Isaiah 55:2

2 Why do you weigh out money for [what is] not food, and your labor for {what cannot satisfy}? Listen carefully to me, and eat [what is] good, and let your soul take pleasure in {rich} food.

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 "Ho! Everyone thirsty, come to the waters! And whoever has no money, come, buy and eat, and come, buy without money, wine and milk without price!
2 Why do you weigh out money for [what is] not food, and your labor for {what cannot satisfy}? Listen carefully to me, and eat [what is] good, and let your soul take pleasure in {rich} food.
3 Extend your ear, and come to me! Listen so that your soul may live, and I will {make} an everlasting covenant with you, the enduring proofs of {the mercies shown to} David.
4 Look! I made him a witness to [the] peoples, a leader and a commander [for the] peoples.
5 Look! You shall call a nation [that] you do not know, and a nation [that] does not know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and the holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you."

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "[what is] not for satiation"
  • [b]. Literally "fatty"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.