What did they mean, “The money has failed?” They meant simply that compared to the value of life-giving grain, the money was worth nothing. Why would a man facing starvation want to give up his remaining supply of grain in order to get some money? What would the money do for him? He wanted life, not money, and grain offered life.
Because the money had failed, it had fallen to almost zero value. So, in order to buy food, the people had been forced to spend all their money. Now they were without food and had worthless money.
