true definition
The Greek word for fast means to do without food. It was the practice of the heathen to fast in order get closer to their god, to become more sensitive. This is where our definition within the church comes from. But, what did the Jews understand about fasting?
If you go to blueletterbible.com the Hebrew word is defined as "fast" or "fasting," with the assumption that we already know what fasting means.
Let's go to the letters of the ancient Hebrew alphabet. The first letter for the word for fast is a man laying on his side as in mourning or hunger. The second letter is a nail and is used to connect two ideas together. The last letter in the Hebrew word for fast is the picture of rough water and means water or troubled.
Fasting, as taught by A Jewish Messiah and heard by Jewish men, was understood to have something to do with not eating and troubled within, an emotional stirring. That is why Jesus said that you would have to clean up so that no one would know that you had been fasting. Even one day of fasting will affect your appearance. You will wrestle with God.
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