This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. AT: "Yahweh of hosts gave me a message. He said," or "Yahweh of hosts spoke this message to me:" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])
The assumed knowledge is that the Jews mourned during a part of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar because in this month the remaining Jews in Jerusalem fled to Egypt after the murder of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon appointed as governor over Judah. The seventh month is during the last part of September and the first part of October on Western calendars. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-hebrewmonths]])
The assumed knowledge is that the people of Israel had been slaves in Babylon for 70 years. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-numbers]])
This question is asked to make the people think about what their real reason for fasting had been. It can be translated as a statement. AT: "you were not really fasting for me." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
Possible meanings are 1) when they feasted and drank when celebrating religious festivals or 2) when they ate and drank whenever they were not fasting.
# did you not eat and drink for yourselves?
This question is used to make the people think about whether they were honoring Yahweh when they ate and drank. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "it was for yourselves that you ate and drank." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
Yahweh uses a question to scold the people. This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "These are the same words ... to the west." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
Here "mouth" is a metonym for the words spoken by the mouth. AT: "by the words of the former prophets" or "through the former prophets" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])
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