Verses 6 and 7 each use a rhetorical question. These questions make emphatic statements that set out exactly what God requires, what is acceptable to him. They contrast with the rhetorical questions in the previous verse. The extended questions in verses 6-7 offer some of the most practical definitions found anywhere in Scripture of what religious activity is intended to be. Similar insights were given earlier in the book (see, for example 1.12-17). Other prophets say similar things (see, for example, Micah 6.6-8). Concern for others in the community is inseparable from religious activity, to the point that social concern is itself a religious act that is more important than ritual observance (compare Matt 25.31-46).
Is not this the fast that I choose…?: This rhetorical question makes a strong statement about the exact kind of fast that God requires. The question form may be presented as a statement (see second example below). The demonstrative pronoun this points forward to the actions listed in the rest of the verse, not to what preceded. The phrase the fast that I choose links back explicitly to the challenge offered in the rhetorical question that opens verse 5. God now answers his own question. The word fast in this clause is used figuratively, in contrast to its previous uses where it referred to the actual ritual of fasting. More important than the ritual fasting is that people practice self-denial by showing concern for others. That is the kind of fast that God finds acceptable, that meets his requirements. If it is not possible to bring out this figurative meaning in translation, the beginning of the verse may be rendered “What I really require [instead of your kind of fasting] is….”
To loose the bonds of wickedness is literally “to open the bonds/chains of wickedness.” This line could mean that the people are so set in their wickedness that it appears they are chained to it, so God tells them to remove those chains. However, for most versions this line refers to releasing innocent people from the injustice that binds them like chains; for example, Good News Translation says “Remove the chains of oppression,” and New International Version has “to loose the chains of injustice.” This understanding makes the line a close parallel to the next one. Both views are valid since the brief Hebrew expression here is ambiguous.
To undo the thongs of the yoke: The thongs of the yoke refer to the ropes that hold a yoke in place on a person or an animal. For yoke see the comments on 9.4 even though a different Hebrew word is used there. As in 9.4, the yoke is a metaphor for oppression (see also 10.27; 14.25; 47.6). So the underlying sense here is that true fasting consists in seeking the release of those who are oppressed. Most modern versions retain the figures of speech in this verse, but other options are possible; for example, Bible en français courant (1997) translates the first three lines as “The kind of fasting that I love, this is it, you know it well: it is to free people who are unjustly in chains, it is to free them from the constraints that weigh them down.”
To let the oppressed go free is another example of true “fasting.” The Hebrew word rendered oppressed can mean “to crush” or “to oppress” (see 36.6, where it is rendered “broken”). Most versions use “the oppressed,” but other possible renderings are “the disheartened/discouraged people” and “the people who are made to suffer unjustly.” The verb let … go free may be rendered “release,” “give confidence” or “encourage,” depending on how the oppressed is translated.
To break every yoke may be better rendered “remove every yoke,” since every yoke is a metaphor for any kind of oppression. Bible en français courant translates this line as a concluding statement: “in brief, it is a matter of removing everything that keeps them enslaved.”
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• Is not this here the kind of fasting I require?
I require you to set people free from their vicious bonds,
to release the ties that hold them captive,
to set free those who are oppressed,
and to smash every bond.
• What I really require instead of your [so-called] fasting
is that you set people free from bonds that are unjust,
that you release them from the yoke that confines them.
Set free any who are oppressed,
and break all that binds people unjustly.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .