12. He hath called it an everlaſting Covenant by way of eminency, Exod. 31.16. as if nothing of Gods Covenant were kept, if this were not kept holy.

Not doing thine own wayes] Ea tantum facias quae ad anima ſalutem pertinent, ſaith Hierom. Thoſe things only are then to be done, that pertain to thy ſouls health, works of piety, of charity, and of neceſſity, none elſe. Tantum divinis cultibus ſerviamus, ſaith Auſtin. What meant then that good King Edward 6. (and where were thoſe that ſhould have better inſtructed him, Cranmer, Ridley &c.) to deliver to his Council theſe Articles following;Life of Ed. 6. by Sr. J. Heyn. that upon Sundayes they intend publick affaires of the Realme, diſpatch anſwers to letters for good order of the State, and make full diſpatches of all things concluded in the week before; Provided that they be preſent at Common-Prayer▪ &c?

Nor speaking thine own words] Thoſe words of vanity or vexation, ver. 9. but words of wiſdom and ſobriety ſuitable to the holineſſe of the day.

Ver. 14. Then ſhalt thou delight thy ſelf in the Lord] Find ſuch inexplicable ſweetneſſe in communion with God uſe of his heart-raviſhing ordinances, meditation on his word and works, eſpecially that of our Redemption, as far far exceedeth all the dirty delights of profane Senſualiſts and Sabbath-breakers, Job 27.10. Prov. 14.10.

And I will cauſe thee to ride upon the high places of the earth] [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Yea upon the heights of heaven; where thou ſhalt keep an everlaſting Sabbath;in which all Sabbaths meet, and whereof there is no evening.

And feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy Father] i. e. With heavenly Manna, ſuch food as eye hath not ſeen, ear heard, or mouth of natural man ever taſted.

For the mouth of the Lord hath ſpoken it] The Lord, cujus ego ſum os & organon, will certainly do all this: you may build upon it.