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Passage Research

Isaiah 58 — Sermon Preparation

True fasting is loosing the chains of injustice and sharing bread with the hungry; those who do so will be like a well-watered garden. Below is a research summary for Isaiah 58, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

14
verses
222 / 146
Hebrew words / lemmas
5
classic sermon excerpts
4
preachers & commentators

Isaiah 58 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

HebrewTransliterationStrong'sCountGlosses
צוֹםtsôwmH66854fast
מוֹטָהmôwṭâhH41333pole, bow
נֶפֶשׁnepheshH53155breathing creature, animal
קָרָאqârâʼH71215call out to
צוּםtsûwmH66843cover, fast
חֵפֶץchêphetsH26563pleasure, desire
עָנָהʻânâhH60304eye, heed

How preachers through history handled this text

5 public-domain excerpts on Isaiah 58, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Spurgeon2Calvin1Matthew Henry1John Wesley1

“LVIII The hypocrisy of the Jews, in their fasts, ver. 1-5. A true fast described, ver. 6, 7. Promises to Godliness, ver. 8-12. To the keeping of the sabbath, ver. 13, 14. 2. 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. …”

— John Wesley, Wesley's Notes on the Whole Bible, on Isaiah 58:2–30 (Public Domain)

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