manna Summary and Overview

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; Num. 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; Deut. 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" (Josh. 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 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), 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" (John 6:31-35; 48-51). He is also the "hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17; compare John 6:49,51).

(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.

MAN'NA (Heb. what is this ?), a substance miraculously furnished to the children of Israel on their journey through the wilderness, and designed as a substitute for bread, the material for which they could not raise during their wanderings. It was called the bread from heaven, and its character and history are most fully described in Ex 16. The most remarkable things about the manna of the Israelites were, 1. That double the quantity was supplied on the day preceding the Sabbath or seventh day; 2. That on the Sabbath or seventh day none was furnished; 3. That what they kept from the sixth day to the seventh was sweet and good, while what they kept from any other day to the next day bred worms and became offensive. These miracles were wrought in attestation of the sanctity of the Sabbath. The manna of the Jews is described as "a small round thing," as small as "the hoarfrost on the ground," "like coriander seed" (in shape doubtless, perhaps in size and density), "of the color of bdellium," "and the taste of it like wafers made with honey." Wafers were small thin cakes of fine flour mingled with oil and used in various offerings. Lev 2:4; Num 7:12. If to this mixture was added a portion of honey, there would be the nourishment of the flour, the flavor of fresh oil, and the sweetness of honey. For forty years this miraculous supply of food was furnished daily to between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 of people. Deut 29:5-6. It ceased while they were encamped at Gilgal, immediately after they had celebrated the Passover for the first time in the Land of Promise. To commemorate this long-continued and wonderful miracle, Moses was instructed that a golden pot should be provided, Ex 16:33; Heb 9:4, and that an omer (or one man's portion) of the manna should be put up for preservation and placed in or near the ark, that succeeding generations might see with their own eyes the very substance on which their fathers were miraculously fed in their long and perilous journeyingS from Egypt to Canaan. The manna which is now used in medicine as a mild laxative is the dried juice of the ash (Ornitfi), and is obtained from Southern Europe. It evidently has no connection with the food of the Israelites. Various natural exudations from Eastern shrubs and trees are called by this name, their sweet taste and the globular form under which they are ordinarily found occasioning a fancied resemblance to the manna of the Israelites. Especially notable is that which drops from the twigs of the tamarisk, or tarfa, in the deserts of Mount Sinai, and is gathered by the Arabs for food and sold to Tamamnrisk or Manna Tree of the Sinaitic Peninsula. travellers as a curiosity. Although the natives call this substance manna, the manna which the Israelites found in the same locality was entirely different in several particulars. The Arab manna falls only where the tamarisks grow and during early summer; it may be kept years without breeding worms; it cannot be ground or beaten into meal, Num 11:8, more than could thick honey; it comes on Sabbath and week-day in equal quantities. It is plain that the Israelites never saw their manna before or after the Exodus. Deut 8:3, Ex 17:16; Ex 16:15, Ex 16:32-33. An Eastern traveller gives the following account (in part verified by the writer) of the modern manna of Arabia: "This substance is called by the Bedouins mann, and accurately resembles the description of manna given in the Scriptures. In the month of June it drops from the thorns" (the fresh stems; the tamarisk has no thorns) "of the tamarisk upon the fallen twigs, leaves, and thorns which always cover the ground beneath that tree in the natural state; the manna is collected before sunrise, when it is coagulated; but it dissolves as soon as the sun shines upon it. The Arabs clean away the leaves, dirt, etc., which adhere to it, boil it, strain it through a coarse piece of cloth, and put it in leathern skins. In this way they preserve it till the following year, and use it as they do honey - to pour over unleavened bread or to dip their bread into. I could not learn that they ever made it into cakes or loaves. The manna is found only in years when copious rains have fallen; sometimes it is not produced at all. I saw none of it among the Arabs, but I obtained a small piece of the last year's produce in the convent (of Mount Sinai), where, having been kept in the cool shade and moderate temperature of that place, it had become quite solid and formed a small cake. It became soft when kept some time in the hand; if placed in the sun for five minutes, it dissolved; but when restored to a cool place, it became solid again in a quarter of an hour. In the season at which the Arabs gather it, it never acquires that state of hardness which will allow of its being pounded, as the Israelites are said to have done in Num 11:8, Its color is a dirty yellow, and the piece which I saw was still mixed with bits of tamarisk leaves; its taste is agreeable, somewhat aromatic, and as sweet as honey. If eaten in any considerable quantity, it is said to be slightly medicinal. The quantity of manna collected at present, even in seasons when the most copious rains fall, is trifling, perhaps not amounting to more than 500 or 600 pounds. It is entirely consumed among the Bedouins, who consider it the greatest dainty which their country affords. The harvest is usually in June, and lasts for about six weeks." Some authors have also suggested a lichen (Lecanora esculenta) as the manna of the Israelites. This small plant grows on the deserts and mountains of the East, in the neighborhood of the Caucasus especially. It forms small grayish lumps, sometimes as large as a hazel-nut, yielding the same nourishment to the tribes of the Asiatic steppes as does the larger lichen called tripe de roche to our Arctic explorers in their extremity. The natives consider that this food comes from heaven, and call it manna. In considerable quantity it is sometimes taken up by the wind and let fall at a distance. Parrot says that these "rains of manna" have been known to cover the ground in some parts of Persia to the depth of five or six inches. The sugary exudation from the leaves and branches of the camel's thorn (Alhagi maurorum) of the Sinai deserts has been called Persian manna, and been believed by a few to have supplied the Israelites. "Wherever the manna is referred to in Scripture, it is invariably regarded as a miraculous food sent directly from God. The Lord Jesus, when he accepted the manna as a type of himself - the living Bread which came down from heaven - corrects the error of those who, in seeking a sign from him, insinuated that the bread from heaven given by Moses, by which he secured the confidence of their fathers, was a greater miracle than the feeding of the five thousand, and says that it was the gift of God, and not of Moses. We are led to the same conclusion by comparing its properties and amount and the manner of its occurrence with what is known of the natural mannas, and we must regret all attempts to identify the 'corn of heaven' with any of them. Yet we have no doubt that this wilderness-food so closely resembled in general appearance the Egyptian manna as to justify the name given to it by those who first saw it. In the same way, emigrants apply names of familiar home-plants to the strange trees and plants they meet with because of some observed resemblance, though they are widely removed from each other in scientific character. The adopting a manna-like appearance for the miraculous food is in accordance with the general plan of God's miracles as recorded in his word. For example, the Lord Jesus did not bring bread from heaven to feed the hungering multitudes on the green slopes of the Sea of Galilee, but employed the loaves and fishes which were the common food of the country, and by miraculously increasing the small supply found in the possession of one in the company made it sufficient for all. So, when his people hungered for flesh in the desert, God sent them quails -- migrating birds which occasionally passed in flocks over the wilderness; and when they wanted bread, in full keeping with the locality, God gave them 'manna,' as if he were only multiplying the natural product of the wilderness." -- W. Carruthers. Manna is called the "corn of heaven" and "angels' food," Ps 78:24-25, perhaps in allusion to the mode by which it was supplied. The phrase "hidden manna," Rev 2:17, figuratively describes the support which Christ furnishes to the true believer, of which the world does not and cannot partake. Comp. John 6:49, Josh 15:61.

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 Exodus 16:14-36; Numbers 11:7-9; Deuteronomy 8:3-16; Joshua 5:12; Psalm 78:24-25 ("angels' food"; not as if angels ate food, but food from the habitation of angels, heaven, a directly miraculous gift), Matthew 4:4; John 6:31-50; 1 Corinthians 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 (Numbers 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" (Psalm 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" (2 Corinthians 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 (John 6:32, etc.) as the dew (Psalm 110:3; Micah 5:7) round the camp, i.e. the visible church, and nowhere else; the gift of God for which we toil not (John 6:28-29); when we were without merit or strength (Romans 5:6; Romans 5:8). (2) It was gathered early; so we, before the world's heat of excitement melt away the good of God's gift to us (Psalm 63:1; Hosea 5:15; Hosea 6:4; Matthew 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 (Psalm 34:8; Psalm 119:103; 1 Peter 2:3). (6) It must be gathered "day by day," fresh each day; so today's grace will not suffice for tomorrow (1 Kings 8:59 margin; Matthew 6:11; Luke 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 (1 Corinthians 8:1). (7) To the carnal it was "dry" food though really like "fresh oil" (Numbers 11:6; Numbers 11:8; Numbers 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 (2 Corinthians 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 (Revelation 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 (Matthew 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 (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2; Revelation 22:14).