Homily for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)
Based
on Jn 6:24-35 (Gospel), Ex 16:2-4, 12-15 (First Reading) and (Second
Reading)
From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
MANNA FROM HEAVEN
Today’s gospel reading is taken fromJn. 6:24-35. Verse by verse, this particular scripture
goes this way:
Verses 24, 25 and 26 say: When
the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into
those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus.When they found him on
the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’Jesus
answered: I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have
seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Parallel text is Jn 2:11 that says: This was the first of the signsf given by Jesus: it was
given at Cana in Galilee. Footnote f says“For
credentials, every true prophet must have ‘signs’, or wonders worked in God’s
name, Is 7:11, etc.; cf. Jn 3:2; 6:29-30; 7:3,31; 9:16,33; of the Messiah it
was expected that he would repeat the Mosaic miracles, 1:21+. Jesus, therefore,
works ‘signs’ in order to stimulate faith in his divine mission, 2:11,23;
4:48-54; 11:15,42; 12:37; cf.3:11+. And indeed his ‘works’ show that God has
sent him, 5:36; 10:25,37, that the Father is within him, 10:30+, manifesting
the divine glory in power, 1:14+; it is the Father himself who does the works,
14:10; 10:38. But many refuse to believe, 3:12; 5:38-47; 6:36,64; 7:5; 8:45;
10:25; 12:37; and their sin ‘remains’,
9:41; 15:24. Cf. Mt. 8:3+.”
Verse 27 and 28 say: Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures
to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offeringfyou,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’g Then they
said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’Footnotes
f says “Var ‘will offer’”;
and Footnote g says “The ‘seal’ that Jesus received at his
baptism, namely the spirit, Mt 3:16+, who is the power of God operative in Christ’s
‘signs’. Cf. Ac 10:38; Mt 12:28; Ep. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Co 1:22”.
Parallel texts of verse 27 are:
a.
Is 55:2 - Why spend money on what is not bread,
your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me and you will have
good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.
b.
Lk 10:42 - …and yet few are needed, indeed only
one.j It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be
taken from her.’ Footnote j says “Var. ‘but only one thing is needed’, ‘but only a few things are
needed’, readings which make free with the text and deform the sense. In his
remark Jesus rises from the material plane (“few things are needed”, i.. for
the meal) to the one thing necessary’, which is to listen to the word of God.”
c. Mt
8:20 - Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Manh has nowhere to lay his head.’ Footnote hstates:
“With the exception of Ac 7:56, Rv 1:13;
14:14; this title appears only in the
gospels. There is no doubt that Jesus used it of himself, and indeed
preferred it to others. At times he uses it to express his lowly state, 8:20;
11:19; 20:28, especially the humiliation of the Passion, 17:22, etc. At others
times it is used to proclaim the definitive triumph of his resurrection, 17:9,
of his return in glory, 24:30; of his coming in judgment, 25:31. That this
title, Aramaic in flavor, could bring together these seemingly opposed qualities is clear from the following
considerations. The phrase originally meant ‘man’, Ezk. 2:1+, and by reason of
its unusual and indirect form it underlined the lowliness of man’s state. But
the title suggested glory, too. It was used in Dn 7:13+, and later in the
Jewish apocalyptic Book of Enoch, to indicate the transcendent figure, heavenly
in origin, who was to receive from God’s hand the eschatological kingdom (the
kingdom ‘at the end of times’). In this way therefore the title both veiled and
hinted at (cf. Mk. 1:34+; Mt. 13:13+) the sort of Messiah Jesus was. Moreover,
the explicit avowal in the presence of the Sanhedrin, 26:64+, should have
removed all ambiguity.”
Verse 29 says: Jesus
gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God;h you must believe
in the one he has sent.’ Footnote h says “For ‘works’ in the Jewish sense Jesus substitute faith in God’s envoy.”
Parallel texts are:
a.
Mt 8:10 - When
Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you
solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faithb like this.
Footnote bstates: “The faith that Jesus asks for from the
outset of public life (Mk. 1:15) and throughout his subsequent career, is that
act of trust and self-abandonment by which people no longer rely on their own
strength and policies but commit themselves to the power and guiding word of
him in whom they believe (Lk. 1:20,45; Mt. 21:25p,32). Christ asks for this
faith especially when he works his miracles(8:13;
9:2p; 22p, 28-29; 15:28; Mk 5:36p;10:52p; Lk 17:19) which are not so much acts
of mercy as signs attesting his mission and witnessing to the kingdom (8:3+;
cf. Jn 2:11+), hence he cannot work miraclesunless he finds the faith without
which the miracle lose their true significance (13:58p; 12;38-39; 16:1-4).
Since the faith demands the sacrifice of the whole man, mind and heart, it is
not an easy act of humility to perform; many decline it, particularly in Israel
(8:10p; 15:28; 27:42p; Lk 18;8), or are half-hearted (Mk 9;24; Lk 8;13). Even
the disciples are slow to believe (8:26p; 14;31; 18;8; 17:20p) and are still
reluctant after the resurrection (28;17; Mk 16:11-14; Lk 24;11,25,41). The most
generous faith of all, of the ‘Rock’ (16:16-18), the disciples leader, was
destined to the shaken by the outrage of the Passion (26:69-75p) though it was
to triumph in the end (Lk 22:32). When faith is strong it works wonders
(17:20p; 21:21p; Mk 16:17) and its appeal is never refused (21:22p; Mk 9:23)
especially when it asks for forgiveness of sin (9:2p; Lk 7:50) and for that
salvation of which it is the necessary condition (Lk 8;12; Mk 16:16, cf. Ac
3:16+).”
b.
Mt 8:10 - The
Pharisees and Saducees came and test test him they asked if he would show them
a sign from heaven (v. 1) He replied, ‘In the evening you say, “It will be
fine; there is a red sky” (v. 2), and in the morning, “Stormy weather today;
the sky is red and overcast”. You know how to read the face of the sky, but you
cannot read the signs of the timesa (v. 3). It is an evil and
unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is
the sign of Jonah.’ And leaving them standing there, he went away (v.
4).Footnotea says: “Om. ‘In
the evening…of the times’. The ‘times’ are the messianic age: the ‘signs’ are
the miracles worked by Jesus: cf. 11:3-5; 12:38.”
c.
Lk 11:29-32 - The sign of Jonah: The
crowd got even bigger and he addressed them, ‘This is a wicked generation; it
is asking for a sign.g The only sign it will be given is the sign of
Jonah (v. 29). For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the
Son of Man be to this generation.h (v. 30).On Judgment day the Queen
of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and
there is something greater than Solomon here (v. 31). On Judgment day the men of Nineveh will stand
up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they
repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here (v. 32). Footnoteg
states: “I.e. a miracle in evidence and
vindication of Christ’s authority, cf. Jn 2:11+; Lk 1:18+. See Mt 8:3+”;
and Footnote h says: “Jonah
showed the Ninevites the way to God; now Jesus points the way, but his hearers,
less generous than the Ninevites, have refused to take it. Mt 12:40 offers a
different interpretation.”
Verse 30 says:
So they said, “What sign will you
give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do?
Parallel texts are:
a.
Jn 1:21 - Well then,’ they asked ‘are you
Elijah?’t ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the prophet?’uFootnotes
t states:“On the expected
return of Elijah, see Ml. 3:23-24 and Mt. 17:10-13”; and Footnote u says: “From Dt. 18;15,18(see note) the Jews argued that the expected Messiah
would be another Moses (the prophet par excellence, cf. Nb. 12:7+) who would
repeat on a grand scale the prodigies of the Exodus. Cf. Jn. 3:14; 6:14, 30-31,
68; 7:40,52; 13:1+; Ac. 3:22-23; 7:20-44; Heb. 3:1-11. See also Mt. 16:14+.”
b.
Jn 2:11 - This was the first of the signsf
given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee.(Footnote f is
stated already as a footnote to the parallel text of verse 28).
c. Ex
16:4 - Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Now I will rain bread for you from the
heavens. Each day the people re to go out and gather the day’s portion; I
propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not
(v.4) On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have brought in, this will
be twice as much as the daily gathering’ (v. 5).
Verse 31 says: Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture
says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
Parallel text isPs 78:24 which
says: …he rained down manna to feed
them, he gave them the wheat of heaven;
Verse 32 and 33 say: Jesus
answered: ‘I tell you most solemnly, it was not Moses who gave you bread from
heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is that which comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world’.
Parallel text is Mt 6:11 which says: Give us today our dailyc bread. Footnote c -
The Greek word is obscure: this traditional rendering is a probable one. Other
possibilities: ‘necessary for subsistence’ or ‘for tomorrow’. Whatever the
exact translation the sense is that we must ask God for the sustenance we need
in this life but for no more-not for wealth or luxury. The Fathers applied this
text to the bread of the Holy Eucharist.
Verse 34 says: ‘Sir,’ they said
‘give us that bread always.’
Parallel texts are:
a. Jn
2:19 - Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this
sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up’.hFootnote h–
In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus frequently uses terms which, in addition to their
obvious meaning appreciated by the audience, possess a metaphorical and higher
sense; cf. 2:20 (Temple); 3:4 (new birth); 4L15 (living water); 6:34 (bread of
life); 7:35 (to depart); 11:11 (to awaken); 12:34 (to lift up); 13:9 (to wash);
13:36f (to depart); 14:22 (to show oneself). Consequent misapprehensions provide an opportunity for explanatory
developments, cf. 3:11+.
b. Jn
4:15 -‘Sir,’ said the woman ‘give me some of the water, so that I may never get
thirsty and never have to come here again to draw water.’Verse 35 says:Jesus answered: ‘I ami the bread
of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will
never thirst.jFootnote i –says: “The Greek phrase ego eimi recalls the name that God revealed to Moses,
Ex 3:14+, cf. Jn 8:24+, but here (and frequently elsewhere) it also forms the
prelude to the explanation of a parable. In this case the parable is not in
words but in action: the gift of the manna and the multiplication of the loaves
are explained as parables of Christ’s gift of himself, the true bread”; Footnote
j states: “As Wisdom invites
man to her table, Pr. 9:1f, so does Jesus. Jn sees him as the Wisdom of God
which, in the OT revelation, was already moving towards personification, cf.
1:1+. This perception springs from Christ’s own teaching already recorded in
the Synoptics, Mt 11:19; Lk 11:31p, but given here much more clearly by Jn.
Tus, Christ’s origin is mysterious, Jn 7:27-29; 8:14,19; cf. Jb 28:20-28; he
alone knows the secrets of God and reveals them to man, 3:11-12,31-32; cf. Mt
11:25-27p; Ws 9:13-18; Ba 3:29-38; he is the living bread that supremely
satisfies, 6:35; cf. Pr 9:1-6; Si 24:19-22, if men will only come to him,
3:20,21; 5:40; 6:35,37,44,65; 7:37; cf. Pr 9:4-5; Si 24:19; Mt 11:28; but they
must seek him before it is too late, 7:34; 8:21; cf. Pr 1:28. Cf. also Is.
55:1-3. For Paul’s teaching, cf. 1 Co 1:24+.”
Verse 35 says: Jesus answered: ‘I ami the
bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me
will never thirst.j Footnote i says: “The Greek phrase ego eimi recalls the name
that God revealed to Moses, Ex 3:14+, cf. Jn 8:24+, but here (and frequently
elsewhere) it also forms the prelude to the explanation of a parable. In this
case the parable is not in words but in action: the gift of the manna and the
multiplication of the loaves are explained as parables of Christ’s gift of
himself, the true bread”; and Footnote j says “As Wisdom invites man to her table, Pr.
9:1f, so does Jesus. Jn sees him as the Wisdom of God which, in the OT
revelation, was already moving towards personification, cf. 1:1+. This
perception springs from Christ’s own teaching already recorded in the
Synoptics, Mt 11:19; Lk 11:31p, but given here much more clearly by Jn. Thus,
Christ’s origin is mysterious, Jn 7:27-29; 8:14,19; cf. Jb 28:20-28; he alone
knows the secrets of God and reveals them to man, 3:11-12,31-32; cf. Mt
11:25-27p; Ws 9:13-18; Ba 3:29-38; he is the living bread that supremely
satisfies, 6:35; cf. Pr 9:1-6; Si 24:19-22, if men will only come to him,
3:20,21; 5:40; 6:35,37,44,65; 7:37; cf. Pr 9:4-5; Si 24:19; Mt 11:28; but they
must seek him before it is too late, 7:34; 8:21; cf. Pr 1:28. Cf. also Is.
55:1-3. For Paul’s teaching, cf. 1 Co 1:24+.”
Parallel texts are:
a.
Jn 4:10,14 - Jesus replied: ‘If you only knew
what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you: Give me a drink, you
would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water’ (v.
10). ..but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty
again: the water that I will give will turn into a spring inside him, welling
up to eternal life’ (v. 14).
b.
Pr 9:1-6 - Wisdom
as hostess: Wisdom has built herself a house, she has erecteda her
seven pillars, (v. 1)she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine, she has
laid her table (v. 2). She has dispatched her maidservants and proclaimed from the
city’s heights (v. 3): ‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’ To the fool
she says (v. 4), ‘Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared! (v.
5). Leave your folly and you will live, walk in the ways of perception’ (v.
6).Footnote a –states: “‘erected’
Greek.”
c.
Si 24:19-22 - Approach me, you who desire me,
and take your fill of my fruits (v. 19), for memories of me are sweeter than
honey, inheriting me is sweeter than the honeycomb (v. 20). They who eat me
will hunger for more, they who drink me will thirst for more (v. 21). Whoever
listens to me will never have to blush, whoever acts as I dictate will never
sin (v. 22).
d.
Is 55:1-3 - Oh,
come to the water all who are thirsty; though you have not money, come! Buy
corn without money, and eat,a and, at no cost, wine and milk (v.
1).Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy?
Listen, listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to
enjoy (v. 2).Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live. With
you I will make an everlasting covenantb out of the favors promised
to David (v. 3). Footnote a
says “Hebr. adds ‘come and buy’ absent
from Greek and DSIa”; and Footnote b states: “On this everlasting covenant, 59:21; 61:8,
which is also the new covenant, see Jr 31:31+.”
e.
Mt 11:19 - The
Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a
drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners”. Yet the wisdom has proved
right by her actions.’hFootnoteh states: “Var.
‘by her children’, cf. Lk. 7:35. Like petulant children who will play none of
the games suggested (in this case they refuse to play either at weddings or at
funerals) the Jews reject all God’s advances whether through the stern penance
of John or through the gentle courtesy of Jesus. In spite of this, God’s wise
design carries through, independently of anything extrinsic to itself, and so
its success is its own vindication.”
f.
Lk 7:35 - Yet
Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’fFootnotef
states “Var. ‘by her actions’, cf. Mt
11:19. The children of Wisdom, i.e. of the all-wise God, cf. Pr. 8:22+,
appreciate and welcome God’s works.”
g.
Lk 11:31 - On Judgment day the Queen of the
South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because
she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is
something greater than Solomon here.
h.
1 Co 1:24 - …but to those who have been called,
whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of
God.
The First Reading for this Sunday isEx 16:2-4,
12-15 entitled “The manna and the quailsa”. Footnote a –states: “‘Priestly’ tradition with ‘Yahwistic’
elements. Flights of quail are common over Sinai; the manna is possibly the juice of some local shrub. The
narrative asserts some special intervention, under whatever natural forms, by
which God fed his people. The Psalms and the Book of Wisdom grateful recall the
gift of manna which, in Christian tradition (as early as Jn 6:26-58), is a
figure of the Eucharist, the spiritual food of the Church, the new Israel, on
her earthly journey to the Promised Land.”
Verse 2 says: And
the whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and
Aaron in the wilderness.
Parallel text is Ex 14:11 that says: To Moses they
said, ‘Were there no graves in Egypt that you must lead us out to die in the
wilderness? What good have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?
Verse 3 says: And said to them,
‘Why did we not die at Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to
sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread top our heart’s content! As it is,
you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’
Parallel texts are:
a.
Ps 78:20
- ‘Admittedly, when he struck the rock, waters gushed, torrents streamed
out, but bread now, can he give us that, can he provide meat for his people?
b. Ezk
23:27 - I mean to put an end to your debauchery and to the whorings you began
in Egypt; you will not look to the Egyptians anymore; you will never think of
them again.
Verse 4 says: Then
Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Now I will rain day the people re to go out and gather
the day’s portion; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will
follow my law or not.
Parallel text is Dt. 8:2 that says: Remember how Yahweh your God led you for
forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know tour inmost
heart - whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Verse 12 says: ‘I have heard the
complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings
you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s
content. Then you will learn that I, Yahweh, am your God.”’
Parallel text is 1 K 17:12 that says: ‘As Yahweh your God lives,’ she replied ‘I
have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a
jug; I am just gathering a stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and
my son to eat, and then we shall die.’
Verse 13 says: And so it came
about: quails flew up in the evening, and they covered the camp; in the morning
there was a coating of dew all round the camp.
Parallel texts are:
a.
Ps 68:9 - God you rained a downpour of
blessings; when your heritage was faint you gave it strength.
b. Ws
19:11-12 - Later they saw a new method
of birth for birds when, goaded by hunger, they asked for food they could
relish, and quails came out of the sea to satisfy them.cFootnote
c says : “The author takes Nb
11:31 literally; the quails came out of the sea (as the mosquitoes came out of
the earth).
Verse 14 says: When the coating
of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate,
powdery,d as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. Footnote d
says: “The meaning of the word uncertain”.
Parallel text is Nb 11:7-9 that says: The manna was
like coriander seed, and had the appearance of bdellium (v. 7). The people went
round gathering it, and ground it in a meal or crushed it with a pestle; it was
then cooked in a pot and made into pancakes. It tasted like cake made with oil
(v. 8). When the dew fell on the camp at night-time, the manna fell with it (v.
9).
Verse 15 says: When they saw
this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?e not
knowing what is was. ‘That’ said Moses to them ‘is the bread Yahweh gives you
to eat. Footnote e - Hebr. man
hu; popular etymology thus explains the word ‘manna’.
Parallel text is 1 Co 10:3 that says: All ate the same spiritual food.
The Second Reading for this
Sunday isEp 4:17, 20-24.
Verses 17 and 20 say:
In particular, I want to urge you
in the name of the Lord, not to go on living the aimless kind of life that
pagans live. Now that is hardly the way
you have learnt from Christ.
Verse 21 says: unless
you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus.
Parallel text is Col 3:5 that
says: That is why you must kill
everything in you that belongs only to earthly life:c fornication,
impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same
thing as worshipping a false god… Footnote c - At the mystical
level of union with Christ in heaven, participation in his death and
resurrection through baptism is instantaneous and total, 2:12f,20; 3:1-4; Rm
6:4+, but at the practical level of life on earth, this union has to be grown
gradually. Already ‘dead’ in theory, the Christian must experience death and
rebirth daily constantly, by ‘killing’ the old and sinful self.
Verse
22, 23 ad 24 say: You must give up your
old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by
following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual
revolution, so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s
way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.n Footnote n - Each human
being should ‘put on the New Man’, Ep 2:15+, (here, as in v. 22, translates
‘self’), so as to be re-created in him, cf. Ga 3:27; Rm 13:14. In some places
Paul talks in the same way about the ‘new creature’, 2 Co 5:17+.
Parallel text for verse 23 are:
a. Ep
2:15 - Caused by the rules and decrees of the
Law. m This was to create one single New Mann in himself
out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them
both in a single Body o and reconciled them with God. In his own
person he killed the hostility.Footnote m- The Mosaic Law
gave the Jews a privileged status and separated them from pagans. Jesus
abolished this Law by fulfilling it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+; and
Footnote n– This
new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in
the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully
corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co.
15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the
truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one
group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f).
b.
Col 3:10 - …and you have put a new self which will
progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its
creatore. Footnote e – The human race that was to have been the
‘image of god’, Gn. 1:2b+, lost its way trying to locate the ‘knowledge of good
and evil’ outside and apart from the will of God, Gn. 2:17+, and became the
slave of sin and sinful urges, Rm. 5:12.
The Article “Manna”, from
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, states that:
“Manna (Hebrew: מָן) or al-Mann wa al-Salwa
(Kurdish: gezo), sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is an
edible substance that, according to the bible, God provided for the Israelites
during their travels in the desert.Manna is described as white and comparable to
hoarfrost in size. Hoarfrost on grass lawn.
“According to the
book of Exodus, manna is white, like Coriander seed, (although modern-day
coriander seed is yellow/brown).
“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 manna was comparable to hoarfrost in size, similarly had to be
collected before it was melted by the heat of the sun, and was white like
coriander seed in color. Numbers describes it as having the appearance of
bdellium, 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. Leftovers of manna stored up for the following day "bred worms and
stank": the exception being the day before the Sabbath (Preparation Day),
when twice the amount of manna was gathered, which did not spoil overnight;
because, Exodus 16:23-24 [states] "This is what the Lord commanded:
'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. 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 said was commanded,
and it did not stink or get maggots in it."
“Some scholars
have proposed that manna is cognate with the Egyptian term mennu, meaning
"food". At the turn of the twentieth century, Arabs of the Sinai
Peninsula were selling resin from the tamarisk tree as man es-simma, roughly
meaning "heavenly manna". Tamarisk trees (particularlyTamarixgallica)
were once comparatively extensive throughout the southern Sinai, and their
resin 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, this resin is mostly composed from sugar, so 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
to become cakes.
“In the Biblical
account, the name manna is said to derive from the question man hu, seemingly
meaning "What is it?"; this is perhaps an Aramaic etymology, not a
Hebrew one. Man is possibly cognate with the Arabic term man, meaning plant
lice, with “man hu” thus meaning "this is plant lice", which fits one
widespread modern identification of manna, the crystallized honeydew of certain
scale insects.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; honeydew of this form is considered a delicacy
in the Middle East, and is a good source of carbohydrates. In particular, there
is a scale insect that feeds on tamarisk, the Tamarisk manna scale
(Trabutinamannipara), which is often considered to be the prime candidate for
biblical manna.
“Manna is from
Heaven, according to the Bible, but the various identifications of manna are
naturalistic. In the Mishnah, manna is treated as a supernatural substance,
created during the twilight of the sixth day of Creation, and ensured to be
clean, before it arrives, by the sweeping of the ground by a northern wind and
subsequent rains. 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.
“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. 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 man would not eat meat because
plants cannot move and killing them would not besinful: manna, a nonmeat
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."
“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. 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; the omers of manna for stolen slaves could
only be gathered 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. The Midrash Tanhumaholds 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 manner that Gentiles could taste manna. 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, probably a metaphorical statement.
“Exodus states
that the Israelites consumed the manna for 40 years, starting from the
fifteenth day of the second month (Iyar 15), but that it then ceased to appear
once they had reached a settled land, and once they had reached the borders of
Canaan (inhabited by the Canaanites). Form critics attribute this variation to
the view that each expression of the manna ceasing derives from different lore;
the "settled land" is attributed to the Priestly tradition, and
"Canaan's borders" to the Yahwist tradition, or to a hypothetical
later redaction to synchronize the account with that of the Book of Joshua,
which states that the manna ceased to appear on the day after the annual
Passover festival (Nisan 14), when the Israelites had reached Gilgal. The duration
from Iyar 15 to Nisan 14, taken literally, is 40 years less one month.
“There is also a
disagreement among classical rabbinical writers as to when the manna ceased,
particularly in regard to whether it remained after the death of Moses for a
further 40 days, 70 days, or 14 years; indeed, according to Joshua ben Levi,
the manna ceased to appear at the moment that Moses died.
“Despite the
eventual termination of the supply of manna, Exodus states that a small amount
of it survived within an omer-sized pot or jar, which was kept facing the
Testimony (possibly, adjacent to the Ark of the Covenant); it indicates that
Yahweh instructed this of Moses, who delegated it to Aaron.[54] The Epistle to
the Hebrews states that the pot was stored inside the Ark. Classical rabbinical
sources believe the pot was of gold; some say it was only there for the
generation following Moses, and others that it survived at least until the time
of Jeremiah.[10]However, the First Book of Kings states that it was absent
earlier than Jeremiah, during Solomon's reign in the tenth century B.C. Form
critics attribute the mention of the pot to the Priestly tradition, concluding
that the pot existed in the early sixth century B.C.
“By extension
"manna" has been used to refer to any divine or spiritual
nourishment.
“In a modern botanical context, manna is often
used to refer to the secretions of various plants, especially of certain shrubs
and trees, and in particular the sugars obtained by evaporating the sap of the
Manna Ash, extracted by making small cuts in the bark.[61] “The Manna Ash,
native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, produces a blue-green sap, which
has medicinal value as a mild laxative, demulcent, and weak expectorant.
“The names of both
the sugar mannose and its hydrogenated sugar alcohol, mannitol are derived from
manna.”
Manna in the
desert: The story of the wilderness episode in the life of the Israelites is
not a nice one. Moses was leading God’s chosen people away from the slavery of
Egypt passing through the pitfalls and myriad dangers of the desert and they
were about to enter into the promised land of Canaan. It seems that the manna
they ate in the desert led them to a pathetic ending of that episode of their
life as a people.
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