What Does Isaiah 55:1 Mean in the King James?
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The invitation is measured by thirst, while the repeated command to buy is emptied of money and price.
THE MEANING
Your thirst is enough to place you inside the invitation. Waters, wine, and milk are offered even when you have no money; the language of buying remains, yet no price bars the way.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that nourishment is inaccessible without money dissolves here: the invitation explicitly includes the one who has none.
THE ROOT
צָמֵא
tsāmēʾ
GROWS FROM
צמא
ts-m-ʾ
To thirst, to be thirsty.
“thirsteth” in this verse is tsāmēʾ. The offer begins with thirst, not worthiness, means, or ability to pay. The same root names both the thirsty person and thirst itself, keeping the need visible as the very thing the invitation addresses.
ALSO GROWS
tsāmāʾ: Thirst.
צָמָא
This noun shares the seed of צָמֵא, the thirsty person, tying the person to the need the offer meets.
tsimmāʾôn: Thirst or drought.
צִמָּאוֹן
The word can name thirst at its most intense, echoing the stark lack that makes the invitation to drink matter.
THE PATTERN
Life-giving provision is offered to thirst before it is earned or purchased.
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.THE THREAD
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:The Hebrew צָמֵא (tsāmēʾ, “thirsty”) in both verses comes from צמא (ts-m-ʾ, “to thirst”). Isaiah 44:3 answers that same thirst with poured water, opening this invitation as provision for the very lack it names.
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