5582. 'Turn back, buy a little food for us' means that, so as to have life, they should acquire the good of spiritual truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'buying' as acquiring and making one's own, dealt with in 4397, 5374, 5397, 5406, 5410, 5426; and from the meaning of 'food' as the good of truth, dealt with in 5340, 5342. Here the good of spiritual truth is meant, because this kind of good is the subject in what follows. That the purpose was for them to have life follows from this.