ישעיהו, פרק ה׳, פסוק י״ג

A society that sinks into material desires and ignores Divine providence ultimately faces total ruin. When a nation loses its spiritual path, exile and severe deprivation follow as a direct consequence. The root cause of this exile is a profound lack of awareness. The people refused to recognize God's ways or reflect on their own actions, leaving their hearts empty of any meaningful knowledge [רש״י, מצודת דוד, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. It is specifically because of this willful ignorance that they are driven into exile [מלבי״ם].

The resulting punishment unfolds exactly measure for measure. Because the people dedicated themselves to chasing food, drink, and physical pleasures, they are struck with intense hunger and thirst [רד״ק]. The impending disaster impacts all levels of society, with the suffering initially categorized among two main classes. The wealthy, influential, and honored citizens [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ], whose primary ambition was to constantly increase their riches, are reduced to men of hunger [מלבי״ם]. The primary approach among commentators is that they are left as starving men, rather than literally dying of hunger [רד״ק].

Meanwhile, the common masses are struck with a severe, agonizing thirst, serving as a direct counterbalance to their previous sins of excessive drinking and indulging in alcohol [רש״י, מלבי״ם]. Their thirst is an absolute, internal dryness that leaves their throats completely parched like a barren rock [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם, רד״ק]. Some even associate the intensity of this dryness with the harshness of a pure, blinding light [אבן עזרא].

Ultimately, the distinction between the wealthy starving and the masses thirsting is purely stylistic. They are all equally men of hunger and men of thirst [מצודת דוד, אבן עזרא]. In reality, both the upper classes and the common people share the exact same fate, suffering equally from both the famine and the drought [רד״ק].