Fasting

Fasting has never been something I was taught growing up - in fact, on Holy Friday the only thing that my mom used to tell me was that we cannot eat meat. I guess over time, the practice of fasting became avoiding something we like - or meat - on that one special day. But one day, I saw someone claiming that “they removed Matthew 17:21 from the bible on purpose”. So I grabbed my old Portuguese bible and noted what it contained in this verse, and it said - “So a oracao e o jejum podem expulsar este tipo de demonios” - which, without Portuguese accents, translates to “Only through praying and fasting can these demons be expelled”.

This made me think that perhaps this person online was right and “they” removed it for good reason, but I felt there had to be more to it than that. Surely a sure tell from Jesus on how to expel some demons would be a good thing to keep in the book, right?

Matthew 17:21

It seems that the disagreement over whether to add this passage doesn’t come from modern translators; it appears among ancient handwritten copies of Matthew. The textual note from the NET Bible is really useful in answering this question and sheds some light on the reason why some may contain this verse while others do not.

It seems that this verse is absent from important works such as Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, etc. But it is present in the Byzantine manuscript traditions. Also, a later correction of Sinaiticus adds the verse. It seems that it’s likely an addition to Matthew because Mark 9:29 contains the words of Jesus saying “This kind can come out only through prayer” (Mark 9:29), and some manuscripts add “and fasting” to the verse.

One cannot be certain, but most modern textual critics consider it likely that a scribe copying Matthew knew the parallel account in Mark and harmonised the two passages by adding the saying found in Mark 9:29. There is a separate textual disagreement within Mark itself: some manuscripts read only “prayer”, while others read “prayer and fasting”. This may explain why the form of the saying that eventually appears in Matthew 17:21 includes both prayer and fasting.

The goal of this note is to explore fasting in Jewish tradition as well as early Christian practices and how these developed over time. The NET Bible’s textual note on Matthew 17:21 was particularly helpful in understanding the textual question, as it summarises the manuscript evidence and refers to Bruce Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. Readers interested in the textual variant can find the full note in the NET Bible.

Fasting in Scripture

Before exploring the Old Testament, I have to share the words of Jesus on this topic,

And when you fast[…]

Matthew 6:16

This was the passage that made me start fasting, because Jesus did not say, “if you fast” but when you fast, which I took it as a command from Him telling us that we should fast. This was when I started reading Scripture more and so I wasn’t even aware of the act of fasting in the Old Testament as being a normal thing to do.

Fasting in Early Christians

Fasting was also a regular occurence in early Christians. Not only did they use to fast twice a week (Wednesday and Friday), but fasting was also used when some important event required it, for example,

Before the baptism, the one baptizing and the one being baptized should fast, along with anyone else who is able. You should instruct the one being baptized to fast for one or two days beforehand.

didache

How to fast

One of the best descriptions of how one should fast came from The Shepherd of Hermas,

First, avoid every evil word and desire, and purify your heart from this world’s distractions. If you do this, your fast will be perfect. On your fast day, eat only bread and water. Calculate the amount you’d have spent on food and give that amount to a widow, an orphan, or someone in need. This way, you humble your soul, and those who benefit from your charity can pray to God for you.

The Shepherd of Hermas