Isaiah 55:2

2 Why do you spend money on what cannot nourish you and your wages on what does not satisfy you? Listen carefully to me: Eat what is good, and enjoy the best foods.

Isaiah 55:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 55:2

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?
&c.] Lavish away time, opportunities, and strength, in reading and hearing false doctrine, which is not bread, but chaff; is not wholesome, does not nourish, but is harmful and destructive; eats as does a canker, instead of feeding and refreshing; such as the vain philosophy of the Gentiles, the traditions of the Jews, and the errors and heresies of false teachers: and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
labouring to seek for happiness in worldly things, which is not to be had; or to obtain righteousness by the works of the law, which is not to be attained to in that way; all such labour is in vain, no satisfaction is enjoyed, nor peace and comfort had, nor any solid food; these are husks which swine eat: hearken diligently unto me;
not the prophet, but the Lord himself. The Targum renders it,

``my Word;''

the essential Word, Christ Jesus, hearken to his doctrine, which is bread, and of a satisfying nature: and eat ye that which is good;
not the law, as the Jewish commentators; but the good word of God, the Gospel, which being found and eaten by faith, or mixed with faith by them that hear it, and so digested, is the joy and rejoicing of the heart: and let your soul delight itself in fatness;
in the goodness and fatness of the Lord's house, attending on the word and ordinances with spiritual pleasure and delight; and which is the way to become fat and flourishing in spiritual things; see ( Psalms 36:8 ) ( 65:4 ) .

Isaiah 55:2 In-Context

1 "Listen! Whoever is thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money can come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk. You don't have to pay; its free!

2 Why do you spend money on what cannot nourish you and your wages on what does not satisfy you? Listen carefully to me: Eat what is good, and enjoy the best foods.

3 Open your ears, and come to me! Listen so that you may live! I will make an everlasting promise to you-- the blessings I promised to David.

4 I made him a witness to people, a leader and a commander for people.

5 You will summon a nation that you don't know, and a nation that doesn't know you will run to you because of the LORD your God, because of the Holy One of Israel. He has honored you."