55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 1
Why spend 2 your hard-earned money 3 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 4 to me and eat what is nourishing! 5
Enjoy fine food! 6
57:11 Whom are you worried about?
Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully
and not remember me
or think about me? 7
Because I have been silent for so long, 8
you are not afraid of me. 9
1 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
2 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
3 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
4 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
5 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
6 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”
sn Nourishing, fine food here represents the blessings God freely offers. These include forgiveness, a new covenantal relationship with God, and national prominence (see vv. 3-6).
7 tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”
8 tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”
9 sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.