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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 55

1 “Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost.⁠ 2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food.⁠ 3 Pay attention and come to me. Listen, so you can live. Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, a ruler and commander of nations.” 5 Look, you will summon nations you did not previously know; nations that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he bestows honor on you. 6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; call to him while he is nearby!⁠ 7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 8 “Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,” says the Lord, 9 “for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans. 10 The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat. 11 In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.” 12 Indeed you will go out with joy; you will be led along in peace; the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands. 13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes; firs will grow in place of nettles; they will be a monument to the Lord, a permanent reminder that will remain.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 55:2 and John 6:27

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In John, Jesus urges people to seek lasting nourishment rather than food that fades, echoing Isaiah’s call to eat freely without payment. In Isaiah, this image marks the end of exile and the renewal of Israel’s covenant and honor.

Passages

Isaiah 55:2

Hebrew Bible
1 “Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food. 3 Pay attention and come to me. Listen, so you can live. Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, a ruler and commander of nations.” 5 Look, you will summon nations you did not previously know; nations that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he bestows honor on you.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

John 6:27

New Testament
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. 27 Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life—the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” 28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?” 29 Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

References

"... Craig A. Evans and James A. Sanders see an allusive interplay of Isaiah 55:2–3 in John 6:27, which is often overlooked since most studies focus on Psalm 78 and Isaiah 54 in John 6:22–71. Janzen (J. Gerald Janzen, ‘“I am the Light of the World” [John 8:12]: Connotation and Context,’ Encounter 67, no. 2 [2006]) sees the background of Isaiah 8–9 as the context for Jesus’ statement in John 8:12, ‘I am the light of the world’ ..."
Adam W. Day, Jesus, the Isaianic Servant: Quotations and Allusions in the Gospel of John (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2018), 8.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 55:2 and John 6:27

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