Reference: Manna
American
The miraculous food given by God to the Israelites during their wanderings in the desert. It was a small grain, white like hoarfrost, round, and of the size of coriander-seed, Ex 16; Nu 11. It fell every morning, with the dew, about the camp of the Israelites, and in so great quantities during the whole forty years of their journey in the wilderness, that it was sufficient to serve the entire multitude instead of bread, Ex 16:35; De 29:5-6; Jos 5:12. It is nowhere said that the Israelites had no other food, that numerous flocks and herds accompanied the camp of Israel is clear from many passages. Certainly the daily sacrifices were offered, and no doubt to her offerings affording animal food on which the priests and Levites subsisted, according to their offices.
When manna was first sent the Israelites "knew not what it was," and "said one to another, MAN-HU, which means, What is it? Most interpreters think that form the frequent repetition of this inquiry the name MAN or manna arose. Burckhardt says, that in the valleys around Sinai a species of manna is still found, dropping from the sprigs of several trees, but principally from the tamarisk, in the month of June. It is collected by the Arabs, who make cakes of it, and call it honey of betrouk. See Ex 16:31. Since his time it has been ascertained by Dr. Ehrenburg that the exudation of this manna is occasioned by an insect, which he has particularly described. Besides this substance and the manna of commerce, which is used as a laxative medicine, and is produced by the ash-trees of southern Europe, several other vegetable products in Arabia, Persia, etc., of similar origin and qualities, are known by the same name. It is in vain, however, to seek to identify with any of these the manna of the Israelites, which was evidently a special provision for them, beginning and terminating with their need of it. It was found, not on trees and shrubs, but on "the face of the wilderness" wherever they went; and was different in its qualities from any now known by that name, being dry enough to grind and bake like grain, but breeding worms on the second day. It was miraculous in the amount that fell, for the supply of millions; in not falling on the Sabbath; in falling in double quantities the previous day; and in remaining fresh during the Sabbath. By these last three peculiarities God miraculously attested the sanctity of the Sabbath, as dating from the creation and not from Mount Sinai. Moreover, a specimen of manna as laid up in a golden vase in the ark of the covenant in memory of a substance which would otherwise have perished, Heb 9:4.
In Ps 78:24-25, manna is called "angels' food" and "corn of heaven," in token of its excellence, and that it came directly from the hand of God. The people gathered on an average about three quarts for each man. They who gathered more than they needed, shared it freely with others; it could not be hoarded up: and thus, as Paul teaches us, 2Co 8:13-15, it furnishes for all men a lesson against hoarding the earthly and perishable gifts of God, and in favor of freely imparting to our brethren in need.
This great boon of God to the Israelites also offers many striking analogies, illustrative of "the true Bead" which came down form heaven to rebellious and perishing man, Joh 6:31-58; Re 2:17. Like the manna, Christ descends from above around the camp of his church in daily abundant supplies, to meet the wants of every man.
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and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey.
And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan.
and I cause you to go forty years in a wilderness; your garments have not been consumed from off you, and thy shoe hath not worn away from off thy foot; bread ye have not eaten, and wine and strong drink ye have not drunk, so that ye know that I am Jehovah your God.
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them. Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.
our fathers the manna did eat in the wilderness, according as it is having been written, Bread out of the heaven He gave them to eat.' Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread out of the heaven; but my Father doth give you the true bread out of the heaven; read more. for the bread of God is that which is coming down out of the heaven, and giving life to the world.' They said, therefore, unto him, 'Sir, always give us this bread.' And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of the life; he who is coming unto me may not hunger, and he who is believing in me may not thirst -- at any time; but I said to you, that ye also have seen me, and ye believe not; all that the Father doth give to me will come unto me; and him who is coming unto me, I may in no wise cast without, because I have come down out of the heaven, not that I may do my will, but the will of Him who sent me. 'And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that all that He hath given to me I may not lose of it, but may raise it up in the last day; and this is the will of Him who sent me, that every one who is beholding the Son, and is believing in him, may have life age-during, and I will raise him up in the last day.' The Jews, therefore, were murmuring at him, because he said, 'I am the bread that came down out of the heaven;' and they said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have known? how then saith this one -- Out of the heaven I have come down?' Jesus answered, therefore, and said to them, 'Murmur not one with another; no one is able to come unto me, if the Father who sent me may not draw him, and I will raise him up in the last day; it is having been written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God; every one therefore who heard from the Father, and learned, cometh to me; not that any one hath seen the Father, except he who is from God, he hath seen the Father. 'Verily, verily, I say to you, He who is believing in me, hath life age-during; I am the bread of the life; your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they died; this is the bread that out of the heaven is coming down, that any one may eat of it, and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of the heaven; if any one may eat of this bread he shall live -- to the age; and the bread also that I will give is my flesh, that I will give for the life of the world.' The Jews, therefore, were striving with one another, saying, 'How is this one able to give us his flesh to eat?' Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, If ye may not eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and may not drink his blood, ye have no life in yourselves; he who is eating my flesh, and is drinking my blood, hath life age-during, and I will raise him up in the last day; for my flesh truly is food, and my blood truly is drink; he who is eating my flesh, and is drinking my blood, doth remain in me, and I in him. 'According as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, he also who is eating me, even that one shall live because of me; this is the bread that came down out of the heaven; not as your fathers did eat the manna, and died; he who is eating this bread shall live -- to the age.'
for not that for others release, and ye pressured, do I speak, but by equality, at the present time your abundance -- for their want, that also their abundance may be for your want, that there may be equality, read more. according as it hath been written, 'He who did gather much, had nothing over; and he who did gather little, had no lack.'
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid all round about with gold, in which is the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.
Easton
Heb man-hu, "What is that?" the name given by the Israelites to the food miraculously supplied to them during their wanderings in the wilderness (Ex 16:15-35). The name is commonly taken as derived from man, an expression of surprise, "What is it?" but more probably it is derived from manan, meaning "to allot," and hence denoting an "allotment" or a "gift." This "gift" from God is described as "a small round thing," like the "hoar-frost on the ground," and "like coriander seed," "of the colour of bdellium," and in taste "like wafers made with honey." It was capable of being baked and boiled, ground in mills, or beaten in a mortar (Ex 16:23; Nu 11:7). If any was kept over till the following morning, it became corrupt with worms; but as on the Sabbath none fell, on the preceding day a double portion was given, and that could be kept over to supply the wants of the Sabbath without becoming corrupt. Directions concerning the gathering of it are fully given (Ex 16:16-18,33; De 8:3,16). It fell for the first time after the eighth encampment in the desert of Sin, and was daily furnished, except on the Sabbath, for all the years of the wanderings, till they encamped at Gilgal, after crossing the Jordan, when it suddenly ceased, and where they "did eat of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more" (Jos 5:12). They now no longer needed the "bread of the wilderness."
This manna was evidently altogether a miraculous gift, wholly different from any natural product with which we are acquainted, and which bears this name. The manna of European commerce comes chiefly from Calabria and Sicily. It drops from the twigs of a species of ash (Illustration: Flower of Manna Ash) during the months of June and July. At night it is fluid and resembles dew, but in the morning it begins to harden. The manna of the Sinaitic peninsula is an exudation from the "manna-tamarisk" tree (Tamarix mannifera, Illustration: Branch of Manna-Tamarisk Tree), the el-tarfah of the Arabs. This tree is found at the present day in certain well-watered valleys in the peninsula of Sinai. The manna with which the people of Israel were fed for forty years differs in many particulars from all these natural products.
Our Lord refers to the manna when he calls himself the "true bread from heaven" (Joh 6:31-35; 21:25). He is also the "hidden manna" (Re 2:17; comp. Joh 6:49,51).
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And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What is it?' for they have not known what it is; and Moses saith unto them, 'It is the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food. This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.'
This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.' And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering little;
And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering little; and they measure with an omer, and he who is gathering much hath nothing over, and he who is gathering little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered.
and they measure with an omer, and he who is gathering much hath nothing over, and he who is gathering little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered. And Moses saith unto them, 'Let no man leave of it till morning;' read more. and they have not hearkened unto Moses, and some of them do leave of it till morning, and it bringeth up worms and stinketh; and Moses is wroth with them. And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted. And it cometh to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the company come in, and declare to Moses. And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.'
And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.' And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it. read more. And Moses saith, 'Eat it to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field: six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day -- the sabbath -- in it there is none.' And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws? see, because Jehovah hath given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; abide ye each in his place, no one doth go out from his place on the seventh day.' And the people rest on the seventh day, and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey. And Moses saith, 'This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.' And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;'
And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;' as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge. read more. And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan.
And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach;
'And He doth humble thee, and cause thee to hunger and doth cause thee to eat the manna (which thou hast not known, even thy fathers have not known), in order to cause thee to know that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every produce of the mouth of Jehovah man doth live.
who is causing thee to eat manna in the wilderness, which thy fathers have not known, in order to humble thee, and in order to try thee, to do thee good in thy latter end),
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
our fathers the manna did eat in the wilderness, according as it is having been written, Bread out of the heaven He gave them to eat.' Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread out of the heaven; but my Father doth give you the true bread out of the heaven; read more. for the bread of God is that which is coming down out of the heaven, and giving life to the world.' They said, therefore, unto him, 'Sir, always give us this bread.' And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of the life; he who is coming unto me may not hunger, and he who is believing in me may not thirst -- at any time;
your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they died;
I am the living bread that came down out of the heaven; if any one may eat of this bread he shall live -- to the age; and the bread also that I will give is my flesh, that I will give for the life of the world.'
And there are also many other things -- as many as Jesus did -- which, if they may be written one by one, not even the world itself I think to have place for the books written. Amen.
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.
Fausets
There is a connection between the natural manna and the supernatural. The natural is the sweet juice of the tarfa, a kind of tamarisk. It exudes in May for about six weeks from the trunk and branches in hot weather, and forms small round white grains. It retains its consistency in cool weather, but melts with heat. It is gathered from the twigs or from the fallen leaves. The Arabs, after boiling and straining, use it as honey with bread. The color is a greyish-yellow, the taste sweet and aromatic. Ehrenberg says it is produced by an insect's puncture. It abounds in rainy seasons, some years it ceases. About 600 or 700 pounds is the present produce of a year. The region wady Gharandel (Elim) and Sinai, the wady Sheich, and some other parts of the peninsula, are the places where it is found. The name is still its Arabic designation, and is read on the Egyptian monuments (mennu, mennu hut, "white manna".) Gesenius derives it from manah, "to apportion." The supernatural character of the manna of Exodus at the same time appears.
(1) It was found not under the tamarisk, but on the surface of the wilderness, after the morning dew had disappeared.
(2) The quantity gathered in a single day exceeded the present produce of a year.
(3) It ceased on the sabbath.
(4) Its properties were distinct; it could be ground and baked as meal, it was not a mere condiment but nutritious as bread.
(5) It was found not merely where it still is, but Israel's whole way to Canaan (and not merely for a month or two each year, but all the year round). The miracle has all the conditions and characteristics of divine interpositions.
(1) A necessity, for Israel could not otherwise have been sustained in the wilderness.
(2) A divine purpose, namely to preserve God's peculiar people on which His whole providential government and man's salvation depended.
(3) Harmony between the natural and the supernatural; God fed them, not with the food of other regions, but with that of the district.
The local coloring is marked. Moses the writer could neither have been deceived as to the fact, nor could have deceived contemporaries and eye-witnesses. (Speaker's Commentary) The Scripture allusions to it are in Ex 16:14-36; Nu 11:7-9; De 8:3-16; Jos 5:12; Ps 78:24-25 ("angels' food"; not as if angels ate food, but food from the habitation of angels, heaven, a directly miraculous gift), Mt 4:4; Joh 6:31-50; 1Co 10:3. The manna was a "small round thing as the hoar-frost on the ground," falling with the dew on the camp at night. They gathered it early every morning before the sun melted it.
If laid by for any following day except the sabbath it bred worms and stank. It was like coriander seed and bdellium, white, and its taste as the taste of fresh oil, like wafers made with honey (Nu 11:7-9). Israel subsisted on it for 40 years; it suddenly ceased when they got the first new grain of Canaan. Vulgate, Septuagint, and Josephus (Ant. 3:1, sec. 6) derive manna from Israel's question to one another, maan huw' " 'what is this?' for they knew not what it was." God "gave it to His beloved (in) sleep" (Ps 127:2), so the sense and context require. Israel each morning, in awaking, found it already provided without toil. Such is the gospel, the gift of grace, not the fruit of works; free to all, and needed by high and low as indispensable for true life.
To commemorate Israel's living on omers or tenth deals of manna one omer was put into a golden pot and preserved for many generations beside the ark. Each was to gather according to his eating, an omer apiece for each in his tent, a command testing their obedience, in which some failed, gathering more but gaining nought by it, for however much he gathered, on measuring it in his tent he found he had only as much as he needed for his family; type of Christian charity, which is to make the superfluity of some supply the needs of others. "that there may be equality" (2Co 8:14-15); "our luxuries should yield to our neighbor's comforts, and our comforts to his necessities" (John Howard). The manna typifies Christ.
(1) It falls from above (Joh 6:32, etc.) as the dew (Ps 110:3; Mic 5:7) round the camp, i.e. the visible church, and nowhere else; the gift of God for which we toil not (Joh 6:28-29); when we were without merit or strength (Ro 5:6,8).
(2) It was gathered early; so we, before the world's heat of excitement melt away the good of God's gift to us (Ps 63:1; Ho 5:15; 6:4; Mt 13:6).
(3) A double portion must be gathered for the sabbath.
(4) It was ground in the mill, as Christ was "bruised" for us to become our "bread of life."
(5) Sweet as honey to the taste (Ps 34:8; 119:103; 1Pe 2:3).
(6) It must be gathered "day by day," fresh each day; so today's grace will not suffice for tomorrow (1Ki 8:59 margin; Mt 6:11; Lu 11:3). Hoarded up it putrefied; so gospel doctrine laid up for speculation, not received in love and digested as spiritual food, becomes a savor of death not life (1Co 8:1).
(7) To the carnal it was "dry" food though really like "fresh oil" (Nu 11:6,8; 21:5): so the gospel to the worldly who long for fleshly pleasures of Egypt, but to the spiritual it is full of the rich savor of the Holy Spirit (2Co 2:14-16).
(8) Its preservation in the golden pot in the holiest typifies Jesus, now in the heavenly holiest place, where He gives of the hidden manna to him that overcometh (Re 2:17); He is the manna hidden from the world but revealed to the believer, who has now a foretaste of His preciousness; like the incorruptible manna in the sanctuary, the spiritual food offered to all who reject the world's dainties for Christ is everlasting, an incorruptible body, and life in Christ at the resurrection.
(9) The manna continued with Israel throughout their wilderness journey; so Christ with His people here (Mt 28:19).
(10) It ceases when they gain the promised rest, for faith then gives place to sight and the wilderness manna to the fruit of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God (Re 2:7; 22:2,14).
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and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth. And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What is it?' for they have not known what it is; and Moses saith unto them, 'It is the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food. read more. This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.' And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering little; and they measure with an omer, and he who is gathering much hath nothing over, and he who is gathering little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered. And Moses saith unto them, 'Let no man leave of it till morning;' and they have not hearkened unto Moses, and some of them do leave of it till morning, and it bringeth up worms and stinketh; and Moses is wroth with them. And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted. And it cometh to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the company come in, and declare to Moses. And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.' And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it. And Moses saith, 'Eat it to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field: six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day -- the sabbath -- in it there is none.' And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws? see, because Jehovah hath given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; abide ye each in his place, no one doth go out from his place on the seventh day.' And the people rest on the seventh day, and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey. And Moses saith, 'This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.' And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;' as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge. And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan. and the omer is a tenth of the ephah.
and now our soul is dry, there is not anything, save the manna, before our eyes.' And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach;
And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach; the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil.
the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil.
the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil. And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it.
And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it.
and the people speak against God, and against Moses, 'Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to die in a wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water, and our soul hath been weary of this light bread.'
'And He doth humble thee, and cause thee to hunger and doth cause thee to eat the manna (which thou hast not known, even thy fathers have not known), in order to cause thee to know that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every produce of the mouth of Jehovah man doth live. 'Thy raiment hath not worn out from off thee, and thy foot hath not swelled these forty years, read more. and thou hast known, with thy heart, that as a man chastiseth his son Jehovah thy God is chastising thee, and thou hast kept the commands of Jehovah thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. 'For Jehovah thy God is bringing thee in unto a good land, a land of brooks of waters, of fountains, and of depths coming out in valley and in mountain: a land of wheat, and barley, and vine, and fig, and pomegranate; a land of oil olive and honey; a land in which without scarcity thou dost eat bread, thou dost not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of its mountains thou dost dig brass; and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied, and hast blessed Jehovah thy God, on the good land which he hath given to thee. 'Take heed to thyself, lest thou forget Jehovah thy God so as not to keep His commands, and His judgments, and His statutes which I am commanding thee to-day; lest thou eat, and hast been satisfied, and good houses dost build, and hast inhabited; and thy herd and thy flock be multiplied, and silver and gold be multiplied to thee; and all that is thine be multiplied: 'And thy heart hath been high, and thou hast forgotten Jehovah thy God (who is bringing thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants; who is causing thee to go in the great and the terrible wilderness -- burning serpent, and scorpion, and thirst -- where there is no water; who is bringing out to thee waters from the flinty rock; who is causing thee to eat manna in the wilderness, which thy fathers have not known, in order to humble thee, and in order to try thee, to do thee good in thy latter end),
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
and these my words with which I have made supplication before Jehovah, are near unto Jehovah our God by day and by night, to maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of a day in its day;
Taste ye and see that Jehovah is good, O the happiness of the man who trusteth in Him.
A Psalm of David, in his being in the wilderness of Judah. O God, Thou art my God, earnestly do I seek Thee, Thirsted for Thee hath my soul, Longed for Thee hath my flesh, In a land dry and weary, without waters.
And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them. Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.
Thy people are free-will gifts in the day of Thy strength, in the honours of holiness, From the womb, from the morning, Thou hast the dew of thy youth.
With all my heart I have sought Thee, Let me not err from Thy commands.
Vain for you who are rising early, Who delay sitting, eating the bread of griefs, So He giveth to His beloved one sleep.
I go -- I turn back unto My place, Till that they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they do seek Me speedily!'
What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness is as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early -- going.
And the remnant of Jacob hath been in the midst of many peoples, As dew from Jehovah -- as showers on the herb, That waiteth not for man, nor stayeth for the sons of men.
But he answering said, 'It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.'
'Our appointed bread give us to-day.
and the sun having risen they were scorched, and through not having root, they withered,
having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing them -- to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
our appointed bread be giving us daily;
They said therefore unto him, 'What may we do that we may work the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that ye may believe in him whom He did send.'
our fathers the manna did eat in the wilderness, according as it is having been written, Bread out of the heaven He gave them to eat.' Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread out of the heaven; but my Father doth give you the true bread out of the heaven;
Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread out of the heaven; but my Father doth give you the true bread out of the heaven; for the bread of God is that which is coming down out of the heaven, and giving life to the world.' read more. They said, therefore, unto him, 'Sir, always give us this bread.' And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of the life; he who is coming unto me may not hunger, and he who is believing in me may not thirst -- at any time; but I said to you, that ye also have seen me, and ye believe not; all that the Father doth give to me will come unto me; and him who is coming unto me, I may in no wise cast without, because I have come down out of the heaven, not that I may do my will, but the will of Him who sent me. 'And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that all that He hath given to me I may not lose of it, but may raise it up in the last day; and this is the will of Him who sent me, that every one who is beholding the Son, and is believing in him, may have life age-during, and I will raise him up in the last day.' The Jews, therefore, were murmuring at him, because he said, 'I am the bread that came down out of the heaven;' and they said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have known? how then saith this one -- Out of the heaven I have come down?' Jesus answered, therefore, and said to them, 'Murmur not one with another; no one is able to come unto me, if the Father who sent me may not draw him, and I will raise him up in the last day; it is having been written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God; every one therefore who heard from the Father, and learned, cometh to me; not that any one hath seen the Father, except he who is from God, he hath seen the Father. 'Verily, verily, I say to you, He who is believing in me, hath life age-during; I am the bread of the life; your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they died; this is the bread that out of the heaven is coming down, that any one may eat of it, and not die.
For in our being still ailing, Christ in due time did die for the impious;
and God doth commend His own love to us, that, in our being still sinners, Christ did die for us;
And concerning the things sacrificed to idols, we have known that we all have knowledge: knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up;
and to God are thanks, who at all times is leading us in triumph in the Christ, and the fragrance of His knowledge He is manifesting through us in every place, because of Christ a sweet fragrance we are to God, in those being saved, and in those being lost; read more. to the one, indeed, a fragrance of death to death, and to the other, a fragrance of life to life; and for these things who is sufficient?
but by equality, at the present time your abundance -- for their want, that also their abundance may be for your want, that there may be equality, according as it hath been written, 'He who did gather much, had nothing over; and he who did gather little, had no lack.'
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming -- I will give to him to eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God.
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.
in the midst of its broad place, and of the river on this side and on that, is a tree of life, yielding twelve fruits, in each several month rendering its fruits, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations;
'Happy are those doing His commands that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of the life, and by the gates they may enter into the city;
Hastings
The food of the Israelites during the wanderings (Ex 16:1; Jos 5:12), but not the only food available. Documents of various dates speak of (a) cattle (Ex 17:3; 19:13; 34:3; Nu 7:3,6 f.), especially in connexion with sacrifice (Ex 24:5; 32:8; Le 8:2,25,31; 9:4; 10:14; Nu 7:15 ff.); (b) flour (Nu 7:13,19,25 etc., Le 10:12; 24:5); (c) food in general (De 2:3; Jos 1:11).
1. The origin of the word is uncertain. In Ex 16:13 the exclamation might be rendered, 'It is m
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And they journey from Elim, and all the company of the sons of Israel come in unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt.
And it cometh to pass in the evening, that the quail cometh up, and covereth the camp, and in the morning there hath been the lying of dew round about the camp, and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth. read more. And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What is it?' for they have not known what it is; and Moses saith unto them, 'It is the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food.
and they measure with an omer, and he who is gathering much hath nothing over, and he who is gathering little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered. And Moses saith unto them, 'Let no man leave of it till morning;'
And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted.
And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.'
And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.'
and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey.
and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey.
and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey.
And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;'
and the people thirst there for water, and the people murmur against Moses, and say, 'Why is this? -- thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to put us to death, also our sons and our cattle, with thirst.'
a hand cometh not against him, for he is certainly stoned or shot through, whether beast or man it liveth not; in the drawing out of the jubilee cornet they go up into the mount.'
and he sendeth the youths of the sons of Israel, and they cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah -- calves.
they have turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
and no man cometh up with thee, and also no man is seen in all the mount, also the flock and the herd do not feed over-against that mount.'
'Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bullock of the sin-offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened things,
and taketh the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that is on the inwards, and the redundance above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right leg;
And Moses saith unto Aaron, and unto his sons, 'Boil ye the flesh at the opening of the tent of meeting, and there ye do eat it and the bread which is in the basket of the consecrations, as I have commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons do eat it.
and a bullock and a ram for peace-offerings, to sacrifice before Jehovah, and a present mixed with oil; for to-day Jehovah hath appeared unto you.'
And Moses speaketh unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar his sons, who are left, 'Take ye the present that is left from the fire-offerings of Jehovah, and eat it unleavened near the altar, for it is most holy,
'And the breast of the wave-offering, and the leg of the heave-offering, ye do eat in a clean place, thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee; for thy portion and the portion of thy sons they have been given, out of the sacrifices of peace-offerings of the sons of Israel;
'And thou hast taken flour, and hast baked twelve cakes with it, two tenth deals are in the one cake,
yea, they bring their offering before Jehovah, six waggons covered, and twelve oxen -- a waggon for two of the princes, and an ox for one -- and they bring them near before the tabernacle.
And his offering is one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty shekels; one silver bowl of seventy shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of flour mixed with oil, for a present;
one bullock, a son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, a son of a year, for a burnt-offering;
He hath brought near his offering, one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty shekels; one silver bowl of seventy shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of flour mixed with oil, for a present;
his offering is one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty shekels; one silver bowl of seventy shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of flour mixed with oil, for a present;
And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach;
And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach; the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil.
the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil.
Enough to you -- is the going round of this mount; turn for yourselves northward.
'Pass over into the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provision, for within three days ye are passing over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you to possess it.'
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
There is nothing in the ark, only the two tables of stone which Moses put there in Horeb, when Jehovah covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt.
'And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,
If to the king it be good, there goeth forth a royal word from before him, and it is written with the laws of Persia and Media, and doth not pass away, that Vashti doth not come in before the king Ahasuerus, and her royalty doth the king give to her companion who is better than she;
And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.
Sing ye to Him -- sing praise to Him, Meditate ye on all His wonders.
They have asked, and He bringeth quails, And with bread of heaven satisfieth them.
our fathers the manna did eat in the wilderness, according as it is having been written, Bread out of the heaven He gave them to eat.'
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid all round about with gold, in which is the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.
Morish
The food miraculously supplied from heaven to the Israelites during the forty years of their wanderings. Its name signifies 'what is it?' for they knew not what it was. It fell every morning except on the Sabbath, and had to be gathered early, or it melted. If kept till the second day it bred worms, except the double quantity gathered on the day before the Sabbath, which was good on the second day. The quantity to be gathered was on an average an omer (about 4 pints) for every man. Some gathered more and some less, and when they measured it with an omer "he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating."
The explanation given by the Rabbis is that though several in a family went out to gather the manna, when it was brought home and measured it was found to be just an omer for each of them. The more probable explanation is that though on an average an omer was the portion for each, some needed more and others less, and therefore every one gathered 'according to his eating,' according to what he knew he would require, and thus every one had enough and there was nothing wasted. The former part of the passage is quoted in 2Co 8:15, to show that in making a collection for the poor saints there should be the carrying out of this divine principle of 'equality,' the abundance of some contributing to the need of others.
The manna ceased as soon as the Israelites had crossed the Jordan, and eaten of the old corn of the promised land. The manna is described as being like coriander seed, of the colour of bdellium. It was ground in mills, or pounded in a mortar, and baked in pans, or made into cakes. It tasted like wafers made with honey, Ex 16:31; but afterwards, when the people had lost their relish for it, like fresh oil. Nu 11:6-9. The people, alas, murmured because they had nothing to eat but the manna.
The manna is typical of Christ Himself, the vessel of God's good pleasure, and of heavenly grace here on earth
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And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What is it?' for they have not known what it is; and Moses saith unto them, 'It is the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food. This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.' read more. And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering little; and they measure with an omer, and he who is gathering much hath nothing over, and he who is gathering little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered. And Moses saith unto them, 'Let no man leave of it till morning;' and they have not hearkened unto Moses, and some of them do leave of it till morning, and it bringeth up worms and stinketh; and Moses is wroth with them. And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted. And it cometh to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the company come in, and declare to Moses. And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.' And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it. And Moses saith, 'Eat it to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field: six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day -- the sabbath -- in it there is none.' And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws? see, because Jehovah hath given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; abide ye each in his place, no one doth go out from his place on the seventh day.' And the people rest on the seventh day, and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey.
and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey. And Moses saith, 'This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.' read more. And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;' as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge. And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan.
and now our soul is dry, there is not anything, save the manna, before our eyes.' And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach; read more. the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil. And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it.
'And He doth humble thee, and cause thee to hunger and doth cause thee to eat the manna (which thou hast not known, even thy fathers have not known), in order to cause thee to know that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every produce of the mouth of Jehovah man doth live.
who is causing thee to eat manna in the wilderness, which thy fathers have not known, in order to humble thee, and in order to try thee, to do thee good in thy latter end),
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
'And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,
And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.
according as it hath been written, 'He who did gather much, had nothing over; and he who did gather little, had no lack.'
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid all round about with gold, in which is the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.
Smith
(what is this?) (Heb. man). The most important passages of the Old Testament on this topic are the following:
Ex 16:14-36; Nu 11:7-9; De 11:5,16; Jos 5:12; Ps 78:24-25
From these passages we learn that the manna came every morning except the Sabbath, in the form of a small round seed resembling the hear frost that it must be gathered early, before the sun became so hot as to melt it; that it must be gathered every day except the Sabbath; that the attempt to lay aside for a succeeding day, except on the clay immediately preceding the Sabbath, failed by the substance becoming wormy and offensive; that it was prepared for food by grinding and baking; that its taste was like fresh oil, and like wafers made with honey, equally agreeable to all palates; that the whole nation, of at least 2,000,000, subsisted upon it for forty years; that it suddenly ceased when they first got the new corn of the land of Canaan; and that it was always regarded as a miraculous gift directly from God, and not as a product of nature. The natural products of the Arabian deserts and other Oriental regions which bear the name of manna have not the qualities or uses ascribed to the manna of Scripture. The latter substance was undoubtedly wholly miraculous, and not in any respect a product of nature, though its name may have come from its resemblance to the natural manna The substance now called manna in the Arabian desert through which the Israelites passed is collected in the month of June from the tarfa or tamarisk shrub (Tamarix gallica). According to Burckhardt it drops from the thorns on the sticks and leaves with which the ground is covered, and must be gathered early in the day or it will be melted by the sun. The Arabs cleanse and boil it, strain it through a cloth and put it in leathern bottles; and in this way it can be kept uninjured for several years. They use it like honey or butter with their unleavened bread, but never make it into cakes or eat it by itself. The whole harvest, which amounts to only five or six hundred pounds, is consumed by the Bedouins, "who," says Schaff consider it the greatest dainty their country affords." The manna of European commerce conies mostly from Calabria and Sicily. It's gathered during the months of June and July from some species of ash (Ornus europaea and O. rotundifolia), from which it drops in consequence of a puncture by an insect resembling the locust, but distinguished from it by having a sting under its body. The substance is fluid at night and resembles the dew but in the morning it begins to harden.
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and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth. And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What is it?' for they have not known what it is; and Moses saith unto them, 'It is the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food. read more. This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.' And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering little; and they measure with an omer, and he who is gathering much hath nothing over, and he who is gathering little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered. And Moses saith unto them, 'Let no man leave of it till morning;' and they have not hearkened unto Moses, and some of them do leave of it till morning, and it bringeth up worms and stinketh; and Moses is wroth with them. And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted. And it cometh to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the company come in, and declare to Moses. And he saith unto them, 'It is that which Jehovah hath spoken of; a rest -- a holy sabbath to Jehovah -- is to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.' And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it. And Moses saith, 'Eat it to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field: six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day -- the sabbath -- in it there is none.' And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws? see, because Jehovah hath given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; abide ye each in his place, no one doth go out from his place on the seventh day.' And the people rest on the seventh day, and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey. And Moses saith, 'This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.' And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;' as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge. And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan. and the omer is a tenth of the ephah.
And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach; the people have turned aside and gathered it, and ground it with millstones, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil. read more. And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it.
and that which He hath done to you in the wilderness, till your coming in unto this place;
'Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be enticed, and ye have turned aside, and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them,
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them. Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.
Watsons
MANNA, ??, Ex 16:15,33,35; Nu 11:6-7,9; Jos 5:12; Ne 9:20; Ps 78:24; ?????, Joh 6:31,49,58; Heb 9:4; Re 2:17; the food which God gave the children of Israel during their continuance in the deserts of Arabia, from the eighth encampment in the wilderness of Sin. Moses describes it as white like hoar frost, round, and of the bigness of coriander seed. It fell every morning upon the dew; and when the dew was exhaled by the heat of the sun, the manna appeared alone, lying upon the rocks or the sand. It fell every day except on the Sabbath, and this only around the camp of the Israelites. Every sixth day there fell a double quantity; and though it putrefied and bred maggots when it was kept any other day, yet on the Sabbath there was no such alteration. The same substance which was melted by the heat of the sun when it was left abroad, was of so hard a consistence when brought into the tent, that it was beaten in mortars, and would even endure the fire, being made into cakes and baked in pans. It fell in so great quantities during the whole forty years of their journey, that it was sufficient to feed the whole multitude of above a million of souls. Every man, that is, every male or head of a family, was to gather each day the quantity of an omer, about three quarts English measure; and it is observed that "he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack," because his gathering was in proportion to the number of persons for whom he had to provide. Or every man gathered as much as he could; and then, when brought home and measured by an omer, if he had a surplus, it went to supply the wants of some other family that had not been able to collect a sufficiency, the family being large, and the time in which the manna might be gathered, before the heat of the day, not being sufficient to collect enough for so numerous a household, several of whom might be so confined as not to be able to collect for themselves. Thus there was an equality; and in this light the words of St. Paul lead us to view the passage, 2Co 8:15. To commemorate their living upon manna, the Israelites were directed to put one omer of it into a golden vase; and it was preserved for many generations by the side of the ark.
Our translators and others make a plain contradiction in the relation of this account of the manna, by rendering it thus: "And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna; for they knew not what it was;" whereas the Septuagint, and several authors, both ancient and modern, have translated the text according to the original: "The Israelites seeing this, said one to another, What is it? ?? ???; they could not give it a name. Moses immediately answers the question, and says, "This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat." From Ex 16:31, we learn that this substance was afterward called ??, probably in commemoration of the question they had asked on its first appearance. What this substance was, we know not. It was nothing that was common in the wilderness. It is evident that the Israelites never saw it before; for Moses says, "He fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know," De 8:3,16; and it is very likely that nothing of the kind had ever been seen before; and by a pot of it being laid up in the ark, it is as likely that nothing of the kind ever appeared after the miraculous supply in the wilderness had ceased. The author of the book of Wisdom, 16:20, 21, says, that the manna so accommodated itself to every one's taste that it proved palatable and pleasing to all. It has been remarked that at this day, what is called manna is found in several places; in Arabia, on Mount Libanus, Calabria, and elsewhere. The most famous is that of Arabia, which is a kind of condensed honey, which exudes from the leaves of trees, from whence it is collected when it has become concreted. Salmasius thinks this of the same kind which fed the children of Israel; and that the miracle lay, not in creating any new substance, but in making it fall duly at a set time every day throughout the whole year, and that in such plenty as to suffice so great a multitude. But in order for this, the Israelites must be supposed every day to have been in the neighbourhood of the trees on which this substance is formed; which was not the case, neither do these trees grow in those deserts. Beside, this kind of manna is purgative, and the stomach could not endure it in such quantity as is implied by its being eaten for food. The whole history of the giving the manna is evidently miraculous; and the manna was truly "bread from heaven," as sent by special interposition of God.
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And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What is it?' for they have not known what it is; and Moses saith unto them, 'It is the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food.
and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it is as coriander seed, white; and its taste is as a cake with honey.
And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;'
And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan.
and now our soul is dry, there is not anything, save the manna, before our eyes.' And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach;
And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it.
'And He doth humble thee, and cause thee to hunger and doth cause thee to eat the manna (which thou hast not known, even thy fathers have not known), in order to cause thee to know that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every produce of the mouth of Jehovah man doth live.
who is causing thee to eat manna in the wilderness, which thy fathers have not known, in order to humble thee, and in order to try thee, to do thee good in thy latter end),
and the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
'And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,
And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.
our fathers the manna did eat in the wilderness, according as it is having been written, Bread out of the heaven He gave them to eat.'
your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they died;
this is the bread that came down out of the heaven; not as your fathers did eat the manna, and died; he who is eating this bread shall live -- to the age.'
according as it hath been written, 'He who did gather much, had nothing over; and he who did gather little, had no lack.'
having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid all round about with gold, in which is the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the covenant,
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving it.