Isaiah 55:2 - Exposition

Wherefore do ye spend money? literally, wherefore do ye weigh silver?- silver being the ordinary currency, and money transactions, in default of a coinage, being by weight (cf. Genesis 23:16 ; Zechariah 11:12 ). For that which is not bread ; i.e. "for that which has no real value—which cannot sustain you, which will do you no good." The affections of the great mass of the Israelites were set on worldly things, on enriching themselves—adding field to field, and house to house ( Isaiah 5:8 ). They did not care for spiritual blessings, much less "hunger and thirst" after them. That which satisfieth not. Worldly things can never satisfy the heart, not even the heart of the worldly. " What fruit had ye then in those things," says St. Paul, "whereof ye are now ashamed?" ( Romans 6:21 ). Hearken diligently unto me ; rather, hearken , oh , hearken unto me. The phrase is one of earnest exhortation. It implies the strong disinclination of Israel to listen, and seeks to overcome it (compare the opening words of the next verse). Let your soul delight itself in fatness (comp. Psalms 36:8 ; Psalms 63:5 ; and Isaiah 25:6 ). The spiritual blessings of the Messianic kingdom are richer dainties than any that this world has to offer. The soul that obtains them "delights" in them, and is satisfied with them ( Psalms 17:15 ).