זכריה, פרק ז׳, פסוק ו׳

People often mistake religious rituals as favors done for the Divine, forgetting that God operates entirely outside human physical needs. The prophet challenges the people's understanding of their mourning and fasting practices, clarifying that human physical actions do not affect God. His response highlights the disconnect between human needs and the Divine will, correcting their misconception about the purpose of a fast.

The primary approach among commentators is that a simple comparison is being made. When people eat and drink, they do so solely for their own personal enjoyment and to satisfy their physical needs [מצודת דוד]. In the exact same way, when they fast, they are doing it entirely for themselves, such as to achieve atonement for their own sins [רש״י, רד״ק]. God asks the people if it is not obvious that eating and drinking are strictly human actions meant only for their own benefit [אברבנאל]. Because the concept of eating does not exist in the higher spiritual realms, God gains no benefit whatsoever when people eat, nor does He suffer any loss or lack when they abstain from food and fast [מלבי״ם, אבן עזרא, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Consequently, these physical actions do not add anything to His honor [רד״ק].

This understanding leads to a direct answer regarding the people's original question about whether they should continue their traditional fasts. God replies that He never commanded them to observe these specific fasts in the first place. Because the people established these practices entirely on their own, it is inappropriate for them to ask Him whether to continue or cancel them. Just as their physical eating and drinking are done for their own sake, the fasts they created are their own private affair. Therefore, God does not need to provide them with a direct instruction on the matter [אבן עזרא, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד].