1 Samuel 7:6

7:6 After they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted on that day, and they confessed ¹  there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel led ²  the people of Israel at Mizpah.

Ezra 8:23

8:23 So we fasted and prayed to our God about this, and he answered us.

Nehemia 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ³  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Ester 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ⁴  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ⁵  If I perish, I perish!”

Yesaya 58:6

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁶ 

I want you ⁷  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ⁸ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Yeremia 36:9

36:9 All the people living in Jerusalem ⁹  and all the people who came into Jerusalem from the towns of Judah came to observe a fast before the Lord. The fast took place in the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 9:3

9:3 So I turned my attention ¹¹  to the Lord God ¹²  to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ¹³ 

Yoel 1:14

1:14 Announce a holy fast; ¹⁴ 

proclaim a sacred assembly.

Gather the elders and ¹⁵  all the inhabitants of the land

to the temple of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

[7:6]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[7:6]  ² tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

[4:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[58:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁷ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “crushed.”

[36:9]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[36:9]  ¹⁰ tn There is some debate about the syntax of the words translated “All the people living in Jerusalem and all the people who came into Jerusalem from the towns in Judah.” As the sentence is structured in Hebrew it looks like these words are the subject of “proclaim a fast.” However, most commentaries point out that the people themselves would hardly proclaim a fast; they would be summoned to fast (cf. 1 Kgs 21:9, 12; Jonah 3:7). Hence many see these words as the object of the verb which has an impersonal subject “they.” This is most likely unless with J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 180) the word “proclaim” is used in a looser sense as “observed.” The translation has chosen to follow this latter tack rather than use the impersonal (or an equivalent passive) construction in English. For a similar problem see Jonah 3:5 which precedes the official proclamation in 3:7. The Hebrew text reads: “In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month they proclaimed a fast before the Lord, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah into Jerusalem.” The sentence has been broken down and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.

[36:9]  sn Judging from v. 22 this was one of the winter months meaning that the reckoning is based on the calendar which starts with April rather than the one which starts with September (Nisan to Nisan rather than Tishri to Tishri). The ninth month would have been Kislev which corresponds roughly to December. According to Babylonian historical records this is the same year and the same month when Ashkelon was captured and sacked. The surrender of Jerusalem and the subsequent looting of the temple in the previous year (Dan 1:1) and the return of the menacing presence of Nebuchadnezzar in the near vicinity were probably the impetus for the fast.

[9:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “face.”

[9:3]  ¹² tn The Hebrew phrase translated “Lord God” here is אֲדֹנָי הָאֱלֹהִים (’adonay ha’elohim).

[9:3]  ¹³ sn When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition.

[1:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “consecrate a fast” (so NASB).

[1:14]  ¹⁵ tc The conjunction “and” does not appear in MT or LXX, but does appear in some Qumran texts (4QXII^c and 4QXII^g).