Topical Bible: Hunger

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Topical Encyclopedia

Hunger, a fundamental human experience, is frequently addressed in the Bible both in a literal and metaphorical sense. It is depicted as a physical need, a spiritual longing, and a tool for divine teaching and revelation.

Physical Hunger

In the Bible, physical hunger is often portrayed as a condition that elicits God's compassion and provision. The Israelites' journey through the wilderness is a prime example, where God provided manna from heaven to satisfy their hunger (Exodus 16:4). This miraculous provision underscored God's care and faithfulness, teaching reliance on Him for daily sustenance.

The account of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16) further illustrates God's provision during times of famine. Here, God sustains Elijah, the widow, and her son through a miraculous multiplication of flour and oil, demonstrating His power to provide even in dire circumstances.

Spiritual Hunger

Beyond physical hunger, the Bible frequently uses hunger as a metaphor for spiritual longing and the pursuit of righteousness. In the Beatitudes, Jesus declares, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). This statement highlights the blessedness of those who earnestly seek God's righteousness, promising spiritual fulfillment.

The Psalms often express a deep spiritual hunger for God. Psalm 42:1-2 states, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God." This imagery conveys an intense desire for communion with God, reflecting the soul's need for divine presence and guidance.

Hunger as a Tool for Teaching

Hunger is also used as a divine tool for teaching and testing faith. In Deuteronomy 8:3 , Moses reminds the Israelites, "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." This passage emphasizes that physical sustenance is not the sole necessity for life; rather, spiritual nourishment from God's word is paramount.

Jesus and Hunger

Jesus' ministry frequently addressed hunger, both physical and spiritual. He fed the multitudes, as seen in the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-14), demonstrating His compassion and divine authority. This miracle also served as a sign pointing to Jesus as the Bread of Life, who satisfies the deepest spiritual hunger (John 6:35): "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.'"

Moreover, Jesus' own experience of fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-4) highlights His reliance on God's word over physical sustenance, reinforcing the lesson from Deuteronomy 8:3.

Hunger in Eschatological Context

In eschatological terms, the Bible promises an end to hunger in the coming kingdom of God. Revelation 7:16-17 assures, "Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." This vision of the future underscores the complete satisfaction and provision found in God's eternal kingdom.

Throughout Scripture, hunger serves as a multifaceted theme, illustrating God's provision, the necessity of spiritual nourishment, and the ultimate fulfillment found in Christ.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) An uneasy sensation occasioned normally by the want of food; a craving or desire for food.

2. (n.) Any strong eager desire.

3. (n.) To feel the craving or uneasiness occasioned by want of food; to be oppressed by hunger.

4. (n.) To have an eager desire; to long.

5. (v. t.) To make hungry; to famish.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

HUNGER

hun'-ger (ra`abh; limos (subs.), peinao (vb.):

(1) The desire for food, a physiological sensation associated with emptiness of the stomach, and dependent on some state of the mucous membrane;

(2) starvation as the effect of want of food, as Exodus 16:3 Isaiah 49:10;

(3) to feel the craving for food as Deuteronomy 8:3; when used to indicate the condition due to general scarcity of food as Jeremiah 38:9 Ezekiel 34:29 it is replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by "famine." The word is used to express the poverty which follows idleness and sloth (Proverbs 19:15). The absence of this condition is given as one of the characteristics of the future state of happiness (Isaiah 49:10 Ezekiel 34:29 Revelation 7:16). Metaphorically the passionate striving for moral and spiritual rectitude is called hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matthew 5:6); and the satisfaction of the soul which receives Christ is described as a state in which "he shall not hunger" (John 6:35).

On two occasions it is said of our Lord that He hungered (Matthew 21:18 Luke 4:2); 9 times the old English expression "an hungred" is used, the "an" being a prefix which indicates that the condition is being continued (Matthew 12:1, 3; Matthew 25:35, 37, 42, 44 Mark 2:25 Luke 6:3 the King James Version). In Matthew 4:2 the King James Version, "an hungred" has been changed to "hungered" in the Revised Version (British and American). "Hard bestead and hungry" in Isaiah 8:21 means bested (that is, placed) in a condition of hardship, "sore distressed," the American Standard Revised Version. The word occurs in Spenser, "Thus ill bestedd and fearful more of shame" (I, i, 24). The reference of the aggravation of the sensation of hunger when one who is starving awakes from a dream of food (Isaiah 29:8) is graphically illustrated by the experience of the antarctic voyager (Shackleton, Heart of the Antarctic, II, 9).

Alexander Macalister

Greek

3042. limos -- hunger, famine
... hunger, famine. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: limos Phonetic
Spelling: (lee-mos') Short Definition: a famine, hunger Definition: a famine ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3042.htm - 6k

3983. peinao -- to hunger, be hungry
... to hunger, be hungry. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: peinao Phonetic Spelling:
(pi-nah'-o) Short Definition: I am hungry, needy Definition: I am hungry ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3983.htm - 7k

3521. nesteia -- fasting, a fast
... Word Origin from nesteuo Definition fasting, a fast NASB Word Usage fast (1), fasting
(2), fastings (1), hunger (1), without food (1). fasting. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3521.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

7458. raab -- famine, hunger
... 7457, 7458. raab. 7459 . famine, hunger. Transliteration: raab Phonetic Spelling:
(raw-awb') Short Definition: famine. ... dearth, famine, famished, hunger. ...
/hebrew/7458.htm - 6k

3720. kaphan -- hunger, famine
... 3719, 3720. kaphan. 3721 . hunger, famine. Transliteration: kaphan Phonetic
Spelling: (kaw-fawn') Short Definition: famine. Word ...
/hebrew/3720.htm - 6k

7459. reabon -- hunger, lack of food, famine
... 7458, 7459. reabon. 7460 . hunger, lack of food, famine. Transliteration: reabon
Phonetic Spelling: (reh-aw-bone') Short Definition: famine. ...
/hebrew/7459.htm - 6k

3719. kaphan -- to be hungry, to hunger
... 3718, 3719. kaphan. 3720 . to be hungry, to hunger. Transliteration: kaphan
Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-fan') Short Definition: bent. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/3719.htm - 5k

7456. raeb -- to be hungry
... Word Origin a prim. root Definition to be hungry NASB Word Usage famished (1),
gets hungry (1), hunger (3), hungry (6), suffer hunger (2). ...
/hebrew/7456.htm - 6k

7457. raeb -- hungry
... hunger bitten, hungry. From ra'eb; hungry (more or less intensely) -- hunger bitten,
hungry. see HEBREW ra'eb. 7456, 7457. raeb. 7458 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/7457.htm - 6k

6310. peh -- mouth
... collar (1), command (45), commandment (6), counsel (1), dictated* (1), dictation
(6), edge (37), edges (2), end (2), evidence (4), face (4), hunger (1), intent ...
/hebrew/6310.htm - 7k

2908. tevath -- hungrily
... fasting. (Aramaic) from a root corresponding to tavah; hunger (as twisting) -- fasting.
see HEBREW tavah. 2907, 2908. tevath. 2909 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/2908.htm - 6k

5101. nahaq -- to bray, cry
... root Definition to bray, cry NASB Word Usage bray (1), cry (1). bray. A primitive
root; to bray (as an ass), scream (from hunger -- bray. 5100, 5101. ...
/hebrew/5101.htm - 5k

5315. nephesh -- a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire ...
... 1), feelings (1), fierce* (2), greedy* (1), heart (5), heart's (2), herself (12),
Himself (4), himself (19), human (1), human being (1), hunger (1), life (146 ...
/hebrew/5315.htm - 7k

Library

The Hunger for Righteousness
... XXV THE HUNGER FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Matthew v.6. ... It is the doctrine that a man
gets what he asks for"that his real hunger will be filled. ...
/.../peabody/mornings in the college chapel/xxv the hunger for righteousness.htm

The Hunger.
... Section 43. The Hunger. ... The first temptation was as follows: [116] After Jesus
had fasted for a long time, he suffered the pangs of hunger. ...
/.../the life of jesus christ in its historical connexion/section 43 the hunger.htm

The Divine Hunger and Thirst
... THE DIVINE HUNGER AND THIRST. ... For just in as far as a man hungers and thirsts after
righteousness and truth, he will hunger and thirst after nothing else. ...
/.../kingsley/town and country sermons/sermon ii the divine hunger.htm

The Nature of Spiritual Hunger
... 13. The nature of spiritual hunger. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness Matthew 5:6. ... A duty implied: Blessed are they that hunger'. ...
/.../the beatitudes an exposition of matthew 51-12/13 the nature of spiritual.htm

Of an Eternal Hunger for God
... OF AN ETERNAL HUNGER FOR GOD. ... All such are the poorest of all men living; for
they are avid and greedy, and their hunger is insatiable. ...
/.../john/the adornment of the spritual marriage/chapter liii of an eternal.htm

Spiritual Hunger Shall be Satisfied
... 14. Spiritual hunger shall be satisfied. ... Those that hunger after righteousness shall
be filled. God never bids us seek him in vain' (Isaiah 45:19). ...
/.../the beatitudes an exposition of matthew 51-12/14 spiritual hunger shall be.htm

The Divine Hunger and Thirst. December 14.
... The Divine Hunger and Thirst. December 14. God grant us to be among "those
who really hunger and thirst after righteousness," and ...
/.../kingsley/daily thoughts /the divine hunger and thirst.htm

I Hunger and I Thirst
... III. SACRAMENTS AND RITES Holy Communion: The Communion 325. I hunger and I thirst.
Four 6's ... John SB Monsell, 1866. I hunger and I thirst; Jesus, my Manna be: ...
/.../holy communion the communion 325.htm

Whether the Fourth Beatitude: "Blessed are they that Hunger and ...
... OF THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE (TWO ARTICLES) Whether the fourth beatitude: "Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after justice," corresponds to the gift of ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the fourth beatitude blessed.htm

Petilianus Said: "Blessed are they which do Hunger and Thirst ...
... Book II. Chapter 66. " 147. Petilianus said: "Blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness? "147. Petilianus ...
/.../chapter 66 147 petilianus.htm

Thesaurus

Famish (2 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (vt) To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger. 2. (vt)
To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger. ...
/f/famish.htm - 8k

Thirst (40 Occurrences)
... It is said of the heavenly bliss, "They shall hunger no more; neither thirst any
more" (Revelation 7:16, 17; compare Isaiah 49:10). Multi-Version Concordance ...
/t/thirst.htm - 20k

Starve (3 Occurrences)
... 1. (vi) To die; to perish. 2. (vi) To perish with hunger; to suffer extreme hunger
or want; to be very indigent. 3. (vi) To perish or die with cold. ...
/s/starve.htm - 8k

Beatitudes
... It was not poverty, hunger, sorrow or suffering in themselves to which He promised
great rewards, but those experiences as coming to spiritual men and thus ...
/b/beatitudes.htm - 16k

Eagle (27 Occurrences)
... of the griffon vulture. The eagles were, when hunger-driven, birds of prey;
the vultures, carrion feeders only. There was a golden ...
/e/eagle.htm - 28k

Filled (336 Occurrences)
... Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled. ... Luke 6:25 Woe to you that are filled, for ye shall hunger. ...
/f/filled.htm - 35k

Nakedness (50 Occurrences)
... 1 Corinthians 4:11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are in
nakedness, and buffeted, and wander without a home, (DBY). ...
/n/nakedness.htm - 26k

Toil (66 Occurrences)
... (WEY DBY NAS). 2 Corinthians 6:5 by floggings, by imprisonments; by facing riots,
by toil, by sleepless watching, by hunger and thirst; (WEY). ...
/t/toil.htm - 25k

Aloud (141 Occurrences)
... (WEY). Luke 6:21 "Blessed are you who hunger now, because your hunger shall be
satisfied. "Blessed are you who now weep aloud, because you shall laugh. (WEY). ...
/a/aloud.htm - 34k

Sleepless (2 Occurrences)
... 2 Corinthians 6:5 by floggings, by imprisonments; by facing riots, by toil,
by sleepless watching, by hunger and thirst; (WEY NAS NIV). ...
/s/sleepless.htm - 7k

Resources

What does it mean that blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness? | GotQuestions.org

How should Christians respond to global poverty and hunger? | GotQuestions.org

What did Jesus mean when He said, “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35)? | GotQuestions.org

Hunger: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Hunger (52 Occurrences)

Matthew 4:2
There He fasted for forty days and nights; and after that He suffered from hunger.
(WEY ASV DBY YLT)

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Matthew 25:35
for I hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
(Root in DBY YLT)

Matthew 25:42
for I hungered, and ye gave me not to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me not to drink;
(Root in DBY YLT)

Luke 4:2
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
(Root in KJV WEY ASV DBY YLT)

Luke 6:21
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 6:25
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Luke 15:17
But when he came to himself he said,'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger!
(WEB KJV WEY ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV)

John 6:35
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
(KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Romans 8:35
Who shall separate us from Christ's love? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or hunger, nakedness or danger or the sword?
(WEY)

Romans 12:20
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

1 Corinthians 4:11
Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

1 Corinthians 11:34
And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
(KJV WBS)

2 Corinthians 6:5
by floggings, by imprisonments; by facing riots, by toil, by sleepless watching, by hunger and thirst;
(WEY NAS RSV NIV)

2 Corinthians 11:27
in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Philippians 4:12
I know both how to live in humble circumstances and how to live amid abundance. I am fully initiated into all the mysteries both of fulness and of hunger, of abundance and of want.
(WEY RSV)

Revelation 6:8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Revelation 7:16
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 42:19
If ye are honest, let one of your brethren remain bound in the house of your prison, but go ye, carry grain for the hunger of your households;
(DBY)

Genesis 42:33
And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Hereby shall I know that ye are honest: leave one of your brethren with me, and take for the hunger of your households, and go,
(DBY)

Exodus 16:3
and the children of Israel said to them, "We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 28:48
therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 32:24
They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV)

1 Samuel 2:5
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes.
(WEB ASV NAS RSV NIV)

2 Chronicles 32:11
Doesn't Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Yahweh our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
(See NAS NIV)

Nehemiah 9:15
and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commanded those who they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 5:22
At destruction and at hunger thou mockest, And of the beast of the earth, Thou art not afraid.
(YLT)

Job 30:3
Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:
(DBY RSV NIV)

Job 38:39
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
(See NIV)

Psalms 17:14
from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.
(See NIV)

Psalms 34:10
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Proverbs 6:30
Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
(See NIV)

Proverbs 10:3
Jehovah causeth not the soul of the righteous to hunger, And the desire of the wicked He thrusteth away.
(YLT NAS)

Proverbs 16:26
The appetite of the laboring man laboreth for him; For his mouth urgeth him thereto.
(See JPS NAS NIV)

Proverbs 19:15
Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger. Isaiah
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Proverbs 25:21
If thy enemy shall hunger, give him bread to eat; and if he shall thirst, give him water to drink:
(WBS YLT)

Isaiah 5:13
For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water.
(See RSV NIV)

Isaiah 29:8
It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn't satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 49:10
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 65:13
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, My servants do eat, and ye do hunger, Lo, My servants do drink, and ye do thirst, Lo, My servants rejoice, and ye are ashamed,
(YLT)

Jeremiah 38:9
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.
(KJV WBS RSV)

Jeremiah 42:14
saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS)

Jeremiah 42:16
then it hath come to pass, the sword that ye are afraid of, doth there overtake you, in the land of Egypt; and the hunger, because of which ye are sorrowful, doth there cleave after you in Egypt, and there ye die.
(YLT)

Jeremiah 42:17
Thus are all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there; they die -- by sword, by hunger, and by pestilence, and there is not to them a remnant and an escaped one, because of the evil that I am bringing in upon them;
(YLT)

Lamentations 2:19
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord: Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Lamentations 4:9
Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Lamentations 5:10
Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
(See NIV)

Ezekiel 7:19
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
(See RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 34:29
And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
(KJV JPS DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Hosea 9:4
They won't pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into the house of Yahweh.
(See RSV)

Micah 6:14
You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be in your midst. You will store up, but not save; and that which you save I will give up to the sword.
(See RSV)

Subtopics

Hunger

Hunger of Jesus

Hunger: A Stimulus to Work

Hunger: No Hunger in Heaven

Hunger: Spiritual

Related Terms

Thirst (40 Occurrences)

Starve (3 Occurrences)

Beatitudes

Eagle (27 Occurrences)

Filled (336 Occurrences)