Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 5:6

"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." — Matthew 5:6 (ASV)

Blessed are they that hunger. Hunger and thirst, here, are expressive of strong desire. Nothing would better express the strong desire that we should feel to obtain righteousness than hunger and thirst. No wants are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply as these. They occur daily; and when long continued, as in the case of those shipwrecked and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. An ardent desire for anything is often represented in the Scriptures by hunger and thirst (Psalms 42:1–2; Psalms 63:1–2).

A desire for the blessings of pardon and peace—a deep sense of sin, want, and wretchedness—is also represented by thirsting (Isaiah 55:1–2). Those who are perishing for want of righteousness, who feel that they are lost sinners and strongly desire to be holy, will be filled. Never was there a desire to be holy that God was not willing to gratify. And the gospel of Christ has made provision to satisfy all who truly desire to be holy. See Isaiah 55:1-13; Isaiah 65:13; John 4:14; John 6:35; John 7:37–38; Psalms 17:15.