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Easton's Bible Dictionary

 

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Manna
        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; comp. John 6:49,51).
Bibliography Information
Easton, Matthew George. M.A., D.D., "Definition for 'Manna' Eastons Bible Dictionary".
bible-history.com - Eastons; 1897.

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