Manna (, ; ), sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is described in the Bible and the Quran as an edible substance that God bestowed upon the Israelites while they were wandering the desert during the 40-year period that followed the Exodus and preceded the conquest of Canaan.
Description
Biblical narrative In the Hebrew Bible, manna is described twice: once in Exodus 16:1–36 with the full narrative surrounding it, and once again in Numbers 11:1–9 as a part of a separate narrative. In the description in the Book of Exodus, manna is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground.. It is described in the Book of Numbers as arriving with the dew during the night.. Exodus adds that it had to be collected before it was melted by the heat of the Sun,. and that it was like a coriander seed in size, but white in colour..
Numbers describes it as having the appearance of bdellium, However, commentators such as John Gill prefer to interpret the Hebrew word bəḏōlaḥ, usually translated "bdellium", as a reference to a white precious stone (John Gill, Commentary on Numbers 11:7). Others translate the word as "gum resin," "hoar frost," "pearl" or "amber." (BibleHub) adding that the Israelites ground it and pounded it into cakes, which were then baked, resulting in something that tasted like cakes baked with oil.. Exodus states that raw manna tasted like wafers that had been made with honey. The Israelites were instructed to eat only the manna they had gathered for each day. Stored manna "bred worms and stank",. the exception being that stored the day before the Sabbath (Preparation Day), when twice the amount of manna was gathered. This manna did not spoil overnight. Exodus 16:23–24 states:
This is what the commanded: "Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the . So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning". So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.Bible, New International Version.
Quranic narrative The word mana appears three times in the Quran, at 2:57, 7:160, and 20:80. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim that Muhammad said: "Truffles are part of the 'manna' which God sent to the people of Israel through Moses, and its juice is a medicine for the eye."Hadith:https://sunnah.com/mishkat:4569
Identification
In the biblical account, the name Manna is said to derive from the question "man hu?" (), seemingly meaning "What is it?",. which is perhaps derived from Aramaic, not Hebrew. Man is possibly cognate with the Arabic term man (), meaning aphids, with man hu thus meaning "this is aphids", which fits one widespread modern identification of manna as the crystallized honeydew of certain scale insects (lerp). In the environment of a desert, such honeydew rapidly dries due to evaporation of its water content, becoming a sticky solid, and later turning whitish, yellowish, or brownish.
In particular, there is a scale insect that feeds on tamarisk, the Tamarisk manna scale (Trabutina mannipara), the secretions of which are often considered to be the prime candidate for biblical manna. At the turn of the twentieth century, Arabs of the Sinai Peninsula were selling this substance as man es-simma من السما, roughly meaning "heavenly manna". Tamarisk trees (particularly Tamarix gallica) were once comparatively extensive throughout the southern Sinai, and the honeydew produced by the Tamarisk manna scale is similar to wax, melts in the sun, is sweet and aromatic (like honey), and has a dirty-yellow color, fitting somewhat with the biblical descriptions of manna. However, being mostly composed of sugar, it would be unlikely to provide sufficient nutrition for a population to survive over long periods of time, and it would be very difficult for it to have been compacted into cakes..
Another type of honeydew is turkey oak manna, also called Persian gezengevi-gezo, men, Turkish kudret helvasi, man-es-simma, also Diarbekir manna, or Kurdish manna. It is called gezo and shoka. It is formed by aphids and appears white. It is common across Iranian Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkish Kurdistan. When dried it forms into crystalline lumps which are hard and look like stone. They are pounded before inclusion in breads."Sherbet & Spice: The complete story of Turkish sweets & desserts" by Mary Isin, publisher I.B. Tauris, .
Some scholars have proposed that manna is cognate with the Egyptian term mennu (mnw), which designated a substance that figured in offerings; a white aromatic plant that smelled of antiu (possibly myrrh).Georg Ebers, Durch Gosen zum Sinai, p. 226, Paul Pierret, Vocabulaire hiéroglyphique, p. 212.James P. Allen (2010). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 171, 257.
Other researchers have believed manna to be a form of lichen a plant-like colony that often has a low mass per unit volume density and a large "sail area". In particular, Lecanora esculenta has been postulated. Known natural aerial falls of various lichens have been described as occurring in accounts separate from that in the Bible. "In some parts of Asia Lecanora esculenta covers the soil to such a degree that, according to Parrot, it forms beds 15 to 20 centimetres thick."
In 1921, the American consul in Jerusalem reported to the American government that he had identified manna as a "form of dew" that "hardens and assumes the form of a grain" when it falls on the leaves of oak trees.
Differences
Some form critics posit conflicting descriptions of manna as derived from different lore, with the description in Numbers being from the Jahwist tradition, and the description in Exodus being from the later Priestly tradition. The Babylonian Talmud states that the differences in description were due to the taste varying depending on who ate it, with it tasting like honey for small children, like bread for youths, and like oil for the elderly.Yoma 75b. Similarly, classical rabbinical literature rectifies the question of whether manna came before or after dew, by holding that the manna was sandwiched between two layers of dew, one falling before the manna, and the other after.
Origin Manna is from Heaven, according to the Hebrew Bible, . and to Jesus in the New Testament,. but the various identifications of manna are naturalistic. In the Mishnah, manna is treated as a natural but unique substance, "created during the twilight of the sixth day of Creation",Pirkei Avot 5:9. and ensured to be clean, before it arrives, by the sweeping of the ground by a northern wind and subsequent rains.Mekhilta, Beshalah, Wayassa, p. 3. According to classical rabbinical literature, manna was ground in a heavenly mill for the use of the righteous, but some of it was allocated to the wicked and left for them to grind themselves.
Use and function
Until they reached Canaan, the Israelites are implied by some passages in the Bible to have eaten only manna during their desert sojourn,. despite the availability of milk and meat from the livestock with which they traveled, and the references to provisions of fine flour, oil, and meat, in parts of the journey's narrative.
As a natural food substance, manna would produce waste products; but in classical rabbinical literature, as a supernatural substance, it was held that manna produced no waste, resulting in no defecation among the Israelites until several decades later, when the manna had ceased to fall.Sifre (on Numbers), pp. 87–89. Modern medical science suggests the lack of defecation over such a long period of time would cause severe bowel problems, especially when other food later began to be consumed again. Classical rabbinical writers say that the Israelites complained about the lack of defecation, and were concerned about potential bowel problems.
Many Christian vegetarians say that God had originally intended that man would not eat meat, because plants cannot move and killing them would not be sinful: manna, a non-meat substance, is used to support this theory. Further, when the people complained and wished for quail, God gave it to them, but they apparently still complained and some greedily gathered the quail. "While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people.".
Food was not manna's only use; one classical rabbinical source states that the fragrant odor of manna was used in a Jewish perfume.
Gathering
Exodus says each day one omer of manna was gathered per family member (about 3.64 litres),. and may imply this was regardless of how much effort was put into gathering it.. A midrash attributed to Rabbi Tanhuma remarks that although some were diligent enough to go into the fields to gather manna, others just lay down lazily and caught it with their outstretched hands.Tanhuma, Beshalah 22. The Talmud states that this factor was used to solve disputes about the ownership of slaves, since the number of omers of manna each household could gather would indicate how many people were legitimately part of the household.Yoma 75a. The omers of manna for stolen slaves could be gathered only by legitimate owners, and therefore legitimate owners would have spare omers of manna.
According to the Talmud, manna was found near the homes of those with strong belief in God, and far from the homes of those with doubts; indeed, one classical midrash says that manna was intangible to Gentiles, as it would inevitably slip from their hands.Midrash Abkir (on Exodus), p. 258. The Midrash Tanhuma holds that manna melted, formed liquid streams, was drunk by animals, flavored the animal flesh, and was thus indirectly eaten by Gentiles, this being the only way that Gentiles could taste manna.Midrash Tanhuma.
Despite these hints of uneven distribution, classical rabbinical literature expresses the view that manna fell in very large quantities each day. It holds that manna was layered out over 2,000 cubits square, between 50 and 60 cubits in height, enough to nourish the Israelites for 2,000 years and to be seen from the palaces of every king in the East and West.Yoma 76a.
Sabbath
According to Exodus, Shabbat (Sabbath) was reinstituted the first week manna appeared.. It states that twice as much manna as usual was available on the sixth morning of the week, and none at all could be found on the seventh day;, , . although manna usually rotted and became maggot-infested after a single night, that which had been collected on the sixth day remained fresh until the second night.. Moses stated that the double portion of Preparation Day was to be consumed on Shabbat; and that God instructed him that no one should leave his place on Shabbat,. so that the people could rest during it..
Form critics regard this part of the manna narrative to be spliced together from the Yahwist and Priestly traditions, with the Yahwist tradition emphasizing rest during Shabbat, while the Priestly tradition merely states that Shabbat exists, implying that the meaning of "Shabbat" was already known. These critics regard this part of the manna narrative as an etiological supernature story designed to explain the origin of Shabbat observance, which in reality was probably pre-Mosaic.
Duration of supply