One of the more interesting Hebrew words I’ve come across is manna.
First, to place manna in Biblical history:
Manna in the Bible
The word manna is initially found in Exodus 16, also in Numbers 11, and in Moses’ recap – Deuteronomy 8, and later in a few other places.
Beginning in Exodus 7, the Israelites had seen the works of YHVH.
The Ten Plagues upon Egypt
- The Plague of Blood – Exodus 7:14-24
- The Plague of Frogs – Exodus 8:1-15
- The Plague of Gnats – Exodus 8:16-19
- The Plague of Flies – Exodus 8:20-32
- The Plague on Livestock – Exodus 9:1-7
- The Plague of Boils – Exodus 9:8-12
- The Plague of Hail – Exodus 9:13-35
- The Plague of Locusts – Exodus 10:1-20
- The Plague of Darkness – Exodus 10:21-29
- The Plague on the Firstborn – Exodus 11, Exodus 12
Yes, they had seen the Ten Plagues, including the death of the firstborn (Exodus 12:29-32), which was the plague that “passed over” (Exodus 12:13) the Israelites because of the blood of the Pascha3957/ Pesach6453/ Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:1-13).
They had walked ‘between the waters’ at the Yam Suph, the ‘Red Sea’ crossing.
Check it out!
For an edifying and enjoyable investigation of the ‘Red Sea crossing,’ see the films of Director Tim Mahoney:
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle
Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle – Part II
The Israelites had viewed the Egyptian army destroyed by power of the closing water.
The Israelites had witnessed YeHoVaH’s provision of water from the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:6) and later, at Kadesh (Numbers 20:1, 8).
In Egypt, Moses had told Pharoah that YeHoVaH,
16 …’The LORD [YHVH], the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” Exodus 7:16 NASB
Finally, after the death of the firstborn of Pharoah, and of all in Egypt without the blood of the lamb, Pharoah let the Israelites go.
29 Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.
31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said.
32 “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
33 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” Exodus 12:29-33 NASB
They had seen the ‘hand of YHVH’ at work, for their sake.
Leaving Egypt
Moses was taking the Israelites out to worship the God revealed to Moses:
YHVH3068, “I AM who I AM,” ’ehyeh1961 ‘asher834 ’ehyeh1961 (Exodus 3:14).
Moses was taking the Israelites to Horeb, the Mountain of God, to the site of the burning bush which Moses had turned aside to see.
1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” Exodus 3:1-4 NASB
The Israelites were going to Mount Horeb to encounter
6 “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” Exodus 3:6 NASB
The Israelites were going to the Mountain of God, to meet that God, the One Moses had encountered.
13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I AM1961 WHO834 I AM1961“; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM1961 has sent me to you.’ “
15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD3068, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. Exodus 3:13-15 NASB
The Israelites were going to the Mountain of God, to worship that God whose Name is represented by the Hebrew letters yod, hey, vav, hey, called the Tetragrammaton, YHVH3068: ‘YeHoVaH.’
Why I Use the Hebrew Name for God: YHVH – YeHoVaH
However, today,
… as in most English versions, we find יהוה represented by the English word “LORD.”
But this is not a translation of יהוה, it is a kind of substitution, which obscures the fact that the passage [Exodus 3:13-15] is making an etymological connection between the word אֶהְיֶה “I am” and יהוה “he is” or “he who is.”
יהוה The Translation of the Tetragrammaton by Michael Marlowe 2011 9
The Introduction of Manna
Nevertheless, while traveling through the wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:1), before they came to the place where they were to worship YHVH, the Israelites ran out of food.
And they complained to Moses:
3 The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:3 NASB
Then YeHoVaH provided. YeHoVaH promised them “bread from heaven.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. Exodus 16:4 NASB
Manna: The Bread From Heaven
Descriptions of the “bread from heaven” include
… a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground … (Exodus 16:14 NASB)
… coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium … (Numbers 11:7 NASB)
This miraculously appearing edible substance came to be called manna4478.
31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. Exodus 16: 31 NASB
Nothing like it had ever been seen before, so they asked each other (and I’m sure, Moses):
“What is it?
“What is this thing we are to eat?
15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. Exodus 16:15 NASB
Unfortunately, BibleStudyTools.com does not give the etymology of this word, merely a definition.
manna
man4478 H Noun : manna (a kind of bread)
The source of the word manna itself is, curiously, questionable.
One etymology I found:
When the heavenly bread began to rain down, in the original Hebrew the people of Israel asked:
“Ma’n Hu?” {?מן הוא} – English for “what is it?” and that is the origin of the name “manna” (In Hebrew the name is “man” {מן}).
What does the word “manna”mean in Hebrew?
Several more ideas:
Some say that mon means a portion of food.
They did not know what it was, but they knew that it was a portion of ready-to-eat food, so they called it just that.
Others explain that mon is Egyptian for “what.”
Over the 200-plus years that they had lived in Egypt, a fair amount of Egyptian had crept into their lexicon.
Thus, when they said, “It is manna,” what they were actually saying was, “What is it?”
Eventually, that became the name of the mystery food that they had found.
A third interpretation is that the root word of mon means status or importance.
In other words, they saw the stuff fall from heaven, did not know what it was, but were absolutely sure that it was something special.
What Does “Manna” Mean? by Menachem Posner
So, the Israelites just called it:
“What’s it?”
Manna: “What’s It?“
I can hear it now:
“What’s for breakfast?” – “‘What’s it?’”
“What’s for lunch?” – “‘What’s it?’”
“Em517 (Mom), can I have a snack?” – “Sure, there’s some ‘What’s it?’ in that basket over there.”
“What’s for dinner?” – “‘What’s it?’”
[A bit rather like ‘Who’s on First’ to me. (Abbott and Costello)]
Preparing the Manna
Exodus 16:23 NASB says the substance was boiled and baked.
23b Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil,”
According to Numbers 11: 8 NASB
8 The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil.
So, while the Israelites were in the wilderness they ate manna.
35 The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. Exodus 16:35 NASB
Complaining About the Manna
Not that the Israelites were happy about eating manna for forty years.
The children of Israel began to act like children again.
Moaning and wailing to Moses about eating “What’s it?” day-in and day-out.
They whined, ‘We want meat.’
4 The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?
5 “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,
6 but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.“ Numbers 11:4-6 NASB
Let’s listen in again:
“Nooo! Not ‘What is it?’ again!”
“At least I hope it’s not boiled.”
“Oh no! Not more ‘What is it?‘!!!”
“Aww. It’s boring to have it for breakfast every day. I certainly don’t like to eat ‘What is it?’ again for supper.”
“Em (Mom), can I have a snack? Please, not ‘What is it?’”
“Sorry my lambkin, that’s all there is. Take it or leave it.”
“What’s for supper, dear?”
“What do you think? We’re having ‘What’s it?’“
“Honey, how did you cook the ‘What’s it?‘ tonight?”
“I just looove your ‘What is it?’ cakes, even more than your ‘What is it?’ flatbread.
[Hummm. This one, I think NOT!]
Nor was YeHoVaH pleased.
His anger burned.
1 Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
2 The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out.
3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them. Numbers 11:1-3 NASB
Consequently, He gave them more than they wanted, more than they could eat, until they were sick of eating meat.
18 “Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat.
19 ‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20 but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?””‘ Numbers 11:18-20 NASB
Yes, YeHoVaH provided.
12 “I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’ “
13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. Exodus 16:12-13 NASB
The Purpose of Manna
The purpose of the manna appears, to me, three-fold.
First, as evidence of YHVH’s provision.
9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:9-11 NASB
Second, as evidence for their Faith, to grow their Faith through Obedience and Trust.
25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.
26 “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.”
27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? Exodus 16:25-28 NASB
5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6 NASB
Third, as a foreshadowing of the true manna from Heaven: the bread of life – Yeshua, the Messiah.
33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:33-35 NASB
Et Tu?
All the same, whenever I read about the Israelites and the Exodus, I am continually astonished at their behavior.
At the complaining, the grumbling and groaning, the muttering and moaning.
I admit that, at times, I am judgmental and condemning.
But sometimes I wonder.
I wonder if I, too, would be so ungracious, so unthankful, so distrustful, so disobedient.
I wonder if I, too, would fail to have faith in the Ever-faith-full One.
I hope not.
Manna as the Bread of Life
Instead …
I pray that I am (?becoming?) more Christ-like than to behave in such a way.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB
I seek to seek the manna that is the ‘word of God’ and the ‘bread of God.’
3 He [YHVH] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3 NASB
4 But He [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ “ Matthew 4:4 NASB
Jesus commanded:
27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” John 6:27 NASB
Therefore,
I seek to eat of the ‘other manna’: the Bread of Life,
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:35 NASB
I seek the ‘Word of God’ who gives the ‘word of God.’
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NASB
34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. John 3:34 NASB
I seek the ‘Word of God’ Who gives the ‘Bread of Life.’
33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” John 6:33 NASB
I seek the Bread that IS the Body of Christ, the Body of our Messiah.
26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Matthew 26:26 NASB;Mark 14:22 NASB
Responding to the Gift of Manna: The Bread of Life
However, partaking of the Bread of Life is not easy.
In fact, because of Yeshua proclaiming Himself as the Bread of Life, many of the disciples of Jesus, the talmidim of Yeshua, left Him, and did not walk with Him anymore.
47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
48 “I am the bread of life.
49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50 “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
51 “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.“
52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
58 “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”
60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?“
66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. John 6:47-58, 60, 68 NASB
I pray that I am always like Peter answering Jesus:
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”
68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. John 6:67-68 NASB
Receive the Gift. Eat of the Manna. Eat of the Bread of Life
… we have to trust in the Lord and obey him.
We need to trust in the bread of life, the true manna, for our physical and spiritual well-being.
What Is Manna in the Bible? by Hope Bolinger
Please, dear ones, precious ‘brothers- and sisters-in-Christ,’ don’t let the ‘hard words of the Bible’ drive you away from the Bible.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:14-16 NASB
Don’t let the un-belief, the non-belief, and the mis-belief of the world affect your beliefs.
Heed what Paul wrote to Timothy:
20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge ” –
21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you. 1 Timothy 6:20-21 NASB
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
17 and their talk will spread like gangrene … 2 Timothy 2:15-17a NASB
Don’t let false prophets and false teachers deceive you.
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Peter 2:1 NASB
Instead, with, by, and in the power of the Holy Spirit,
…. be transformed
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NASB
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB
… that you may be holy [wholly dedicated to YHVH]
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 NASB
… always remembering:
‘Holy’ is NOT to be pure or sinless.
Holy (hagios40) is “set apart by (or for) God.”
‘Holy’ is being different from the common, being set apart as sacred, consecrated (given wholly over) to YeHoVaH.
Therefore, “ask, seek, and knock” (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9)
… and receive …
8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:8 NASB; Luke 11:10 NASB
… wisdom …
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 NASB
… and truth.
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13 NASB
Be a Berean: Check It Out!
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:10-11 NASB
Then you, like the Bereans, can study the Scriptures, the Word of God, the Holy Bible.
Then you, like the Bereans, can check for yourself if what you hear from others is indeed the Word of God, the revealed Truth of YeHoVaH.
Then you, like the Bereans, can decide for yourself, if what you are being taught is Biblical Truth or personal opinion (or even deception) stated as fact.
Remember,
It’s ok to doubt, if you check it out!
Blessings,
TLThomas
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