Indeed, people need more than just food, clothing and a roof over their heads.

The Bible describes how, after leaving Egypt, the Jewish people wandered for forty years in the desert of the Arabian Peninsula. During this time, almost everyone who remembered what it was like to be a slave died, and a new, free generation was able to enter the land promised by God.

During the wanderings in the desert, the people experienced many difficulties and severe trials. At this time, the Lord gave Israel not only the famous ten commandments, but also the most complex Old Testament law that determined all sides human life. It was not easy to fulfill it.

And, of course, people murmured more than once. Slavery in Egypt already seemed to them a glorious time, and many dreamed of returning back. There, where they were slaves, but full and confident in their future.

Objecting to these thoughts, Moses said that God had not sent many hardships and trials to the Jews in vain over the years. Covered in all this deep meaning“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord,” says the Bible. In other words, to be truly alive, a person needs to have a connection with the source of life, which is God. And the human soul lives as long as it retains this connection with God.

The phrase “man does not live by bread alone” is taken from the Old Testament, but this expression has spread most widely, thanks to the New Testament already.

The Gospel says that Christ, after being baptized in the Jordan River, went into the wilderness. For forty days He did not eat anything. During this period of strict abstinence, Satan came to Jesus and said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." Christ rejected the offer of the tempter, saying to him in response: it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

The catchphrase “Man does not live by bread alone” hides the main things in life, material and spiritual. Each individual cannot live without air, water, food. But that's not all!

Basic human biological needs

Considering the meaning of the proverb “Man does not live by bread alone”, one should look deeply into what constitutes the basis of the existence of each individual. That is, it is very important to determine what are the basic needs of a person.

First of all, every creature on earth must maintain its existence. Therefore, biological needs should by no means be discounted. These are breathing, food, water, clothing, sleep, security, health. This is what the first part of the proverb “Man does not live by bread alone” says. That is, biological needs are priority. A hungry person will first of all want to eat in order to maintain his existence.

Man is a social being

Although many living organisms on Earth cannot survive on their own, humans probably take the first place in this lineup. The need for communication, love, popularity, recognition, sometimes for leadership and dominance over other people - these are the components of people.

And uttering the phrase “Man does not live by bread alone,” many mean exactly this. You can be full, clothed, live in warmth and comfort, even have much more than what you need, but feel deeply unhappy because there is no loved one around, that your loved one feels bad, that no one wants to recognize your talents. The name of the series "The Rich Also Cry" in this sense is synonymous with the proverb with which the discussion began.

spiritual needs

Thinking about what the idiom “Man does not live by bread alone” means, everyone understands that besides bread (and this word means everything physiologically necessary for existence) there is something else, without which life cannot be complete and happy. These are the so-called

Every individual has inherent creative potential. To realize it is the task of the individual. And an even more important task is to get the approval of others, recognition. Only then can we say that a person has taken place.

Spiritual needs also include knowledge of the surrounding world, oneself, one's place in life, the meaning of one's existence.

Recognition is the main and very significant component of human needs.

Yes, not one, but several deep semantic layers are embedded in catchphrase"Man does not live by bread alone." Composing poems "on the table" is a spiritual life. Such a development of the personality and its inner life, of course, gives its positive results. But only exclusively for the spiritual state of the most creative person. Without the approval of others, without their recognition, the poet does not feel fully happy.

If we return to the social needs of a person, it becomes clear that at the stage of growing up, a person's need to receive is partially replaced by the need to give.

The kid rejoices, receiving gifts. He does not even think about the fact that he also has to give something to someone. The older he gets, the more he wants to do good to people. And the more pleasant it becomes to receive gratitude, recognition of others.

And it does not matter whether the person brings joy to others with his amazing voice or a beautiful literary creation, a sculpture created by talent and patience, or a stool knocked together with his own hand, a swept yard or a bun baked for breakfast. It is important that those who have received what was created by others express recognition and gratitude. And for this, you can sometimes even sacrifice your own piece of bread ... Or your own life ...

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From the Bible (Old Testament, Deuteronomy, ch. 8, v. 3). Moses, calming his people, tired of the long return from Egyptian captivity, said that God did not in vain subject the people of Israel to such trials: “He humbled you, made you hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know and your fathers did not know, in order to show you, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. man lives."
In the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew (ch. 4), this expression is also found. When Jesus was in the wilderness and fasted for a long time (vv. 3-4), “the tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. He answered and said to him: It is written: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
AT modern Russia the expression gained additional popularity after the publication (1956) of the novel “Not by Bread Alone” by Vladimir Dudintsev (1918-1998).
The meaning of the expression: for a person to be completely happy, material well-being is not enough, he needs spiritual food, moral satisfaction.

Meanings in other dictionaries

Man does not live by bread alone

A saying that a person should not only be interested in material wealth, but also live a spiritual life. He busy man, he, as they say, is not up to the stars. But... man does not live by bread alone. After all, it happens in life that one indelible impression will forever open a person’s soul towards beauty ... Or maybe he is just used to such miracles? (T. Kalugina. Midnight rainbow shines). ...

Don't leave, stay with me

From the romance "Don't go, don't leave" (1900), written by the composer N. Zubov to the words of the poet M. P. Poigin: . Don't leave, stay with me. I have loved you for so long. With my fiery caress And I will sing, and I will intoxicate ... ...

Don't teach me how to live!

From the novel (ch. 22) "The Twelve Chairs" (1928) Soviet writers Ilya Ilf (1897-1937) and Evgeny Petrov (1903-1942). One of the most favorite phrases of Ellochka Schukina (see Ellochka the cannibal), vocabulary which consisted of only 30 words. ...

I don't want to be a jester below the Lord God

From a letter (June 8, 1834) from A. S. Pushkin (1799-1837) to his wife: “... Now they look at me as if I were a serf, with whom they can do as they please. Opal is lighter than contempt. I, like Lomonosov, do not want to be lower than the Lord God.” "Below" in translation from the archaic Russian language "even". Pushkin's words - paraphrase famous words M.V. Lomonosov, who became winged (see Not only at the table of noblemen ...

Dear church, dear brothers and sisters!

I cordially greet you! Grace to you and peace be multiplied!

May God strengthen you, give you wisdom and patience, bless and keep you from all evil!

The Bible says: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”(Mat. 4:4). The first thing that is clear from the words of Jesus Christ is that every person needs bread. Bread, i.e. food is vital to maintain our strength, to perform the necessary work that requires our efforts, and without the timely replenishment of these forces, a person simply cannot survive.

But further on, Jesus Christ says an equally important thought: a person lives not only on physical food. For a normal life, we need a word that comes from the mouth of God. As physical food is vital for our physical man, so the word of God is necessary for our inner man, for our soul.

The Word of God written in the Bible is just a text consisting of letters and words that "comes to life" for those who communicate with the Author of the Bible and know Him personally. You can receive a letter from unknown person and it will not particularly please, no matter what is said there. When we receive a letter from a relative or close, we react in a completely different way. But it is much better to communicate with this person personally. Therefore, God wants us not just to read the Bible like a book, but to communicate with Him "mouth to mouth", "face to face", receiving the living word from the living God through the Scriptures.

“When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him and asked Him: Lord! my servant lies at home in relaxation and suffers severely. Jesus says to him: I will come and heal him. The centurion, answering, said: Lord! I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.”(Mat. 8:5-8). The centurion received a concrete, living word from God in his situation, and his servant was healed! With such a word, a person will live! We all need just such a word that fills us with inner strength!

Without inner strength from God, we cannot do anything good in life. A physically weak person who has not eaten for several days may understand what he needs to do, but he simply will not have the strength to do it. The same thing happens in the lives of many Christians: with their minds they understand how to live and do the right thing, but they can't do it for one reason - there is no inner strength.

The apostle Peter speaks of believers as those who “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time”(1 Peter 1:5). “Respected” means “retained”. We cannot be saved, we cannot come to heaven on our own - there is not enough enthusiasm. This is possible only by the power of God! How do we get this power? "By the power of God through faith," which comes “by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”(Rom. 10:17).

The Word of God is the decisive factor in our lives. Without the word dwelling in us, problems are inevitable. Jesus Christ addresses people full of problems: “And you do not have His word abiding in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent”(John 5:38).

What is the first thing we think about when we wake up and start our day? About urgent calls, pressing matters and the problems around us? What is first for us is our god. Why in the Old Testament did God speak of the firstborn, the first fruits, the first sheaves? Did He really want to take something away from people? No, not to take away, but to show people who their god really is.

God wants to be our God. And God reveals His word and speaks to those for whom He is God, to those for whom He is in the first place.

If we wake up and set aside our first time to spend it with God, the rest days will pass in God's blessing and arrangement. For many people, this seems impossible. But it's worth the time to separate yourself and dwell in the Kingdom of God, which is "not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

A normal Christian life is when our hearts are filled not with fear and vanity, not with guilt and condemnation, but with righteousness, peace and joy! Jesus Christ came to give us abundant life, but how does it work in practice? When, with all our busyness, we give the first time to God. Without doing this, anyway, we will spend all our strength on solving problems during the day, and most of it on completely unnecessary things, vanity, worries, experiences. So isn't it better to spend these forces on being in communion with God at the beginning of the day?

Without communion with God, our life becomes like an unfilled car: we try to go somewhere, achieve something, but nothing works, we stand still. We try to clean up, but it turns out even more disorder. We “make things right” endlessly, but sooner or later everything falls into disrepair.

Dear brothers and sisters! Our lives can change and become different if we only decide every day to consistently start our day with prayer and the Word of God. Problems will be solved not only by our forces or calculations, but God Himself will help us and arrange everything in an amazing way, disposing the hearts of people, giving us all the necessary wisdom and understanding in all our affairs. When the word from God is within us, we will be full of vitality, because "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

With love in Christ,
your brother and shepherd Leonid Padun

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“Man shall not live by bread alone” (Matt. 4:4)

How do our contemporaries understand this phrase?

This quote has a sequel. That is, if we hear God, trust His providence, do His will - this will be life. Because bread is also from Him.

Svetlana, 41 years old, a refugee from the Luhansk region, Lipetsk:

For me, it's when my son is around. When a loved one comes home. When the "animal" is with me. When a sister and nephew express a desire to be together.

Maria, 24 years old, temporarily unemployed, Aachen (Germany):

Bread identifies material things. And for life, a person needs spiritual food, communion with God and knowledge of God. This is necessary for the salvation of the soul. People know how to live by one "bread", especially in European society, but I think this is not enough for the life of the soul.

Daria, 26 years old, civil servant, Sevastopol:

Spiritual food is much more important for human life. This is what distinguishes us from animals.

Anton, 29 years old, an employee of a real estate agency, Kiev:

I take it as a cruel banter on the modern values ​​of society. Although given that the expression appeared long before it took shape modern society, - I want to cry. For thousands of years, people have at least sketches of a constructive path of development, and "things are still there." The phrase hints that a person is something more complicated and higher than a simple animal with a set of physiological needs. There must be nourishment and constant growth of the inner, spiritual world. With the ability to empathize, love, forgive, think. Otherwise, a person runs the risk of sliding down to the level of an animal, or entering into a confrontation with his own inner world.

Patristic interpretation:

Moses, calming his people, tired of the long return from Egyptian captivity, said that God did not in vain subject the people of Israel to such trials: “He humbled you, made you hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know and your fathers did not know, in order to show you, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. The man lives."

In the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew, this expression is also found. When Jesus was in the wilderness and kept a long fast, “the tempter came to Him and said: If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. And he answered and said to him, It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

In modern Russia, the expression gained additional popularity after the publication (1956) of the novel “Not by Bread Alone” by Vladimir Dudintsev (1918-1998).
The meaning of the expression: for a person to be completely happy, material well-being is not enough, he needs spiritual food, moral satisfaction.