Texts in Conversation
Isaiah and the Shepherd of Hermas link fasting with feeding others. This practice may explain the Gospel of Thomas's blessing on the hungry as praise for going without so another can eat, though its language leaves that connection unstated.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 58:7
Hebrew Bible
6 No, this is the kind of fast I want: I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke. 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe them! Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood.
Shepherd of Hermas 56:7
Early Christian
6 First of all, keep yourself from every evil word and every evil desire, and cleanse your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you keep these things, this fast will be perfect for you. 7 And this is how you will do it. Having fulfilled what is written, on the day you fast you will taste nothing but bread and water, and from the food that you would have eaten that day, you will calculate the amount you would have spent, and will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or someone in need; and so you will humble your soul, so that the one who has received from your humility may be satisfied, and may pray for you to the Lord. 8 If then you accomplish this fast as I have commanded you, your sacrifice will be acceptable in God’s sight, and this fasting will be recorded; and this service performed in this way is beautiful and joyful and acceptable to the Lord.
Gospel of Thomas 69
Nag Hammadi
68 Jesus said, “Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted. But wherever they have persecuted you, they will find no place.” 69 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their heart; they have truly come to know the Father. Blessed are the hungry, for the belly of the one who desires will be filled.” 70 Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you will kill you.”
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Notes and References
“... The reference, then, is to ‘social fasting’, that is, fasting in order to provide food (by the money saved) for others. This appears to have its origin already in Isa. 58.6–7, and is attested roughly contemporaneously with Thomas in the Shepherd of Hermas, which describes the practicalities involved in its author’s circles: And this is what you must do: when you have fulfilled what has been written, you must taste nothing except bread and water on that day on which you fast. Then you must estimate the amount of the cost of the food you would have eaten on that day on which you intend to fast, and give it to a widow or an orphan or someone in need. (Herm. 56 [Sim. 5.3].7) ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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