Short answer: Matthew 5:6 says the people God calls blessed are the ones who crave righteousness the way a starving person craves food — and that God will satisfy that craving. The blessing rests on the appetite, not on having already arrived.
The context: the fourth Beatitude
Matthew 5:6 is the fourth of the Beatitudes that open the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–12). The sequence before it matters: poor in spirit, mourning, meek. Each describes someone at the end of their own resources. Hunger and thirst belong in that company — they are conditions of lack, not accomplishment.
Luke records a shorter parallel: "Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled" (Luke 6:21, KJV), without the word righteousness. Matthew's fuller phrasing gives the hunger a specific object.
In a subsistence culture, this imagery landed harder than it does for most modern readers. Jesus' audience knew literal hunger and real thirst. The comparison is not to a mild preference but to physical desperation.
What it means, phrase by phrase
The King James Version reads: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6).
- "Blessed" — The Greek word describes a settled state of being well-off in God's eyes. It is a pronouncement, not a wish, and not the same as feeling happy in the moment.
- "hunger and thirst" — Two of the most involuntary drives a body has. You do not decide to be hungry. The image suggests the desire being blessed here is deep and recurring rather than a resolution.
- "after righteousness" — This is where the interpretive question sits. Two major readings, both widely held:
- Personal righteousness — a craving to be made right and to live rightly, to have one's character conform to God's will. Many in the Protestant tradition emphasize a longing for a righteousness received from God rather than self-produced (compare Philippians 3:9). - Righteousness as justice — a craving for things to be set right in the world, for wrongs to be redressed. The same Greek word covers both moral rightness and justice, and Matthew's Gospel uses it in ways that support this breadth. Faithful Christians land in different places, and many hold both together — a longing to be right and for the world to be made right.
- "they shall be filled" — The Greek verb is a strong one, used of being fed until satisfied. The passive form implies God is the one doing the filling. Note the future tense: satisfaction is promised, not necessarily immediate.
Cross-references
- Psalm 42:1–2 — The soul panting for God as a deer for water brooks.
- Psalm 107:9 — "he satisfieth the longing soul" (KJV).
- Isaiah 55:1–2 — An invitation to the thirsty to come and eat without money.
- John 6:35 — Jesus as the bread of life; whoever believes "shall never thirst" (KJV).
- Matthew 6:33 — Seek first God's kingdom "and his righteousness" (KJV).
- Philippians 3:9 — A righteousness "which is of God by faith" (KJV).
How to apply Matthew 5:6 today
The most immediately useful thing about this verse is what it does not require. It does not bless the righteous; it blesses the hungry. That reframes spiritual dissatisfaction. The sense that you are not where you should be — if it drives you toward God rather than away — is itself the condition Jesus calls blessed.
It also raises a diagnostic question worth asking honestly: what do I actually crave? Appetites are trainable. Most people find that what they consume shapes what they want more of, which is why practices like reading Scripture, honest prayer, and being around people who take righteousness seriously tend to sharpen the appetite rather than dull it.
The promise of being filled is stated in the future, which fits the rest of the Beatitudes — mourners comforted, the meek inheriting. Jesus is describing a satisfaction that begins now and completes later, so present hunger is not evidence the promise has failed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does "righteousness" here mean personal holiness or social justice? The Greek word covers both, and both readings have long histories in Christian interpretation. Many interpreters hold them together: a longing to be made right before God and a longing for God's justice in the world. The verse itself does not narrow it.
Am I blessed if I don't feel that hunger? The Beatitudes describe what God honors rather than issuing a checklist to score yourself against. Scripture treats desire for God as something God gives and grows (Philippians 2:13), so the absence of appetite is a reason to ask for it, not to conclude you are excluded.
Why "hunger and thirst" instead of just "want"? Hunger and thirst are involuntary and recurring — they return no matter how well you ate yesterday. The imagery suggests a lasting, urgent desire rather than an occasional interest, which is far more vivid to an audience that knew real scarcity.
When will those who hunger be "filled"? The verb is future, and the pattern of the Beatitudes points to a satisfaction that begins in this life and is completed in God's kingdom. Jesus offers partial filling now (John 6:35) without promising the hunger disappears entirely before then.