when thou fastest] In private: for in publike fasts they might not use these things. anoint thine head, &c.] If at the time of thy private fast thou shalt be compelled to go abroad, leave the signes of thy humiliation at home, and use thy daily and ordinary manner, as at other times; for such, in part, was their daily usage, unlesse occasion of mourning hindered; though anointing and washing were most frequent in feasts, Rth 3:3. 2 Samuel 12:20. and 14, 2. Amos 6:6. Ecclesiastes 9:8. Luke 7:46.