The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Leviticus 23:26-32. It is called "the fast" (Acts 27:9).

The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament is in Zechariah 7:1-7; 8:19, from which it appears that during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts.

(1.) The fast of the fourth month, kept on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; to commemorate also the incident recorded Exodus 32:19. (Comp. Jeremiah 52:6, 7.)

(2.) The fast of the fifth month, kept on the ninth of Ab (Comp. Numbers 14:27), to commemorate the burning of the city and temple (Jeremiah 52:12, 13).

(3.) The fast of the seventh month, kept on the third of Tisri (Comp. 2 Kings 25), the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 41:1, 2).

(4.) The fast of the tenth month (Comp. Jeremiah 52:4; Ezek. 33:21; 2 Kings 25:1), to commemorate the beginning of the siege of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzar.

There was in addition to these the fast appointed by Esther (4:16).

Public national fasts on account of sin or to supplicate divine favour were sometimes held.

(1.) 1 Samuel 7:6;

(2.) 2 Chronicles 20:3;

(3.) Jeremiah 36:6-10;

(4.) Nehemiah 9:1.

There were also local fasts.

(1.) Judges 20:26;

(2.) 2 Samuel 1:12;

(3.) 1 Samuel 31:13;

(4.) 1 Kings 21:9-12;

(5.) Ezra 8:21-23:

(6.) Jonah 3:5-9.

There are many instances of private occasional fasting (1 Samuel 1:7: 20:34; 2 Samuel 3:35; 12:16; 1 Kings 21:27; Ezra 10:6; Nehemiah 1:4; Dan. 10:2, 3). Moses fasted forty days (Exodus 24:18; 34:28), and so also did Elijah (1 Kings 19:8). Our Lord fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2).

In the lapse of time the practice of fasting was lamentably abused (Isaiah 58:4; Jeremiah 14:12; Zechariah 7:5). Our Lord rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocritical pretences in fasting (Matthew 6:16). He himself appointed no fast. The early Christians, however, observed the ordinary fasts according to the law of their fathers (Acts 13:3; 14:23; 2 Corinthians 6:5).

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (v. i.) To abstain from food; to omit to take nourishment in whole or in part; to go hungry.

2. (v. i.) To practice abstinence as a religious exercise or duty; to abstain from food voluntarily for a time, for the mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of grief, or humiliation and penitence.

3. (v. i.) Abstinence from food; omission to take nourishment.

4. (v. i.) Voluntary abstinence from food, for a space of time, as a spiritual discipline, or as a token of religious humiliation.

5. (n.) A time of fasting, whether a day, week, or longer time; a period of abstinence from food or certain kinds of food; as, an annual fast.

6. (v.) Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door.

7. (v.) Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.

8. (v.) Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.

9. (v.) Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.

10. (v.) Tenacious; retentive.

11. (v.) Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.

12. (v.) Moving rapidly; quick in motion; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse.

13. (v.) Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver.

14. (a.) In a fast, fixed, or firmly established manner; fixedly; firmly; immovably.

15. (a.) In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly; extravagantly; wildly; as, to run fast; to live fast.

16. (n.) That which fastens or holds; especially, (Naut.) a mooring rope, hawser, or chain; -- called, according to its position, a bow, head, quarter, breast, or stern fast; also, a post on a pier around which hawsers are passed in mooring.

17. (n.) The shaft of a column, or trunk of pilaster.