Isaiah 58:8

"Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?"

Key Reflection

In Isaiah 58:8, the prophet addresses the Israelites directly, urging them to practice true righteousness by feeding the hungry and welcoming the poor into their homes. This instruction goes beyond mere external acts of charity; it calls for a deep-seated commitment to justice and compassion, even extending to covering those who are naked. For the original audience, these actions would have been seen as fundamental expressions of piety and covenant loyalty, directly connecting with God's expectations for his people to care for their neighbors in tangible ways.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Then shall thy light -(See the notes atIsaiah 44:7). The idea here is, that if they were faithful in the discharge of their duty to God, he would bless them with abundant prosperity (compareJob 11:17). The image is, that such prosperity would come on the people like the spreading light of the morning. And thine health -Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘And thy wounds shall be speedily healed over.’ The authority on which Lowth relies, is the version of Aquila as reported by Jerome, and the Chaldee. The Hebrew word used here, (ארוּכה'ărûkâh), means properly “a long bandage” (fromארך'ârak, “to make long”), such as is applied by surgeons to heal a wound (compare the notes atIsaiah 1:6).

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