Isaiah 58:10
in Isaiah 58and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday;
KJV
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:
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This verse in Isaiah 58
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
and if you give yourself to the hungry
on Isaiah 58:10-12
The standard comes, “if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul”, and then the promise: “your night will be like noonday”. “The LORD will always guide you”, and the people will be “like a spring whose waters never fail”, a picture from the desert road.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Gregory of NazianzusON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, ORATION 18:20-21 · Written before 390.
proposed
[My father] actually treated his own property as if it were another's, of which he was but the steward, relieving poverty as far as he could and expending not only his superfluities but his necessities—a manifest proof of love for the poor, giving a portion not only to seven, according to the injunction of Solomon, but if an eighth came forward, not even in his case being stingy but more pleased to dispose of his wealth than we know others are to acquire it.… This is what most people do: they give indeed, but without that readiness that is a greater and more perfect thing than the mere offering. For he thought it much better to be generous even to the undeserving for the sake of the deserving than from fear of the undeserving to deprive those who were deserving. And this seems to be the duty of casting our bread on the waters, since it will not be swept away or perish in the eyes of the just Investigator but will arrive yonder where all that is ours is laid up and will meet with us in due time, even though we think it not. But what is best and greatest of all, [my father's] magnanimity was accompanied by freedom from ambition.
(Verse 10.) If you remove the chain from your midst, and you cease to extend your finger, and to speak what is not helpful. When you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Medieval Church1 voice
When you shall pour out your soul to the hungry, through compassion, and shall satisfy the afflicted soul, through assistance in necessities. 1030. Second, he promises the reward: then shall your light rise up. And first, as to the multiplication of goods, setting out liberation …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); 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. We must abstain from all acts of violence and fraud.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the poor we have always with us. 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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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 (Ps 112:4).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry - Lowth, on the authority of eight manuscripts, renders this, ‘If thou bring forth thy bread to the hungry.’ So the Syriac and Noyes. But the authority is not sufficient to justify the change in the text, nor is it necessary. The word ‘soul’ here is synonymous with heart, or benevolent affection; and the idea is, if they expressed benevolent affection or kindness toward those in want. Then shall thy light rise in obscurity - That is, it will be as if the cheerful light of the sun should rise amidst the shades of midnight. The sense is, that their calamities and trials would be suddenly succeeded by the bright and cheerful light of prosperity.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And you draw out your soul to the hungry with consolations of good words.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְתָפֵ֤ק | vetafek | and you will offer | H6329 → | |
| לָֽרָעֵב֙ | laraev | to the hungry [person] | H7457 → | 20 times |
| נַפְשֶׁ֔ךָ | nafshekha | self your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְנֶ֥פֶשׁ | venefesh | and [the] appetite of | H5315 → | 754 times |
| נַעֲנָ֖ה | naanah | [the] afflicted | H6031 → | 82 times |
| תַּשְׂבִּ֑יעַ | tasbia' | you will satisfy | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וְזָרַ֤ח | vezarach | and it will rise | H2224 → | 18 times |
| בַּחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ | bachoshekh | in the darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| אוֹרֶ֔ךָ | ʾorekha | light your | H216 → | 121 times |
| וַאֲפֵלָתְךָ֖ | vaafelatekha | and gloom your | H653 → | 10 times |
| כַּֽצָּהֳרָֽיִם׃ | katzohorayim | [will be] like the noon<s> | H6672 → | 24 times |
וְתָפֵ֤קand you will offer
vetafekH6329 →
לָֽרָעֵב֙to the hungry [person]
laraevH7457 →20 times
נַפְשֶׁ֔ךָself your
nafshekhaH5315 →754 times
וְנֶ֥פֶשׁand [the] appetite of
venefeshH5315 →754 times
נַעֲנָ֖ה[the] afflicted
naanahH6031 →82 times
תַּשְׂבִּ֑יעַyou will satisfy
tasbia'H7646 →97 times
וְזָרַ֤חand it will rise
vezarachH2224 →18 times
בַּחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙in the darkness
bachoshekhH2822 →80 times
אוֹרֶ֔ךָlight your
ʾorekhaH216 →121 times
וַאֲפֵלָתְךָ֖and gloom your
vaafelatekhaH653 →10 times
כַּֽצָּהֳרָֽיִם׃[will be] like the noon<s>
katzohorayimH6672 →24 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 37:6He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.
it leads to
- Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the…
- Micah 7:8–9
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 11:17
Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
- Isaiah 58:8
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
- Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
- Isaiah 54:17
Through
Isaiah 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These…
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:21
And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
- Luke 3:5
Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.
- Isaiah 60:19–20
No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your…
- Isaiah 30:21
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory of Nazianzus, ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, ORATION 18:20-21; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.