The Pulpit Commentary on Matthew 5:6

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

They which do hunger and thirst. The application of the figure of eating and drinking to spiritual things (cf. Luke 22:30) is not infrequent in the Old Testament; e.g. Isaiah 55:1. Yet the thought here is not the actual participation, but the craving. The Benediction marks a distinct stage in our Lord's argument. He spoke first of the consciously poor in their spirit; next of those who mourned over their poverty; then of those who were ready to receive whatever teaching or chastisement might be given them; here of those who had an earnest longing for that right relation to God in which they were so lacking. This is the positive stage. Intense longing, such as can only be compared to that of a starving man for food, is sure of satisfaction. After righteousness ( τὴν δικαιοσύνην). Observe:

''Ever filled and ever seeking, what they have they still desire,

Hunger there shall fret them never, nor satiety shall tire,—

Still enjoying whilst aspiring, in their joy they still aspire."

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