Wherefore have we fasted... — The words remind us of those of a much later prophet (Malachi 3:14), but the complaints of the unconscious hypocrites who are amazed that their service is not accepted as sincere are in every age the same. Only one fast, that of the Day of Atonement, was prescribed by the Law. In practice, however, they were often held in times of calamity (comp. Isaiah 32:12; Joel 1:13; 2 Chronicles 20:3),and we may legitimately think of them as having been more or less frequent under Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:1-2). Now, as though that had been a meritorious work, the people ask what good had come of it? After the exile fasts were instituted, commemorative of the siege of Jerusalem, its capture, its destruction, and the murder of Gedaliah (Zechariah 7:3; Zechariah 8:19), and those who maintain the later date of the book naturally suppose that these are the fasts referred to.
In the day of your fast ye find pleasure... — Better, ye carry on your business. Fasts were not governed, like the Sabbath, by a fixed law, and the people consequently lost sight of the true end of fasting — prayer, meditation, penitence.
Exact all your labours. — The words are rendered by some critics more vividly, though with the same meaning, ye oppress all your labourers. (Comp. James 5:4.)