מן, Exod. xvi, 15, 33, 35; Num. xi, 6, 7, 9; Josh. v, 12; Neh.
ix, 20; Psa. lxxviii, 24; μάννα, John vi, 31, 49, 58; Heb. ix, 4; Rev.
ii, 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, 2 Cor.
viii, 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? מן הוא;
for they knew not what it was,” and therefore 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 Exod. xvi, 31, we
learn that this substance was afterward called מן, 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,” Deut. viii, 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, xvi, 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
he 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.
ix, 20; Psa. lxxviii, 24; μάννα, John vi, 31, 49, 58; Heb. ix, 4; Rev.
ii, 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, 2 Cor.
viii, 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? מן הוא;
for they knew not what it was,” and therefore 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 Exod. xvi, 31, we
learn that this substance was afterward called מן, 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,” Deut. viii, 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, xvi, 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
he 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.