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Bible Dictionaries
Manna
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Manna, (what is this? Heb. mân). The chief food of the Israelites in the wilderness. Exodus 16:14-36; Numbers 11:7-9; Deuteronomy 8:3; Deuteronomy 8:16; Joshua 5:12; Psalms 78:24-25. 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." For forty years this miraculous supply of food was furnished daily to between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 of people. Deuteronomy 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 wonderful miracle a golden pot was provided, Exodus 16:33; Hebrews 9:4, and an omer (or one man's portion) of the manna 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 juice of the flowering ash, a native of Sicily, Calabria, and other parts of the south of Europe. It is either naturally concreted, or exsiccated, and purified by art. The best manna is in oblong pieces or flakes of a pale yellow color; light, friable, and somewhat transparent. It has no characteristics in common with the manna miraculously supplied to the Israelites while journeying through the wilderness. Wherever the manna is referred to in Scripture, it is invariably regarded as a miraculous food sent directly from God. The Lord Jesus accepted the manna as a type of himself—the living bread which came down from heaven. "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world." John 6:33; John 6:48; John 6:50. The phrase "hidden manna," Revelation 2:17, figuratively describes the spiritual food which Christ supplies to those who believe in him and live by faith in him.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Manna'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/m/manna.html. 1893.
