The people murmur for want of meat: God giveth them quails and manna.
The people murmuring for meate, and that they had left the flesh pottes of Aegypt, 4 God geueth them quailes, and Manna. 16. VVherof they are commanded to gather for euerie day, 22. but the sixt day duble for the Sabbaoth, 32. and to kepe a measure of it in the tabernacle for a memorie.
1And they set forward from Elim, and all the multitude of the children of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai: the fifteenth day of the second month, after they came out of the land of Egypt.E si partiron da Elim, e giunse tutta la moltitudine dei figliuoli d'Israele nel deserto di Sin, che è tra Elim e Sinai, a' quindici del secondo mese dopo la loro partenza dalla terra d'Egitto.AND they sette forward from Elim, and al the multitude of the children of Israel came into the desert Sin, which is betwene Elim & Sinay: the fiftenth day of the second moneth, after they came forth out of the Land of Aegypt.Profectique sunt de Elim, et venit omnis multitudo filiorum Israël in desertum Sin, quod est inter Elim et Sinai, quintodecimo die mensis secundi, postquam egressi sunt de terra Ægypti. 2And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.E tutta la turba dei figliuoli d'Israele mormorò contra Mosè ed Aronne in quella solitudine.And al the assemblie of the children of Israel murmured against Moyses and Aaron in the wildernesse.Et murmuravit omnis congregatio filiorum Israël contra Moysen et Aaron in solitudine. 3And the children of Israel said to them: Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over the fleshpots, and ate bread to the full: Why have you brought us into this desert, that you might destroy all the multitude with famine?E disser loro i figliuoli d'Israele: Fossimo pur noi rimasi estinti per man del Signore nella terra d'Egitto, quando sedevamo sopra le caldaie piene di carni, e mangiavamo il pane a sazietà: perché ci avete condotti in questo deserto per far morire tutta la gente di fame?And the children of Israel said to them: Would to God we had died by the hand of our Lord in the Land of Aegypt, when we sate ouer the flesh pottes, and did eate bread our fill: why haue you brought vs into this desert, that you might kil al the multitude with famine?Dixeruntque filii Israël ad eos: Utinam mortui essemus per manum Domini in terra Ægypti, quando sedebamus super ollas carnium, et comedebamus panem in saturitate: cur eduxistis nos in desertum istud, ut occideretis omnem multitudinem fame ? 4And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you; let the people go forth, and gather what is sufficient for every day: that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or not.Ma il Signore disse a Mosè: Ecco che io pioverò a voi pane dal cielo: vada il popolo, e raccolga tanto che basti dì per dì: ond'io faccia prova di lui, se cammini, o no secondo la mia legge.And our Lord said to Moyses: Behold I wil raine you bread from heauen: let the people goe forth, and gather that sufficeth for euerie day: that I may proue them whether they wil walke in my law, or no.Dixit autem Dominus ad Moysen: Ecce ego pluam vobis panes de cælo: egrediatur populus, et colligat quæ sufficiunt per singulos dies: ut tentem eum utrum ambulet in lege mea, an non.
5But the sixth day let them provide for to bring in: and let it be double to that they were wont to gather every day.Ma il sesto dì ne prendano da serbare, e sia il doppio di quel che solevano pigliare per ciascun giorno.But the sixt day let them prouide for to bring in: and let it be duble to that they were wont to gather euerie daie.Die autem sexto parent quod inferant: et sit duplum quam colligere solebant per singulos dies. 6And Moses and Aaron said to the children of Israel In the evening you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt:E Mosè ed Aronne dissero a tutti i figliuoli d'Israele: Questa sera voi conoscerete, che il Signore è quegli che vi ha tratti dalla terra d'Egitto:And Moyses and Aaron said to al the children of Israel: At euen you shal know that our Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Aegypt:Dixeruntque Moyses et Aaron ad omnes filios Israël: Vespere scietis quod Dominus eduxerit vos de terra Ægypti, 7And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord: for he hath heard your murmuring against the Lord: but as for us, what are we, that you mutter against us?E domattina vedrete la possanza del Signore: imperocché egli ha udito le vostre querele contro di lui. Quanto a noi, che è quel, che noi siamo, onde abbiate a mormorare contro di noi?and in the morning you shal see the glorie of our Lord: for he hath heard your murmuring against our Lord: but as for vs, what are we, that you mutter against vs?et mane videbitis gloriam Domini: audivit enim murmur vestrum contra Dominum: nos vero quid sumus, quia mussitastis contra nos ? 8And Moses said: In the evening the Lord will give you flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full: for he hath heard your murmurings, with which you have murmured against him, for what are we? your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord.E soggiunse Mosè: il Signore questa sera vi darà delle carni da mangiare, e domattina del pane a sazietà; perché egli ha udite le mormorazioni vomitate da voi contro di lui: perocché noi che siamo? non sono contro di noi le vostre mormorazioni, ma contro il Signore.And Moyses said: At euen our Lord wil geue you flesh to eate, and in the morning bread your fill: for he hath heard your murmuringes, which you haue murmured against him, for what are we? neither is your murmuring against vs, but against our Lord.Et ait Moyses: Dabit vobis Dominus vespere carnes edere, et mane panes in saturitate: eo quod audierit murmurationes vestras quibus murmurati estis contra eum: nos enim quid sumus ? nec contra nos est murmur vestrum, sed contra Dominum.
9Moses also said to Aaron: Say to the whole congregation of the children of Israel: Come before the Lord; for he hath heard your murmuring.Disse ancora Mosè ad Aronne: di' a tutta la moltitudine de' figliuoli d'Israele: Presentatevi dinanzi al Signore: perocché egli ha udite le vostre mormorazioni.Moyses also said to Aaron: Say to the whole assemblie of the children of Israel: Approch you before our Lord: for he hath heard your murmuring.Dixit quoque Moyses ad Aaron: Dic universæ congregationi filiorum Israël: Accedite coram Domino: audivit enim murmur vestrum. 10And when Aaron spoke to all the assembly of the children of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness; and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.E in quello che Aronne parlava a tutta la moltitudine de' figliuoli d'Israele, questi volsero gli occhi verso il deserto: ed ecco che la gloria del Signore si fe' vedere nella nuvola.And when Aaron spake to al the assemblie of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wildernesse: and behold the glorie of our Lord appeared in a cloud.Cumque loqueretur Aaron ad omnem cœtum filiorum Israël, respexerunt ad solitudinem: et ecce gloria Domini apparuit in nube. 11And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saving:Locutus est autem Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 12I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, say to them: In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.Ho udite le mormorazioni de' figliuoli d'Israele; tu dirai loro: Questa sera mangerete delle carni, e domattina vi satollerete di pane; e conoscerete, ch'io sono il Signore Dio vostro.I haue heard the murmuringes of the children of Israel, say to them: At euen you shal eate flesh, and in the morning you shal haue your fil of bread: and you shal know that I am the Lord your God.Audivi murmurationes filiorum Israël. Loquere ad eos: Vespere comedetis carnes, et mane saturabimini panibus: scietisque quod ego sum Dominus Deus vester. 13So it came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up, covered the camp: and in the morning a dew lay round about the camp.Fattosi adunque sera vennero le quaglie, che ricopersero gli alloggiamenti: e alla mattina la rugiada era sparsa intorno agli alloggiamenti.Therfore it came to passe at euen, and the quaile rose, and couered the campe: in the morning also a dew lay round about the campe.Factum est ergo vespere, et ascendens coturnix, cooperuit castra: mane quoque ros jacuit per circuitum castrorum.
14And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared in the wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the hoar frost on the ground.La quale avendo coperta la superficie della terra, videsi nel deserto una cosa minuta, e come pestata nel mortaio, e simile alla brinata (che cade) sopra la terra.And when it had couered the face of the earth, it appeared in the wildernesse smal, and as it were beaten with a pestil like vnto the hoare frost on the ground.Cumque operuisset superficiem terræ, apparuit in solitudine minutum, et quasi pilo tusum in similitudinem pruinæ super terram. 15And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another: Manhu! which signifieth: What is this! for they knew not what it was. And Moses said to them: This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.E veduta che l'ebbero i figliuoli d'Israele, dissero l'uno all'altro: Manhu? vale a dire: Che è questo? Perocché non sapevan che cosa fosse. Disse loro Mosè: Questo è il pane datovi a mangiare dal Signore.Which when the children of Israel had seene, they said one to an other: Man-hu! which signifieth: What is this! for they knew not what it was. To whom Moyses said: This is the bread, which our Lord hath geuen you to eate.Quod cum vidissent filii Israël, dixerunt ad invicem: Manhu ? quod significat: Quid est hoc ? ignorabant enim quid esset. Quibus ait Moyses: Iste est panis quem Dominus dedit vobis ad vescendum. 16This is the word that the Lord hath commanded: Let every one gather of it as much as is enough to eat; a gomor for every man, according to the number of your souls that dwell in a tent, so shall you take of it.Ecco l'ordine dato dal Signore: Ne raccolga ognuno quanto gli basta pel suo nutrimento: così voi ne prenderete un gomor per testa secondo il numero delle anime, che stanno in ciascun tabernacolo.This is the word, that our Lord hath commanded: Let euerie one gather of it so much as sufficeth to eate: a gomor euerie man, according to the number of your soules that dwel in a tent so shal you take vp.Hic est sermo, quem præcepit Dominus: Colligat unusquisque ex eo quantum sufficit ad vescendum: gomor per singula capita, juxta numerum animarum vestrarum quæ habitant in tabernaculo sic tolletis. 17And the children of Israel did so: and they gathered, one more, another less.E fecero così i figliuoli d'Israele: e ne raccolsero gli uni più, e gli altri meno.And the children of Israel did so: and they gathered, one more, an other lesse.Feceruntque ita filii Israël: et collegerunt, alius plus, alius minus.
18And they measured by the measure of a gomor: neither had he more that had gathered more; nor did he find less that had provided less: but every one had gathered, according to what they were able to eat.E avendolo misurato a tanti gomor, chi ne avea raccolto di più, non ne ebbe in maggior quantità, e chi ne avea raccolto di meno, non ne trovò di meno; ma ciascheduno ne raunò a proporzione di quel che poteva mangiare.And they measured by the measure of a gomor: neither he that gathered more, had aboue: nor he that prouided lesse, found vnder: but euerie one gathered, according to that which they were able to eate.Et mensi sunt ad mensuram gomor: nec qui plus collegerat, habuit amplius: nec qui minus paraverat, reperit minus: sed singuli juxta id quod edere poterant, congregaverunt. 19And Moses said to them: Let no man leave thereof till the morning.E disse loro Mosè: Nissuno ne serbi pel dimane.And Moyses said to them: Let no man leaue therof til the morning.Dixitque Moyses ad eos: Nullus relinquat ex eo in mane. 20And they hearkened not to him, but some of them left until the morning, and it began to be full of worms, and it putrified, and Moses was angry with them.V'ebbe di quelli che non obbedirono a lui, e ne serbarono fino al dì seguente: e cominciò a bulicare di vermi, e si corruppe: e Mosè si adirò contro costoro.Who heard him not, but certaine of them left vntil the morning, and it beganne to be ful of wormes, and it putrified. and Moyses was angrie against them.Qui non audierunt eum, sed dimiserunt quidam ex eis usque mane, et scatere cœpit vermibus, atque computruit: et iratus est contra eos Moyses. 21Now every one of them gathered in the morning, as much as might suffice to eat: and after the sun grew hot, it melted.E raunavano ognuno la mattina, quanto bastar poteva pel loro sostentamento: e quando il sole era riscaldato, la manna si squagliava.And euerie one of them gathered in the morning, so much as might suffice to eate: and after the sunne waxed hotte, it melted.Colligebant autem mane singuli, quantum sufficere poterat ad vescendum: cumque incaluisset sol, liquefiebat. 22But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much, that is, two gomors every man: and all the rulers of the multitude came, and told Moses.Ma il sesto giorno raccolsero il doppio del cibo, vale a dire due gomor per testa: e andarono tutti i capi della moltitudine a darne parte a Mosè.But in the sixt day they gathered duble portions, that is, two gomors euerie man: and al the princes of the multitude came, and told Moyses.In die autem sexta collegerunt cibos duplices, id est, duo gomor per singulos homines: venerunt autem omnes principes multitudinis, et narraverunt Moysi.
23And he said to them: This is what the Lord hath spoken: To morrow is the rest of the sabbath sanctified to the Lord. Whatsoever work is to be done, do it; and the meats that are to be dressed, dress them; and whatsoever shall remain, lay it up until the morning.Il quale disse loro: Questo è quello che ha detto il Signore: Domani è la requie del sabato consacrata al Signore: fate tutto quello che avete da lavorare, e cuocete quel che vi è da cuocere: e quello che avanza, serbatelo per domane.Who said to them: This is it which our Lord hath spoken: The Sabbathes rest is sanctified vnto our Lord to morow. Whatsoeuer is to be wrought, doe it: and the meates that are to be made readie, make them readie: and whatsoeuer shal remaine, lay it vp vntil the morning.Qui ait eis: Hoc est quod locutus est Dominus: Requies sabbati sanctificata est Domino cras: quodcumque operandum est, facite, et quæ coquenda sunt coquite: quidquid autem reliquum fuerit, reponite usque in mane. 24And they did so as Moses had commanded, and it did not putrify, neither was there worm found in it.E fecero, come avea comandato Mosè: e (la manna) non si guastò, e non vi si trovò nissun verme.And they did so as Moyses had commanded, and it putrified not, neither• was there worme found in it.Feceruntque ita ut præceperat Moyses, et non computruit, neque vermis inventus est in eo. 25And Moses said: Eat it to day, because it is the sabbath of the Lord: to day it shall not be found in the field.E Mosè disse: Questo lo mangerete oggi: non ne troverete nella campagna oggi, perché è il sabato del Signore.And Moyses said: Eate it to day, because it is the Sabbath of our Lord: to day it shal not be found in the field.Dixitque Moyses: Comedite illud hodie, quia sabbatum est Domini: non invenietur hodie in agro. 26Gather it six days; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, therefore it shall not be found.Raccoglietelo pei sei giorni: ma il settimo giorno non ne troverete, perché è il sabato del Signore.Gather it six dayes: but in the seuenth day is the Sabbath of our Lord, therfore it shal not be found.Sex diebus colligite: in die autem septimo sabbatum est Domini, idcirco non invenietur. 27And the seventh day came; and some of the people going forth to gather, found none.E venne il settimo giorno: ed essendo andati alcuni del popolo per raccogliere, non ne trovarono.And the seuenth day came: and some of the people going forth to gather, found not.Venitque septima dies: et egressi de populo ut colligerent, non invenerunt.
28And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments, and my law?E il Signore disse a Mosè: Fino a quando ricuserete di osservare i miei comandamenti, e la mia legge?And our Lord said to Moyses: How long wil you not keepe my commandementes, and my law?Dixit autem Dominus ad Moysen: Usquequo non vultis custodire mandata mea et legem meam ? 29See that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for this reason on the sixth day he giveth you a double provision: let each man stay at home, and let none go forth out of his place the seventh day.Riflettete, che il Signore ha dato a voi il sabato, e per questo il sesto giorno ha dato a voi doppio cibo: ognuno se ne stia nella sua tenda: nissuno esca dal suo posto nel settimo giorno.See that our Lord hath geuen you a Sabbath, and for this cause on the sixt day he geueth you duble portions: let each man tarie with himselfe, and let none goe forth out of his place the seuenth day.videte quod Dominus dederit vobis sabbatum, et propter hoc die sexta tribuit vobis cibos duplices: maneat unusquisque apud semetipsum; nullus egrediatur de loco suo die septimo. 30And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.E il popolo osservò la requie del settimo giorno.And the people kept the Sabbath on the seuenth day.Et sabbatizavit populus die septimo. 31And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste thereof like to flour with honey.E la famiglia d'Israele chiamò quel cibo col nome di Man: ed ella era simile al seme di coriandoli bianco, e nel sapore simile alla farina (impastata) col miele.And the house of Israel called the name therof Manna: which was as it were coriander seede white, and the taist therof like to flowre with honie.Appellavitque domus Israël nomen ejus Man: quod erat quasi semen coriandri album, gustusque ejus quasi similæ cum melle. 32And Moses said: This is the word which the Lord hath commanded: Fill a gomor of it, and let it be kept unto generations to come hereafter; that they may know the bread, wherewith I fed you in the wilderness when you were brought forth out of the land of Egypt.E Mosè disse: Questo è il comando dato dal Signore: Riempine un gomor, e si conservi per le generazioni, che saranno in appresso, affinché veggano di qual pane vi ho nudriti nella solitudine, quando vi ho tratti dalla terra d'Egitto.And Moyses sayd: This is the word, which our Lord hath commanded: Fil a gomor of it, and let it be kept vnto the generations to come hereafter: that they may know the bread, wherwith I fed you in the wildernes, when you were brought forth out of the Land of Aehypt.Dixit autem Moyses: Iste est sermo, quem præcepit Dominus: Imple gomor ex eo, et custodiatur in futuras retro generationes: ut noverint panem, quo alui vos in solitudine, quando educti estis de terra Ægypti.
33And Moses said to Aaron: Take a vessel, and put manna into it, as much as a gomor can hold; and lay it up before the Lord, to keep unto your generations,E Mosè disse ad Aronne: Prendi un vaso, e mettivi della manna, quanta ne cape un gomor: e riponla dinanzi al Signore per conservarla nelle future vostre generazioni,And Moyses sayd to Aaron: Take one vessel, and put Manna into it, so much as a gomor can hold: and lay it vp before our Lord to keepe vnto your generations:Dixitque Moyses ad Aaron: Sume vas unum, et mitte ibi man, quantum potest capere gomor, et repone coram Domino ad servandum in generationes vestras, 34As the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be kept.Come ha ordinato a me il Signore. E lo pose Aronne nel tabernacolo per conservarlo.as our Lord commanded Moyses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be reserued.sicut præcepit Dominus Moysi. Posuitque illud Aaron in tabernaculo reservandum. 35And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land: with this meat were they fed, until they reached the borders of the land of Chanaan.E i figliuoli d'Israele mangiaron la manna per quarant'anni, fino a tanto che giunsero in terra abitata: con questo cibo furono pasciuti, fino a tanto che giunsero a' confini della terra di Chanaan.And the children of Israel did came Manna fourtie yeares, til they came into the habitable land: with this meate were they fed, vntil they touched the borders of the land of Chanaan.Filii autem Israël comederunt man quadraginta annis, donec venirent in terram habitabilem: hoc cibo aliti sunt, usquequo tangerent fines terræ Chanaan. 36Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.Il Gomor poi è la decima parte dell'ephi.And a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.Gomor autem decima pars est ephi.
16:1
Year of the World 2513.
Calmet
Sin, after they had encamped on the Red Sea, Numbers 33:10. The 33d station was also in the desert of Sin, or Cades. But that is far remote from this desert, Numbers 20:1. (Calmet)
Month of May, Jiar. Their provisions lasted a whole month. On their failure, they presently have recourse to murmurs.
16:3
Haydock
Over, greedily feasting on the most nutritive meats. (Haydock)
16:4
16:5
Provide. Hence, this day was called Parasceve, or the day of preparation.
16:7
16:8
Du Hamel
Lord. All rebellion against lawful authority is resented by God. (Du Hamel)
16:9
Calmet
Before, to the place appointed for public worship, Exodus 33:7. (Calmet)
16:12
Haydock
Say. Similar promises are often repeated, to appease the seditious mob. (Haydock)
16:13
Calmet
Quails. All the Oriental languages express these birds by solaem, though some have asserted, that pheasants or locusts are here meant. Josephus (Antiquities 3:1) informs us, that great flocks of quails are found about the gulph of Arabia. They return to Europe from the warmer regions, about the beginning of May, at which time God directed the course of vast multitudes to the camp of Israel. Hesychius says, the chennion, a smaller species of quails, was salted and dried, as the Hebrews did theirs, Numbers 11:32. See Psalm 77:26. (Calmet)
Menochius
Dew, upon which lay the miraculous bread, around the camp. None fell within, as the place was not sufficiently clean. (Menochius)
16:15
Manhu. St. Jerome adds the explanation, (Du Hamel) which is almost universally adopted, though some pretend that man, even in Chaldean, means who, and not what? Calmet refers them to Psalm 60:7, for a proof of the contrary. Manna is found in various parts of the world, the best in Arabia. But this was of a different nature, and wholly miraculous, falling every day, except Saturday, throughout the 40 years that the Hebrews dwelt in the desert. It melted with the heat of the sun, (ver. 21,) though it would bear the fire, and might be made into cakes, which cannot be done with the Arabian manna. It filled the mouth of God's servants with the most delightful tastes, (Wisdom 16:20,) while the wicked were disgusted with it, Numbers 11:6.
Calmet
Our soul is dry, etc. It is called the bread of angels, being made or brought by their ministry, and of such a quality, that they would desire nothing better, if they stood in need of food. (Calmet)
Worthington
Whatever a man gathered, he had only a gomor full, and this sufficed for young and old, sick and healthy; if any was kept over the night it became corrupt, except that which was reserved for Saturday, and that which was preserved in the ark for a memorial for several hundred years. (Worthington)
Haydock
Yet this wonderful bread was only a figure of that which Jesus Christ promised to give, (St. John vi.) and as the figure must come beneath the reality, (Colossians. ii.) what we receive in the blessed Eucharist, must undoubtedly be something better than manna. Would Zuinglius and Calvin attempt then to persuade us, that Christ appointed their mere sacramental bread, to supersede and excel the favour of manna granted to the fathers, who are dead? Mere bread cannot stand in competition with this miraculous food. But the truth which it foreshewed, according to all the doctors of the Church, I mean the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, in the blessed sacrament, under the appearances of bread and wine, are surely more excellent than manna itself. It is miraculously brought upon our altars by the words of Jesus Christ, spoken by his priests at Mass, and dispensed to infinite multitudes, in the most distant places from each other, and even in the smallest particle. (Haydock)
Worthington
It giveth grace in this life, and glory in the next, and this in proportion to each one's disposition. To the wicked it may appear contemptible, but to the servants of God it is the most delightful and supersubstantial. (Worthington)
Haydock
Button allows that the Protestant version of this verse "seems to make Moses guilty of a contradiction. It is manna, for they wist not what it was. But the Septuagint (he might add the Vulgate also) translate it according to the original." (Haydock)
16:18
Calmet
Eat. Each one's provision was just enough to fill a gomor; (Menochius) or those who had collected more, gave to those who wanted, 2 Corinthians 8:15. Any one might take less. (Calmet)
16:20
Haydock
Putrified. So God was pleased to punish their diffidence in Providence. (Haydock)
16:21
Haydock
Morning. Wisdom 16:28, we find the reason of this ordinance, which enforces diligence, and was a constant admonition to bless God without delay. (Haydock)
Menochius
It melted, that it might not be trodden under foot by the profane. (Menochius)
16:22
Told Moses, wishing to know why God had given this injunction.
16:29
Origen † AD 253
Place. Onkelos allows a person to travel 2000 cubits on the sabbath. Some heretics understood this literally, and would not alter the posture in which they were found by the festival. (Origen, Philos. 1.)
16:31
Challoner
Manna. This miraculous food, with which the children of Israel were nourished and supported during their sojourning in the wilderness, was a figure of the bread of life, which we receive in the blessed sacrament, for the food and nourishment of our souls, during the time of our mortal pilgrimage, till we come to our eternal home, the true land of promise: where we shall keep an everlasting sabbath: and have no further need of sacraments. (Challoner)
Menochius
Seed in size, but white; whereas the seed of coriander is black. (Menochius)
Samaritan, "like a grain of rice."
Calmet
Honey, or oil, Numbers 11:8. (Calmet)
Menochius
This was the usual taste. But if any one liked another better, the manna assumed it, Wisdom 16:20. (Menochius)
16:33
Calmet
A vessel, "a golden urn," as the Septuagint and St. Paul (Hebrews 9:4,) express it. This was placed in the tabernacle, where the Hebrews met to pray, till the ark was made. (Calmet)
16:35
Haydock
Land. Manna was withdrawn as soon as usual food could be easily procured. (Haydock)
Calmet
In this desert of the world, we are supported by the sacraments. As manna fell in the night, so the mysteries of faith are concealed from the curious researches of men. It melted with the sun beams; so mysteries confound the idle attempts of those who would fathom their impenetrable depth. Those who ate manna died, but the worthy receiver of the blessed sacrament will live for ever. (Calmet)
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God least it in their wil to be content with ynough, or to couere more, yet suffered them not to haue more, when it came to measurin•g, v. 18. & 2. Cor. 8.
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These birdes by Gods prouidence came from other places to the children of Israel Nu. 11. v. 31.
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15. Man hu! vvhat is this! VVhen the people of Israel in the desert had spent Manna so called of Man-hu. their prouision of meate brought from Aegypt, and according to Gods promise had receiued store of quailes; going forth in the morning they sawe a strange thing lye vpon the ground like to hoare frost, wherat merueling they said one to an other: VVhat is this! in their language Man hu! VVherupon saith Theodoret (q. 30. in Exod) their demand vvas turned into the name, and it vvas called Manna. VVhich as the same and other ancient Doctors gather by the holie It was a figure of the Eucharist. Scriptures, was a wonderful and miraculous meate, and withal a figure of a more excellent thing, long after promised, and geuen by our B. Sauiour, in the holie Sacrament of the Eucharist. As witnesse S. Gregorie Nyssen ( •nar. vita Moysi, •ir•a medium) S. Ambrose (li. de ijs qui Myst. in•••ant cap. 8.) S. li. 3. c 37. •o 45 T•• •26. Ioan. 6. v. 25. 41. 49. 51. 55. Cyril Alexandrinus, S Chrysostom, S. Augustin, Theophilact and others, vpon the sixt of S. Iohn. VVhere also the text of our Sauiours long discourse with the Capharnaites, sheweth euidently that he promised to geue a farre better meate then Manna, to those that beleued in him Iam, saieth our Lord, the bread of life, vvhich desended from heauen; your fathers did eate Manna in the desert, and died The bread vvhich I vvil geue is my flesh, for the life of the vvorld. My flesh 〈◊〉 meate in deede, and my bloud is drincke indeede &c. S. Paul likewise teacheth (1. Cor 10) that this Manna, and the vvater issuing out of the rocke, were figures of the same B Sacrament, as is noted in those places.
Here only we commend to the Christian readers remēbrance that the thing Twelue miracles in Manna. figured, doth euer excede the figure (according to S Pauls doctrin (Collos 2.) wishing him therfore to consider, that in Manna were at least twelue clere miracles. First, it was made by Angels, wherof it is called, the bread of Angels. Psal 77. v 25 〈◊〉. li. 1. c 12 cont Occol•m•. •. 〈◊〉. li. • c 12 par⸢tu⸣m. 1. Secondly, it was not produced from the earth, nor water, as ordinarie meates 2. are. but came from the ayre. Thirdly, how fast or slowly soeuer anie man did 3. gather it, in the end ech one had the same measure ful, called a gomor, and no more nor lesse Fourthly, the sixth. day (which was next before the Sabbath, 4. that which they gathered, was found to be duble portions to other dayes, that is, two gomors for euerie one Fiftly, there fel none at al on the Sabbath 5. 6. day Sixtly, if in the rest of the weke anie part was left al night, it putrified. and was corrupt in the morning, but the night before the Sabbath day, it remained sound and good. Seuently, notwithstanding diuersitie of stomakes, 7. in so great a multitude, the same measure was sufficient and no more, to euerie one young and old, and of middle age Eightly the heate of the sunne melted 8. and consumed that which remained in the field, though otherwise it indu•ed heate of the fire, seething in water, grinding in milles, and beating in motters. 9. 10. Ninthly, it tasted to euerie one, what they desired. Tenthly, it seemed neuerthelesse to the euil minded, loathsome and light meate, but pleasant to the 11. 12. good. Eleuently, part of it was kept in the Arke by Gods commandment, and was not corrupted in manie hundreth peares. Twelftly, this strange and extraordinarie prouision, continued fourtie yeares, that is, til the children of Israel came to the promised land and then ceased.
You see then so miraculous a figure farre excelled Zuinglius, or Caluins No miracle in Protestants Communion. communion bread, which containeth no miracle at al, only signifying Christs bodie. But, as our Sauiours owne wordes importe, and ancient fathers teach vs, by Manna was prefigured Christs verie bodie and bloud, with his soule and Diuinitie vnder the forme of bread.
For this indeede infinitly excelleth Manna, containing al the foresaid, or rather Al the said miracles are more eminent in the B. Sacrament. much more eminent miracles For (first) it was consecrated by the maruelous power of Christs word, and euer since the same is done, by the like power communicated to Priests, (2) in his Church militant, (3) one and the verie same, and not manie, in innumerable places, and in euerie lesse or greater forme, yea in the least particle of the accidents that may be, Christ is whole 1. 2. 3. and entire (4). It geueth abundance of grace in this life, signified by the day 4. before the Sabbath, for the glorie of the next li•e in eternal •est. (5) where is 5. no more vse of Sacraments, but euerlasting fruition of glorie (6) VVhoso 6. euer therfore would make temporal commoditie of this heauenlie foode, as it were reseruing Manna for other dayes of the weke, it perisheth to him, and turneth to his ignominie, but being reserued in the faithful soule, for the life to come, which is the true Sabbath, it remaineth an heauenlie treasure. (7) 7. And so it auaileth to euerie one, as their soule, which is the spiritual stomake of supernatural meate, is lesse or more disposed. (8) Though heate of persecution, 8. and other aduerse power take away this Sacrament and Sacrifice, abrode in the field of this world, yet no power extinguisheth it within the Church, 9. where it is in due maner prepared and ministred to the children of God. (9). where it yeldeth al comfort, strength and contentment to good spiritual desires, (10) but to the incredulous Capharnaitessemeth vnpossible, and to carnal 10. 11. conceipts loathsome (11) Being worthely receiued into our mortal bodies, our arke or temporal tabernacle, it remaineth in incorruptible effect, wherby the bodie shalbe raised againe from death, and together with the soule be eternally glorified. (12) In the meane time of this pilagrimage of mankind, 12. it is our way-faring special prouision, dailie and supersubstantial bread, til we shal possesse the promised land, the kingdome of heauen in eternal blisse.
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By their wo•dering at the duble quā titie, it appeareth they intended not to gather so much.
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By anticipation Moyses writeth here the commadment geuen when the Tabernacle and Arck were finished. Exo. 〈◊〉.
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This Relique was put in a golden vessel. Heb 9. though it was infinitly inferior to Christs flesh •• 6 yea inferior to the flesh•• anie glorified Sainct.
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 5
… “Would that we had been smitten to the heart by the Lord, and perished in the land of Egypt, when we were wont to sit over our jars of flesh and eat bread unto the full! How leddest thou us out into these deserts, to kill this assembly by famine?”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.7
7. These noble men, suffering from the lapse of time, and feeling a distaste for ordinary food, felt a longing for something more appetising. They did not indeed speak as Israel did,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 70.9
… and when there were not given on their journey the pleasant things, whereby perchance they would have been corrupted, they murmured against God, and went back in heart unto Egypt:
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 20
… “Then,” some one will say, “it becomes us , too, rather to fast after baptism.” Well, and who forbids you, unless it be the necessity for joy, and the thanksgiving for salvation? But so far as I, with my poor powers, understand, the Lord figuratively retorted upon Israel the reproach they had cast on the Lord .
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 8
Yet further consider, how of old these Egyptians were both avaricious, and gluttonous, together with their other vices. For there were the flesh-pots
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 4
… And as children who have been a long while at school are desirous of quitting it, so also were they at that time continually desiring Egypt, and weeping, saying, “We are lost, we are wholly consumed, we are utterly undone.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… Why did Esau lose his birthright? Was it not on account of food? and he could not atone with tears for the impatience of his appetite. The people of Israel cast out from Egypt and on their way to the land of promise, the land flowing with milk and honey, longed for the flesh of Egypt, and the melons and garlic, saying:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 7.9
15. And therefore also did I read there, that they had changed the glory of Thy incorruptible nature into idols and divers forms,—“into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things,” namely, into that Egyptian food
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 78.19
… Unto Whom saith the heart of the faithful, I will be filled, not with the flesh-pots of the Egyptians, nor with melons and gourds, and garlick and onions, which a generation crooked and embittering did prefer even to bread celestial,
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.14
14. Nor indeed would anyone disbelieve this who has heard and knows that Moses, when little in the eyes of men, and not yet of any account, was called from the bush which burned but was not consumed, or rather by Him who appeared in the bush, and was encouraged by that first wonder: Moses, I say, for whom the sea was divided, and manna rained down,
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Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 28
… nor was the glory which He had with the Father a temporal possession; for He is on the very right hand of the Father, of which it is said in Exodus, “Thy right hand, O Lord , is glorified in power
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 3
… And every such act has respect not to man, but to God. For God says to Samuel, “They have not mocked thee, but Me.” And Moses declares, “For their murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord God.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.4
… For, when we offend against those who are set over us, we go against the ordinance of Him who set them over us. Whence also Moses, when he had become aware that the people complained against himself and Aaron, said, For what are we? Not against us are your murmurings, but against the Lord (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 14.17
… Hence Moses, when he had learnt that the people complained against himself and Aaron, said, For what are we? Not against us is your murmuring but against God (
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 2.14
… But it is not similarly apparent whether the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or the Trinity itself, the one God. Nor is this distinguished there either, in my judgment, where it is written, “The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel,”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.2
23. Is He not good, Who in the wilderness fed with bread from heaven such countless thousands of the people, lest any famine should assail them, without need of toil, in the enjoyment of rest?—so that, for the space of forty years, their raiment grew not old, nor were their shoes worn,
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.7
… For why, said they, is it incredible that the God of wonders, who bountifully fed
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.4
… But yet manna, that is, angels’ food, which surely none will dare deny to be a mark of the greatest good and of blessedness, was given him from heaven; also the daily shower of meat was sufficient to feed the whole multitude.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Mysteries 8
44. We must now pay attention, lest perchance any one seeing that what is visible (for things which are invisible cannot be seen nor comprehended by human eyes), should say, “God rained down manna and rained down quails upon the Jews,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 95.11
… ought Israel whom their own God led from Egypt through the Red Sea, wherein He overwhelmed their pursuing foes; whom He led out into the wilderness, fed with manna,
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.30
… In consequence of much distress, not to prolong my story, caused above all by inability to eat, her life was for many days in danger, and no remedy for the disease could be found. How did God sustain her? Not by raining down manna, as for Israel of old
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.35
35. He indeed could neither rain bread from heaven by prayer,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… If thou doest this, and comest out of Egypt thus, I know well that thou shalt be guided by the pillar of fire and cloud by night and day. The wilderness shall be tamed for thee, and the Sea divided; Pharaoh shall be drowned; bread shall be rained down:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 1.6
… “But Thou art the same;” and all the things of to-morrow and the days yet to come, and all of yesterday and the days that are past, Thou wilt do to-day, Thou hast done to-day. What is it to me if any understand not? Let him still rejoice and say, “What is this?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.8
… and determineth that thus it is that “the heavens dropped from the face of God,” for manna He rained upon His people:
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 28
… for to that which is beyond my discourse hesitates to ascend, but still it shall ascend as far as may be. Who poured forth the air, that great and abundant wealth, not measured to men by their rank or fortunes; not restrained by boundaries; not divided out according to people’s ages; but like the distribution of the Manna,
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 22
… nor will it multiply the cooling and the thinning things when the body is already chilled by illness or by time; and in the case of all these physical qualities it will be guided by the Scripture, so as actually to realize it: “He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.30
… But not so that others should have plenty, and ye should be in want: but let there be equality,—your abundance must now serve for their want, that their abundance may serve for your want; that there may be equality, as it is written: “He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 23
… iv. 10 .) “Let us not then be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” ( Gal. vi. 9 .) Seest thou how that just as He led them, so also He leads us? In their case, touching the manna and the wilderness, it is said, “He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 40
But if any endure not what I have said, but still cleave to the poverty of worldly things, snatching at the things which endure diminution: even in respect of those again, let him call to mind the food of manna (
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.11
… your fast and your holiday and your new moons and your feasts my soul hateth.” The Lord does not call them His own, these observances of sinners (they are hated of His soul, if such there be); neither the new moons, nor the Sabbaths, nor the great day, nor the fast, nor the festivals. And in the legislation about the Sabbath in Exodus, we read,
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1.17
… and a griffin, which no one ever remembers or heard of as yielding to human power, but which the legislator forbids to be used for food. Respecting the celebrated observance of the Sabbath also he thus speaks: “Ye shall sit, everyone in your dwellings; no one shall move from his place on the Sabbath-day.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1-2.17
… whereas a griffin, which is not recorded ever to have been subdued by man, the lawgiver forbids to be eaten. Nay, he who carefully considers (the famous injunction relating to) the Sabbath, “Ye shall sit each one in your dwellings: let no one go out from his place on the seventh day,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 85
Seest thou how they labor for the truth against their will? For they themselves came to Pilate, themselves asked, themselves sealed, setting the watch, so as to be accusers, and refuters one of another. And indeed when should they have stolen Him? on the Sabbath? And how? for it was not lawful so much as to go out.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 17.11
… For this was the Temple in which were sacrifices and prayers and services; where was the Holy of Holies, and the Cherubim, the Covenant, and the golden pot;
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St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 235.3
… All this they thrust on one side and force knowledge into one single meaning, the contemplation of God’s essence. Thou shalt put them, it is said, before the testimony and I shall be known of thee thence.
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This is the eighth encampment of the Hebrews in the wilderness; for the seventh, which was at the Red Sea, with the journey back to it, as appears in Numbers xxxiii, 10, is here omitted, because nothing peculiar happened in it. This wilderness of Sin is between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, and is different from the wilderness of Sin (which is also called Cades), of which in Numbers xx, 1, and chapter xxxiv, verse 3, where Mary died, and the rock struck by Moses gave forth waters: for our Sin here is written with samech, but that one in Numbers with tsade; in that one was the thirty-third encampment, but in this one the eighth. Sin in Hebrew sounds like hatred, and symbolically signifies that when we follow God calling us into the wilderness, going out from the world, we stir up great hatred against us in the enemy, namely the devil and worldly men. Thus St. Jerome to Fabiola. On the fifteenth day of the month — namely the thirtieth day from the departure from Egypt; for they departed on the fifteenth day of the first month: but on the fifteenth day of the second month (which is called Iiar, and corresponds to our April in part, in part to May) they came to Sin. Concerning which note that the Hebrews had lunar months; but a lunar month has 29 and a half days: whence the Hebrews gave 29 days to the first month; but to the second month they gave 30 days, because the two half days, which had accumulated in each of these months, made one day, namely the thirtieth. Now if the first month had 29 days; therefore from the 15th day to the 29th and last are 15 days: add to these 14 days of the second month, you will arrive precisely at the thirtieth day, on which the Hebrews arrived at Sin: and on the next day, namely on the thirty-first day, manna began to rain, as appears in verses 8 and 12. Thus Torniellus and Josephus, as will appear in verse 2.
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When now the flour mixed, or dough, which they had brought from Egypt, was failing; for it lasted thirty days, says Josephus.
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Namely by death inflicted by the Lord, either naturally or violently. When we sat by the pots of flesh. — Others translate, beside the pots of flesh; our Interpreter better translates, by the pots. Scripture here notes the voracious gluttony of the gross common people, in that, as cattle upon grass, so these men bent themselves over pots. Behold here an example and pattern of apostates: first, when temptation strikes, they forget grace even accepted through miracle, as here the Hebrews forget all the plagues and prodigies of Egypt; second, they repent that they followed God calling them out of Egypt, that is, out of the allurements of the world; third, they despair of God's liberal power, and finally, if they could, they seek their pots again. Why hast thou brought us into this desert, that thou shouldst kill us with hunger? — Why have you cast us to be led into these straits of the desert, that we should die there of hunger? for in no other way could Moses kill them with hunger. Hence it is clear that the active verbs of the Hebrews, such as to kill, do not always signify physical action. Behold here the silence and continual patience of Moses: this virtue exercised and perfected all the Saints: first, Christ, who on the cross prayed for his crucifiers: "Father," said he, "forgive them, for they know not what they do;"; second, Job, who suffered extremities from the demon and the Chaldeans and his wife, said: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord;"; third, David, who bore the persecution of Saul, Shimei and Absalom most equitably; fourth, St. Stephen, who prayed for those stoning him, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge;"; fifth, St. Paul, who says: "We are cursed, and we bless; we suffer persecution, and we endure; we are blasphemed, and we entreat." Hear also the Martyrs. Busiris of Ancyra under Julian the Apostate, suspended on the rack, with his hands raised to his head, bared his sides, and said to the Prefect: "There is no need for the lictors to labor in lifting me onto the rack; for I myself, without their labor, am ready to offer my sides to the torturers in whatever manner you wish." He said and did it; for when his sides were lacerated with nails, with his hands raised to heaven he gave thanks to God: Sozomen is witness, book V, chapter x. Gensericus ordered Christians with feet bound behind them to be dragged by running four-horse chariots over rocks and thorns, who, bidding each other farewell, said: "Farewell, brother, pray for me; the Lord hath fulfilled our desire; thus one comes to the kingdom of heaven." Thus Victor, book I of the Vandals. Hear also the Confessors. A demon, unable to bear the magnanimity of James the hermit, threatened to strike him with a rod. Then James: "If it is permitted thee by God," said he, "strike, and I will gladly receive the blow, so that I may be struck by him. But if it is not permitted thee, thou shalt not strike, though thou rage a thousand times." Theodoret is witness in the Lives of the Holy Fathers, life 21. Irene, when deposed from empire by command of Nicephorus her servant, said: "I bear it as acceptable to God that he raised me, an orphan and unworthy, to empire; but that he now permits me to be deposed, I ascribe to my sins; in all things both good and evil, blessed be the name of the Lord." Thus Paul the Deacon, book XXIII. Alphonsus, king of Aragon, struck severely in the eye by a branch lowered by someone preceding him on the road, said: "I truly grieve at nothing, except the pain and fear of the striker." Thus the Panormitan, book IV of his Life. Tertullian, in the book On Patience, chapters ix and x, thus says: "If I shall apply myself to patience, I shall not grieve; if I shall not grieve, I shall not desire to avenge." And chapter xv: "God is the arbiter of patience. If thou shalt have deposited an injury with him, he is the avenger; if loss, he is the restorer; if pain, he is the physician; if death, he is the raiser up."
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"Bread," that is, manna: for from it crushed they made little cakes of bread, as appears in Numbers xi, 8. But for flesh and the pots, to which the Hebrews longed, God gave them quails, verses 8 and 13. That I may prove him, whether he will walk in my law. — God speaks in human manner: for he himself tempts men by proving them, and drawing forth their secrets and the very truth openly. But not to the end that men do: for these tempt in order that they may know what they are ignorant of; but God, the knower of hearts, conscious of all things, yea foreknowing, tempts, not that he himself, but that others may know either themselves or others. God therefore tempted here the obedience and temperance of the Hebrews, giving them manna alone; and he tempted also their hope, while he measured out to them daily food for each day, and commanded that they should not lay up manna for the next day (for to this law, which immediately preceded, God especially had regard in this temptation), and this that they might learn to depend continually and constantly upon God's providence, not being anxious about accumulating provisions: in which manner also we Christians are commanded to ask our daily bread from God day by day.
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Namely on Friday: for on the seventh day, namely Saturday, God commanded them to rest; hence manna did not rain on the Sabbath. From this Origen, St. Ambrose, in 1 Corinthians x; St. Augustine, sermon 23 On the Seasons, and the Synod of Caesarea, which Bede relates, epistle On the Celebration of Easter, conclude that the day on which manna first rained was the Lord's Day: for from this day the sixth day is the Preparation, or Friday; therefore for six complete days manna rained continuously, namely beginning from the Lord's Day up to and including Friday. By which it was mystically and tacitly signified that the Lord's Day is to be preferred by Christ and Christians to the Sabbath, and that on the Lord's Day the heavenly bread in the Eucharist, and God's grace, would descend to the faithful. Note that they bring to the parent, as if to say: On Friday let them lay aside a portion of manna in their tabernacles, by which they may eat on the following Sabbath day: for on the Sabbath they must cease from the labor of gathering, grinding and cooking manna. Whence also Friday was called the Preparation, from the preparation of foods which was made on that day for the Sabbath. Tropologically, in six days of our life provisions are to be gathered for the seventh day of eternity, so that by these we may live in eternal heavenly rest. Thus Origen, Rupertus and Cyril, book IV on John, chapter li.
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And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord — because in the evening God will give you quails, and in the morning manna, as is evident from verses 12 and 13, by which you shall know the glory of God, that is, the glorious power and providence.
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Against Himself: Moses repeats the name of the Lord for the sake of honor, and puts the absolute for the reciprocal. Note here how grave a sin is the murmuring of the people against magistrates; for it is against God, who established them: hence God almost always dissimulated the other sins of the Hebrews in the desert: but murmuring He almost always punished immediately. See St. Gregory, book XII of the Register, epistle 31.
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Draw near to the pillar of cloud, by which the presence of God was exhibited to you; for the tabernacle had not yet been built (upon which this pillar later rested), which those about to draw near to the Lord were accustomed to approach afterwards. Note: In three places God was accustomed to speak to Moses, and thereafter to the Hebrews: First, in the tabernacle within the Holy of Holies, after those were built, and that to Moses or Aaron alone, as is evident from Exodus chapter xxv, verse 22. Second, at the entrance of the tabernacle near the altar of holocausts, as is evident from Exodus xxix, 42. Third, in the pillar of cloud, wherever it might be, as is evident from Psalm xcviii, 7; Exodus xxxiii, 9. Thus Abulensis in Leviticus I, 1.
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Outside the camp. And behold the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. — This glory of the Lord was the splendor and august and radiant brightness, by which the divine majesty exhibited itself, as it were, to be beheld through an angel; this splendor was in the cloud, that is, in the pillar of cloud, which rested in the midst of the camps; but for just cause it moved itself from time to time, impelled by an angel, as it did in chapter xiv, 19, when it placed itself between the camps of the Hebrews and the Egyptians. Thus also here the angel in the pillar, as if indignant at remaining with a people so murmuring, fled outside the camp into the wilderness, and there called and drew Moses to himself, and there spoke with him, saying: "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, etc." God did this, or rather the angel in God's stead, so that he might restrain the murmuring people by the terror and lightning of his divinity; and so that he might induce them to believe in Moses and obey him, as one whom they saw conversing with the divine majesty, and being instructed and taught by it. Thus Lyra, Abulensis and others.
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Alone; for while Aaron was addressing the people, Moses alone, tacitly called by Him, had withdrawn to his secret place outside the camp, namely to the pillar of cloud, to pray to the Lord.
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"Flesh" namely quails, and "bread" namely manna. Allegorically the evening was signified here, that is, the darkness of the law sacrificing the flesh of animals, about to pass into morning in the heavenly bread, that is Christ, who is the light and manna of the world. Thus Cyril, book III on John, chapter xxxiv, and Rupertus. Secondly, as Origen and St. Augustine, Question lx, signified, that at the evening of the world the Word would become flesh, would die and be buried from weakness; but in the morning would rise from power, and would appear to his disciples eating with them, and feeding them.
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"Ascending," that is, coming and flying; "quail," that is, a multitude of quails, and this with the wind blowing, as is said in Psalm lxxvii, verses 26 and 27, which cast them down, so that they fell in the midst of the camps, as appears in verse 13 of Psalm lxxvii. This sending of quails did not last, as the manna did, for 40 years (as is said in verse 35), but occurred only on this one evening, yet in those days the Hebrews were able to gather and preserve quails for several days. After this evening therefore, on the following days, no quails flew to the camps of the Hebrews. Note: God gave quails to the Hebrews twice: first here; second, in Numbers xi, 31, at the graves of lust. In the morning also the dew lay round about the camps. — In Hebrew it is, in the morning there was a lying down, or a bed of dew, that is to say, in the morning the whole plain was strewn and covered with dew, so that the dew lay upon it as if in a bed. This dew was the manna, which is called dew, because it was similar to dew and crystalline drops congealed into the form of coriander seed. Thus Nyssenus, Philo, Josephus. For manna was not similar to moist, dewy and liquid matter, but to a coagulum and congealed substance. Hence in verse 14 it is said to have been in the likeness of frost; therefore manna was similar to congealed dew, that is, to grains of hail, or frost, which is formed by nocturnal cold condensing and dividing into small grains: thus also our manna (although it is far different from this heavenly manna), which in many places today coalesces on the leaves of shrubs, and is carefully gathered by physicians, and is called by Galen drosomeli and aeromeli, that is, dewy honey and airy honey (which is nothing other than the exhalation of water and earth, finely attenuated and cooked by the heat of the sun, and driven together and condensed by the cold of the following night), before it liquefies as the sun sets, has the appearance of frost. Otherwise, namely properly, the Hebrews, Lyran, Vatable, Oleaster and Cajetan understand dew here; for they think that dew descended together with the manna, which covered the manna; and when in the morning the empty dew evaporated at the rays of the sun, it uncovered and left only the manna to be gathered by the Hebrews: therefore manna was enclosed both from above and from below by dew, as if by a sheath. Which matter the Jews even today represent at their table by a certain sign, namely by placing bread between two tablecloths. This opinion is favored by the Chaldean version and Vatable's, who translate, there was a covering of dew, and when it had ascended, that is, had been consumed and dispersed by the sun (and, as the Septuagint, κατεπαύσατο, that is, when it had ceased, that is, stopped, some say), the dew, behold on the surface of the desert something small and round appeared. From this opinion, which is probable, a beautiful allegory concerning the Eucharist can be gathered: for just as dew here covered the manna, so the species of bread cover the body of Christ; and just as when the dew evaporated the manna appeared, so in the Eucharist when the species of bread are abstracted by faith, the faithful mind ascends to see and taste the very body of Christ. But our version seems to contradict this opinion in the following verse, where it plainly explains this dew, and says it was the manna itself: for the Hebrew vattaal, that is, it ascended, which others interpret: It evaporated into vapor at the rays of the sun; our Interpreter translates: "And when it had covered the surface of the earth;" for it ascended by covering the earth: in a similar manner a little before he said the quails had ascended and covered the camps. Second, when the sun grew hot the manna melted and evaporated, as dew is wont to evaporate: hence before the sun in the early morning the Hebrews had to gather the manna. Therefore it does not seem true what the Hebrews say, that the sun growing hot consumed the dew, and left the manna untouched. Third, why would this dew have covered the manna? For manna in itself was clean, nor could it be soiled from above by rain, snow and hail (since God was restraining and turning away these things), therefore it is far more true that this dew was nothing other than manna. Thus Abulensis. You will say: In Numbers xi, 9, it is said: "When the dew descended in the night upon the camps, the manna also descended together." I answer, dew is taken there for frost, which did not cover the manna, but was spread under it, lest the manna be defiled by contact with the earth; hence the Hebrew, Chaldean and Septuagint have, the manna ascended upon it, namely the dew, that is, congealed, that is, the aforesaid frost. Abulensi notes that very probably thus God rained down manna: first he sent a wind, which would purify from waters, vapors and similar things the surface of the earth, so that no waters or filth remained in it which could stain the manna; then he rained down cold frost, and formed into grains; finally upon the frost he rained down manna, as appears in Numbers xi, 9. The earth therefore was as it were a bed, the frost or congealed dew was as it were clean linen, upon which the manna lay. Hence in Hebrew the manna here and in Numbers xi, is said to lie in the earth and in the dew, so that this frost or dew was beneath as a veil to the manna itself, just as the species of bread in the Eucharist are a veil of the body of Christ.
16:14
Hence it is clear that manna did not rain down in the camps of the Hebrews, because those were unclean; but outside the camp in the desert, or in the field, as it is said in verse 25. Whence in verse 27 the Hebrews are said to have gone out from their camps, so that they might find it and gather it in the desert. Small and as if beaten with a pestle, in the likeness of hoarfrost upon the earth. — Not as if the manna, when it descended from heaven, had been beaten with a pestle and reduced to powder or flour: for the Hebrews did this afterwards, grinding it in a mortar or mill, when they made cakes from it, as is evident from Numbers xi, 8; but "as if beaten with a pestle," that is, stripped by the beating of a pestle, and divested of its husks, as if to say: Manna was white like wheat, from which the husk has been removed either by a pestle or by a mill: for Scripture always commends manna for its white colour. Whence in Numbers xi, 7, it is said to have been of the colour of bdellium. Hence also the Septuagint, for "beaten with a pestle," translate λεπτόν, that is, white, and the Chaldean translates it as if stripped or husked, and this agrees with the Hebrew מחספס mechuspas. Although indeed this word is found nowhere else, yet because it has a four-letter root, hence by custom it must be reduced to a three-letter root, namely to קשה chasaph, that is, to strip, to husk; whence it is strange that recent scholars translate mechuspas as round, as if they prefer to guess blindly rather than to assent to St. Jerome, the Septuagint and the Chaldean and other ancient and most learned Hebrews. Furthermore in Numbers xi, manna is said in colour to have been like bdellium; bdellium moreover is a kind of gum, or transparent tears. Whence the Septuagint translate it, similar to crystal, as if to say: Manna was whitish like crystal. The Hebrew בדלח bedolach, that is bdellium, Pagninus translates as pearl, others as onyx: as if manna had been in colour similar to a pearl, or to onyx, that is, in the colour of a fingernail. For such is bdellium, especially the Bactrian, which is the most praised of all: the author is Pliny, book XII, chapter ix, and Dioscorides, book I, chapter lxix. Therefore white manna signified the Eucharist, in which the species of white bread represent and in reality exhibit the white and immaculate body of Christ.
16:15
Hence it was called in Hebrew man, and in Chaldean manna. The Hebrew man Vatablus translates as gift. For when, he says, the Hebrews could not give it a proper name, they gave it the generic name man, that is gift, as if to say man hu, that is, this great and heavenly is a gift promised to us by God, verse 4. Secondly, Oleaster translates man as numerous: for the root מכה mana signifies to number: whence mane, tekel, phares, Daniel, chapter V, verse 25; for manna rained down in great number and abundance like snow. Calvin goes further and errs, who translates man as prepared; and Aben Esra, who wishes man to be a word, not Hebrew but Arabic; for it was not called by the Arabs, but by the Hebrews here in the desert man. But the Septuagint, the Chaldean and our Philo, Josephus, Origen, Theodoret, Cyril, book III on John, chapter XXXIV, and throughout both ancient and recent scholars most excellently and genuinely translate τὸ man hu, that is, what is this? for so unusual a thing stirred up admiration in the Hebrews, so that they asked: What is this? and the following words indicate this: "For they knew not what it was;" where for "what it was," in Hebrew is מה הות ma hu: whence man hu was formed by the addition of the paragogic nun. A similar paragoge of the letter lamed in the same interrogative ma is in Isaiah chapter III, verse 15: מלכם mallachem, what is it to you? But the paragoge of nun is more usual; for nun is frequently added to Hebrew nouns, as is evident in corban, ischon, sculchan, nechustan. Finally the Chaldeans for ma say man, that is, who, which, what, as is evident in Daniel, chapter III and IV. Thus also the Hebrews for the sake of euphony use man for ma, as is evident in Psalm LX, verse 8. The same is confirmed by the response of Moses. For Moses, when the Hebrews ask man hu, that is, "what is this?" responds: "This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat."
16:16
"Each one," namely whoever eats bread and solid food: for neither infants nor those sucking at the breast ate manna. Thus Cajetan. A gomor for each head. — "Gomor" is a choenix, that is, a measure which suffices for each person's sustenance per day; whence it is called gomor, as it were עמר gomer, that is, a handful, namely of daily sustenance, says Arias Montanus; or, as Vilalpando in Apparatus of the Temple, part II, book III, chapter XII, gomor is the same as usualis, from the root מער amar, that is, to use someone's service, because for forty years in the desert this measure gomor was especially in use for measuring manna. A gomor was a tenth part of an ephah (as is said in verse 36), or epha, that is, of three modii; but an ephah was a tenth part of a cor, or homer (homer is different from gomor; for gomor is written with ain, homer with chet), as is evident from Ezekiel XLV, verse 11; but a corus, or homer, contained 30 modii: for thus our interpreter renders it, Leviticus chapter XXVII, verse 16, and elsewhere. So also the Septuagint, who in Ezekiel chapter XLV, for homer render six artabas: but an artaba, according to Galen, book On Measures, contains modii, that is, Italian measures, 5; six therefore artabas are 30 modii. Note here in passing: Three amphorae, three modii, three measures, three sata, one batus, one ephah, all these are one and the same, says Lipomanus. Josephus calls a gomor an assaron, that is, a tenth, so that these three, namely gomor, assaron and tenth are the same. But an assaron, as Josephus says, book III of Antiquities chapter VII, contained seven cotyles; but a cotyle contained 9 ounces among the Athenians, says Thucydides in Athenaeum book XI: by which calculation a gomor would have been a measure containing 63 ounces, that is, five pounds and three ounces; but at the end of the book, in the tract On Measures, I shall show that a gomor contained 8 pounds, or 96 ounces. Which was indeed a huge portion, and sufficient for each person, however greedy and voracious of stomach, even in that ancient and vigorous age, for daily sustenance. But, as Vilalpando notes, manna was of lighter substance, but of greater size, than grain: whence he himself reckons that a gomor full of manna provided as much bread as a cabus full of grain: but a cabus contained 4 sextarii, concerning which at the end of the book. Thus therefore a gomor of manna was about 4 pounds. Note: God here gives six precepts concerning manna, and assigns as many miracles. The first precept is in this verse, by which He commands that the Hebrews gather from the manna in individual heads each day a measure of gomor, that is, only so much as they probably think sufficient to complete a gomor; whence some gathered more than others, thinking they had not yet gathered a gomor: others gathered less, thinking they had gathered a gomor, when they had not yet gathered it completely. Some think (which even Abulensis deems probable) that what is said here about gathering a gomor for individuals is not a precept given to the Hebrews, but an ordinance concerning the manna itself, namely that each should have and eat one gomor daily: for they think that the Hebrews themselves, according as they were more or less voracious, gathered more or less from the manna, for example, he to whom half a gomor sufficed gathered half a gomor; he who needed one or two gomor gathered one or two: but when each afterwards measured what he had gathered, all found one gomor only, because those who had gathered less, God made what they had gathered rarer and elevated it so as to fill a gomor; but those who had gathered more than a gomor, He condensed and compressed, so that it did not exceed a gomor. This opinion, as to its latter part concerning the rarefaction and condensation of manna, is in part true, as I shall presently say; but to its former part, that namely some would deliberately gather only half a gomor, others two gomor, seem to be opposed the words of Scripture in this verse: "Let each one," it says, "gather from it as much as suffices for eating, a gomor for each head." Where the colligat is of one commanding, and pertains to gomor: therefore He commands to gather a gomor for each, not more or less. Whence He adds: "Thus you shall take," namely a gomor for each head. Therefore each one ought to gather daily only as much as he thought would be sufficient to fill a gomor: but on the sixth day, for himself and for the sabbath, two gomors were to be gathered for each man, as is said in verses 5 and 22: "And they measured by the measure of a gomor: neither did he that had gathered more, have more; nor he that had prepared less, find less." Dionysius the Carthusian and Emmanuel Sa think that from the Hebrews there were appointed overseers, who would measure the manna collected by anyone, and would measure out to each from it a gomor, so that from him who had gathered more than a gomor, they would take away that excess, and would give it to him who had gathered less than a gomor. But this is scarcely probable: for no mention is made of overseers here; and they, in performing this duty, by taking away part of the Hebrews' collection, especially from the more tenacious, would have given great cause for murmuring and quarreling. Furthermore, Scripture expressly says that he who had prepared less did not find less, as if secretly, or by chance, not however as if something had been given to him by judges and overseers; otherwise it would have said: The overseers supplied and completed the gomor for him who had prepared less. I say therefore that this is the first and that great miracle in the manna, namely that so great an abundance rained down daily, which would be sufficient for feeding three million men, and that individual men coming home, when they measured the manna collected by themselves, whether they had gathered more or less, all nevertheless found one and the same gomor: namely the angel invisibly adding, if they had gathered less than a gomor; diminishing, if they had gathered more: for this is what the express and clear words of Scripture here require, and St. Paul, II Corinthians VIII, citing these from the Septuagint: "That there may be equality, he says, as it is written: He that had much, had nothing over; and he that had little, had no lack." Hence it follows that all then daily ate from the manna one gomor, and consequently one and the same measure of food, namely a gomor, was then for little children, men, women, the strong, the aged, and all Hebrews: for God in the stomach and body of each so digested and distributed his manna and his gomor, that he tempered it by the force of nutrition and to the nutrition and strength of each, so that he satisfied all equally; and on the other hand supplied, if anything was lacking in the natural heat and nutritive force of anyone to consume a gomor, or certainly made it so that manna in a weak stomach was light and easy of digestion, but in a stronger stomach was more potent: for thus, as we shall see later, manna varied its taste for each; for each tasted in the manna what he wished. In like manner therefore it appears that God made it so that manna to a strong stomach tasted and acted like robust pork, beef, etc.; but in a weak stomach tasted and acted like veal, lamb, or like fish meat, like eggs, like milk, etc. Thus Nyssenus, Lyranus, Abulensis, Oleaster, Cajetan, Vatable, St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Anselm in II Corinthians chapter VIII, verse 15. Yea, and the Hebrews, as Genebrard testifies in Psalm LXXVII, verse 29, hand down that manna was bodily food, which was digested in their very members (not merely in the stomach); whence it did not burden the stomach with heaviness, nor the head with vapors, did not create excrement, and was easy of digestion, and therefore was a type of the food of the just in the future age. I would believe, however, that the angel in the more voracious condensed and compressed the manna in a gomor; but in the aged, little children and the weak, rarefied and extended it: so that a gomor of these would have less manna, but of those would have more, and thus the angel accommodated and tempered this measure of a gomor to the stomach and strength of each. For this is more natural: but God spares miracles, and uses nature, when it suffices, and this appears to be what Moses adds here.
16:18
That is to say, each person according to his own appetite estimated his own omer to be greater or lesser, and therefore collected more or less: but when afterwards they measured what they had collected, each one found one omer, which sufficed for each; yet in such a way that the angel would condense the manna in some, and rarefy it in others; indeed, in those who had collected too much, he would secretly subtract, and in others who had collected too little, he would add a portion of manna. For rarefaction alone could indeed fill an omer, but not the belly, if it could hold and desired more food. Therefore, so that the quantity of manna might be proportioned to each person's stomach, it was necessary that the angel should from time to time either take away something from it, if someone had collected too much; or add something, if someone had collected too little. Moreover, the reason why God prescribed the same omer to each one was, first, to restrain avarice, gluttony, and excessive care for food and earthly things in this manner, as St. Chrysostom and Theophylactus say in II Corinthians, chapter VIII. Second, to teach how great a good equality is in community, namely equal food, clothing, labor, burden, etc. Third, God wished to testify by this continual miracle that a sufficient measure of sustenance for each person is prepared by the Lord, even if from their own labors they appear to be able to obtain less: so that, when we sit at table, we may think that God rains manna upon us from heaven; for thus even today not only to the rich, but also to the poor, to the sick and weak, and moreover to those burdened with many children, God nevertheless supplies daily sustenance which is sufficient for the maintenance of all their lives, which thing to one considering it appears wonderful and incredible, if one compares the small income and profit which they make with such great expense, with the expenditures of so many heads of a family: so that from this single experiment alone it is permitted to gather the sweet and wonderful providence of God toward all. Whence St. Chrysostom, homily 40 on I Corinthians: "The avaricious rich man, he says, differs from the poor man only in cares, neglect of God, defilement of body, and perdition of soul: for each equally satisfies his belly." I have said more about this verse in II Corinthians, chapter VIII, verse 15. The allegorical reason was that the same omer might signify the same Christ, whom, whole and entire as he is, we all eat in the Eucharist. Anagogically, the same omer signifies the same divinity, by which we are fed and enjoy in full each one in heaven, but some will draw more, others less of its taste, sweetness, grace and glory, just as from the same manna then, and from the same food now some more, for example children and youths: others less, as the elderly and weak, are nourished and refreshed.
16:19
This is the second precept, to restrain the unbelieving avarice of those who, against the will and command of God, wished to provide for themselves concerning the morrow: whence also afterwards they were punished; for the manna that was kept for the following day began to swarm with worms. And in this punishment there was likewise a second miracle; for no one would say that it was the nature of manna to putrefy the next day, since on the Sabbath that which had been collected the day before was preserved unharmed: certainly there is no grain or flour which putrefies so quickly. Thus Theodoret.
16:21
A third precept is intimated here, namely that each person should gather manna in the morning before the sun grew hot, because it would melt when the sun was hot: and this was so that the Hebrews might learn not to sleep, but to rise in the morning to pray to God and to prepare their food for themselves: for this is what the Wise Man says, speaking of manna melting in the sun, cap. XVI, vers. 28: "That it might be known to all that one ought to prevent the sun, to bless thee (and to bless and praise thee), and to adore thee at the rising of the light." And when the sun grew hot, it melted. — This is likewise the third miracle, namely that what remained of the manna in the field, as the Chaldean says, melted when the sun grew hot, that is, became more heated (for by Hebraism cal is put for hiphil, namely a neuter or passive verb for an active one), although the same manna already collected was so hard at home that it was beaten with a pestle and mill, and did not melt in fire, but was formed into a cake, as is evident from Numer. XI, vers. 8. Cajetan gives a similar example in an egg: "For just as an egg, he says, while it is in the hen, has a tender shell, which immediately after the egg is laid dries out and becomes hard: so those grains of manna in the place where they were formed were subject to melting; but when separated they hardened so much that they were no longer of a melting nature: so that, just as they afterwards endured fire, they would have endured the sun as well, if they had been exposed to the sun again." God willed the manna to melt in the field, lest that heavenly food remaining on the earth should rot or be trampled upon, and thus be dishonored and despised. Again, the Wise Man gives another reason, cap. XVI, vers. 27: "Because, he says, what could not be destroyed by fire, immediately when heated by a small ray of the sun wasted away: that it might be known to all that one ought to prevent the sun, to bless thee, and to adore thee at the rising of the light." Similar to this manna of the Hebrews is Polish manna, which in Poland (as all the Poles attest) rains down at night in the months of June and July, and lies upon the herbs like dew. For they gather this with a sieve before the rays of the sun, shake it out, beat it, mix it with water, and make a pottage, just as pottages are made from the flour of panic-grass or wheat. For if the sun grows hot, it dissolves the husk, and thus the grain of manna enclosed in it falls to the ground and is lost; which is indeed new and memorable. I myself have seen the grains, and they are like millet, but longer and reddish; and I have tasted the pottages made from it: the taste is such as is the pottage made from panic-grass. But in this respect this manna differs from the manna of the Hebrews, that this does not entirely melt in the sun, but only dissolves so that the grain or seed enclosed in it, which is hard like millet, falls; whereas the manna of the Hebrews entirely melted and vanished in the sun. Add that Polish manna is enclosed in a husk; that of the Hebrews, however, was without a husk, beaten like hair, as is said in vers. 14.
16:22
This is the fourth precept laid down in vers. 5, that on the sixth day they should gather double manna, namely one gomor for the sixth day, and another for the sabbath, and this to commend the rest and sanctity of the sabbath. This was likewise the fourth miracle, namely that on the sixth day double manna rained down, as it were double provisions, and that each one returning home from the gathering of manna would find equally two gomors with him. And they told Moses — that on the sixth day they had gathered double manna, and this so that they might hear and understand for what purpose this had been commanded to them: for God had not yet declared up to this point that He had prescribed this on account of the sanctity of the sabbath.
16:23
That is to say, Tomorrow is the holy sabbath, and dedicated to the worship of the Lord: hence then you must rest from all work, and be free for God; therefore I have commanded you on the sixth day to gather and prepare manna for the sabbath. Here first it appears that the knowledge and observance of the sabbath was renewed and restored: hence Philo also asserts that the Hebrews, ignorant of the birthday of the world which their ancestors had not known, on which this whole universe was completed, learned this through this miracle, by which namely on the day before the sabbath double manna rained down, and lasted for two days, contrary to what happened on other days. I say renewed: for the sabbath was instituted and observed from the beginning of the world, as I have shown in Genesis, cap. II, vers. 3. From the origin of the world therefore the feast and observance of the sabbath was instituted; but in the Egyptian servitude and idolatry of the Hebrews it was completely obliterated; hence here it is recalled and restored by God. Whatever shall be left, lay it up until the morning. — Namely keep one gomor until the following morning of the sabbath, that is, keep the bread of one gomor, which you made on the sixth day from beaten and cooked manna; for on the sabbath it was not permitted to beat or cook manna; they could, however, keep whole and uncooked manna and eat it on the sabbath, if they wished, just as the grains of sugar are eaten: our Lorinus teaches this against Eugubinus in cap. XVI of Wisdom.
16:31
Which was like the seed of coriander, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. — The seed of coriander is not white, but black; therefore the white is not to be referred to coriander, but must be taken separately by itself. For three things are said here concerning the manna: first, that in quantity and figure it was similar to coriander, namely because the grain was small and round like coriander: thus Josephus; second, that in color it was bright and white; third, that in taste it was honeyed, and tasted like fine flour mixed with honey. And the taste of it was like fine flour with honey. — Therefore the manna was similar to grains of sugar, both as to color, and as to taste, and as to figure. This taste was as it were congenital and natural to the manna itself, and so it tasted as the one eating it desired no other food or flavor: for if he himself desired something else, immediately it tasted like that in the manna. For the manna, by God's gift and great miracle, exhibited to each person every sweetness of flavor: this is indeed what is said in Wisdom XVI, 20: "Thou didst feed thy people with the food of angels, and gavest them bread from heaven, prepared without labor, having in it all that is delicious, and the sweetness of every taste. And thy substance showed forth the sweetness that thou hadst towards thy children; and serving to the desire of him that desired it, it was turned to whatsoever flavor every one wished." Whence also in chapter XIX, verse 20, the Wise Man in Greek calls the manna ambrosia, which is feigned by the poets to be the most delightful food of the gods. Some think that this was given only to pious and just men as a privilege, namely that the manna should taste to them as they wished; that this did not happen to the impious and unjust, but to them the manna tasted only as honeyed bread or oiled bread, is proved from the fact that otherwise they would not afterwards have murmured against the manna, nor would they have asked for flesh, leeks and melons, Num. chapter XI, verse 4, if they had tasted all these things in the manna itself. Thus teach St. Augustine, book II of the Retractations, chapter XIX, Abulensis, Lipomanus and others. But because Scripture makes no distinction here between the pious and the impious, but absolutely asserts that the manna exhibited to each person the taste which he wished; and because the other benefits of God, namely the pillar, the quails, the water from the rock, etc., in the desert were common to both the impious and the pious; and because by this taste God wished to turn away both the impious and the pious from the fleshpots of Egypt: this is indeed what the Wise Man adds: "That thy children, O Lord, whom thou lovedst, might know that it is not the fruit of the crops that nourisheth man, but thy word preserveth those who believe in thee;" hence it seems more true that the manna tasted to all, both impious and pious, as each one wished to taste. Thus teach the Hebrews, St. Chrysostom, Nazianzenus and others, whom Lorinus cites and follows in Wisdom XVI, verse 21. You will say: Why then did the Hebrews loathe the manna? Num. XI. Lorinus answers that this loathing and murmuring arose, not from the excessive sweetness of the manna, nor even from weariness of the same food for 40 years, but from the fact that the color, odor, form, thinness, and other similar qualities always remained the same in the manna, and a certain pleasant diversity of these qualities attracts the taste more: for thus children and other gluttons strive to fill not only their belly, but also their nostrils, and eyes, and hands with foods; and this is what the murmurers say: "Our soul is weary of this very light food; our eyes behold nothing else but the manna." They therefore sought variety and solidity of other foods. Some add that the manna changed not only its taste, but also its substance according to the wish of the one eating it: so that if someone wished to eat an egg, a chicken, sugar, the manna would immediately be turned either into an egg, or into a chicken, or into sugar, and they think this is signified by those words of Wisdom XVI: "It was turned to whatsoever flavor every one wished," in Greek μετεκιρνᾶτο, that is, was tempered, as if in this manna there were expressed a type of the transubstantiation of bread into the body of Christ in the Eucharist. Thus think Gregory of Valencia, Claude de Sainctes, Thomas Bozius, and Nicholas Villagagnon. But this opinion is new and lacks a solid foundation: for the words of Scripture speak not of a substantial, but of an accidental conversion of taste: otherwise indeed the Jews would not have murmured on account of the manna, Num. cap. XI. And in this respect the manna was a type of the Eucharist, not as to transubstantiation, but as to the power and efficacy of the remaining accidents: for the taste of the manna shows in what manner the accidents of bread and wine could remain and nourish without their substance: and thus implicitly and consequently the different taste in the manna was also a type of transubstantiation. For a different taste is wont to accompany and indicate a different substance. Note: The Wise Man, as also David Psal. LXXVII, 25, calls the manna the bread of angels, not of those eating, but of those producing the manna from matter prepared for this purpose in the clouds. Whence also they call it "bread of heaven," that is of the clouds, because the manna was formed in the clouds and rained down from the clouds. Again the manna is called "bread of angels," that is, most delicious bread, so that if angels were to eat, they would feed on no other bread than manna: thus the tongues of angels are called most beautiful and elegant, I Cor. XIII, 1. For "of angels" in Hebrew is אבירים abbirim, that is of the mighty, or the stronger, which is an epithet of angels who excel men in strength and virtue. Secondly, "of the mighty," because through the manna they became strong and mighty, just as the Eucharist strengthens our hearts unto eternal life, John VI.
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This is the fifth precept, by which God commands the manna to be preserved, as a perpetual monument of divine nourishment. Thus the manna rained at Arras, which is still preserved and shown there, as I myself have seen. Hence their verse: At Arras the manna, at Rome the sacred unction rained, at Jerusalem the blood: these are three gifts of salvation. Fifthly also is here a miracle, namely that God preserved this manna uncorrupted for so many ages.
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Before the tabernacle and the ark, when these shall have been built; it is therefore a prolepsis: for the manna was placed in the Holy of Holies in a golden urn, as the Apostle says, Hebr. cap. IX, vers. 4.
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Namely to me; it is an enallage of person: for Moses speaks of himself as of another in the third person. And Aaron placed it in the tabernacle to be kept — not now in the first year of their departure from Egypt, but much later, when the tabernacle had been constructed: this therefore is here put by anticipation, so that all things which concern the manna might be joined together at once. Again Moses placed the manna in the small tabernacle, which the Hebrews had, before they constructed that great and elaborate one by the command of God: for it will be evident that they already had such a tabernacle at that time, cap. XXXIII, vers. 7. Thus Lyra and others.
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Sixth, here is intimated the precept of gathering manna on individual days and years, and this continuously for 40 years. Sixth also here stands forth a miracle, that both in spring and in autumn, both in summer and in winter, on individual days for 40 continuous years manna rained down, until the Hebrews came into Chanaan, and there ate of the fruits of the land. Angels therefore daily in the clouds, from matter naturally disposed for this purpose, formed manna, in the manner that in clouds snow, hail, and indeed even stones are generated, and in the manner that medicinal manna is also generated, which nevertheless differs greatly and is far distant from this manna of ours: for ours was miraculous, as is evident from what has been said. Wherefore what Josephus says, that in his time manna still rained in the same region, is either fabulous, or must be understood of medicinal manna. Whether the Hebrews in the desert ate other foods besides manna, I shall say in Deuteronomy II, 6. Note: Manna allegorically signified Christ in the Venerable Sacrament, as is evident from John, chapter VI, verses 49 and 50; but manna signified most of all the thing contained, and the effect of the Sacrament, as St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus and Cyrillus teach at length in the cited place of John. Whence also the Apostle, I Corinthians X, says: "All ate the same spiritual food, and drank the same spiritual drink," which Calvin also understands of the sacred supper, and says that manna was a type of the body of Christ, from which you may rightly conclude that in the Venerable Sacrament there is truly the flesh of Christ, since manna was the symbol of a thing truly existing, not of a chimerical one: otherwise both we and the Jews would eat spiritual food, that is, typical and symbolic flesh, and we would have no more truth of the thing signified than the Jews themselves, indeed far less: for manna was more savory than our bread, and represented the body of Christ far more clearly than dry bread. Some from this new sect of Ministers have conceded this consequence as clear; but who does not see that it is repugnant both to Holy Scripture and to reason? For the new law is more excellent than the old law; therefore the new Sacraments excel the old ones; whence the Apostle says: "These things were done in a figure of us;" but the thing figured is nobler than its figure: just as a body is nobler than its shadow, and man nobler than his image: therefore the Sacraments of the new law, and especially the Eucharist, as the thing figured, ought to be nobler than the Sacraments of the old law, and than manna itself which was only a type and figure of our Eucharist. Again in John VI, Christ most clearly prefers his body in the Eucharist to manna itself, verses 48 and 58: "This," he says, "is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate manna, and died: he who eats this bread (namely the divine, consecrated, and transubstantiated into the body of Christ), shall live forever." But that manna represents the body of Christ more clearly than bread, who does not see? This can be shown in many ways.
Manna a type of the Eucharist Whence note secondly: Most fittingly does manna agree with the body of Christ in the Eucharist, and it shadowed it forth most beautifully. First, the color of the species of the Eucharist is the same as that of manna. Second, the sweet taste of both. Again, just as sweetness in manna was hidden, so also under the species of bread Christ is hidden. Third, only by leaving behind the pots of Egypt and the pleasures of the flesh is either found or tasted. Fourth, to the unfaithful and avaricious both turn into worms and judgment. Fifth, manna was not given except after the crossing of the sea: the Eucharist is not given except after baptism. Sixth, after manna the Hebrews fought with Amalec, whereas before God alone had fought for them against the Egyptians. They fought, I say, and conquered: thus the impediments of heavenly life and temptations, which God permits to be set before none but the stronger, are overcome by the virtue of the Eucharist. Wherefore St. Bernard, in a sermon on baptism delivered at the Lord's Supper, says: "This Sacrament works two things in us, namely that it diminishes sensation in lesser matters, and in graver sins takes away consent altogether. If any of you does not now feel so often, does not feel so bitter movements of anger, envy, lust, etc., let him give thanks to the body and blood of the Lord, because the virtue of the Sacrament works in him." And St. Cyril, book IV on John, chapter XVII: "The Eucharist," he says, "calms, when Christ remains in us, the raging law of our members, strengthens piety, extinguishes perturbations of the soul, and does not consider in what sins we are, but heals the sick, restores the broken, and like the good shepherd, who laid down his soul for his sheep, raises us up from every fall." Seventh, manna was bread without seed, without plowing, or any other human work, made by angels: thus the body of Christ was born from the Virgin alone, and by the sprinkling of the Holy Spirit. Eighth, manna gave the Hebrews every variety of taste. Whence in Wisdom XVI, it is said of manna: "Thou didst feed thy people with the food of angels, and gavest them bread from heaven, prepared without their labor, having in it all that was delicious, and the sweetness of every taste:" thus also Christ is milk to the little ones, vegetables to infants, solid food to the perfect, says the Nyssenus. And St. Cyprian, tract. On the Lord's Supper: "This," he says, "bread surpasses all the stimuli of carnal flavors, and all the pleasures of sweetness. See how for those who commemorate the passion of Christ within the sacred rites, as it were through certain channels from interior fountains, torrents flow forth, and over all delights the soul is delighted with nectarean tears; what sweetness does the soul seeking where its God is draw forth through the sighs of contemplation." Whence it follows, he says, "that henceforth the cups of sinners are abhorred, and every taste of carnal delights becomes to him as if rancid, and like vinegar of sharp bitterness scraping the palate." From this follows the jubilation and intoxication of the mind, "so that," he says, "he bears Christ in his breast, carries him in his mind, and at all times to his dweller with words and deeds consonant with jubilation resound praises, and chant thanksgivings. This intoxication does not kindle, but extinguishes sin. When oblivion has lulled all the mockeries of the flesh, marvelous are the things he feels, great the things he sees, unheard of the things he speaks." Chrysostom, homily 24 on I Corinthians: "This table," he says, "is the strength of our soul, the nerve of the mind, the bond of confidence, hope, salvation, light, our life." Ninth, manna was fine: Christ is confined in a small host. Tenth, manna was beaten with a mortar: Christ, stripped of mortality by the mortar of the cross, was beaten. Eleventh, the faithful, marveling, exclaim: manna! what is this, that God is with us? Twelfth, all gathered an equal measure of manna from the desert, namely one gomor: thus all receive the whole Christ equally, whether the species or host be larger or smaller. Thus Rupert. Thirteenth, manna was gathered for six days only in the desert: thus on the sabbath of eternity and in the promised land the veil of the sacrament will cease, and we shall enjoy Christ face to face in supreme rest. Fourteenth, manna melted in the sun: thus when the species are dissolved by heat, the Sacrament is dissolved. Finally, St. Ambrose, in sermon 3, thinks that the Blessed Virgin was figured through manna: for she is the mother of mercy, life, sweetness, and our hope.
The Tropological Sense of Manna Tropologically, manna signifies the sweetest spiritual consolations, which are perceived in the contemplation of heavenly things, and in the victory over temptations and concupiscences, concerning which it is said in Psalm XXX, verse 20: "How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!" and in the Apocalypse, chapter II, verse 17: "To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna." For this consolation is a prelude and a certain foretaste of eternal beatitude. This manna is not given except to him who goes forth from Egypt, and leaves behind the pots of flesh, and overcomes his concupiscences: for to him that overcometh it is promised by St. John, and by Christ the Lord. Whence the temptation preceding is wont to be a sign of the consolation that follows: for to those proved by temptation, heavenly consolation is promised. Experience confirms that no one heroically overcomes any temptation, weakness, contempt of self, concupiscence, curiosity, sickness, weariness, etc., without soon feeling a wonderful pleasure of mind and joy, which far surpasses the contrary sadness, and equally surpasses the delights of concupiscence. Let each one experience this in himself, and he will feel that it is so. Thus St. John, who predicted to the Emperor Theodosius victory against tyrants, having denied himself and forgotten himself, searched into heavenly things, standing alone with God, conversing with Him, and celebrating Him with constant hymns, so that he seemed to be in heaven. Whence he himself, speaking of himself in Palladius in the Lausiac History, chapter XLVI, says: "I know, he says, a man in the desert, who for ten years tasted nothing of earthly food, but also an angel brought him heavenly food every third day (behold manna), and placed it in his mouth: and this was to him in place of food and drink." Again Palladius concerning another John, in chapter XVI, thus writes: "John first standing three years under a certain rock, praying perpetually, not sitting at all, not sleeping, except as much sleep as he stole while standing, and receiving only the Eucharist on Sundays (behold manna) brought to him by the priest, ate nothing else." And in chapter LVIII, Abba Anuph says of himself: "From the time I professed the name of the Saviour, I have taken nothing of human food, being nourished daily by an angel; no desire of anything else has entered my heart, except God: God has hidden nothing from me of earthly things: I have received every petition from God." Without defect, life without death, salvation without sickness. "I have often seen myriads standing before God, I have seen choirs of the just, I have seen a multitude of Martyrs praising God, I have seen the just rejoicing eternally." Narrating these and many other things, on the third day he gave up his soul to God; which Abba Paul and his companions saw being lifted up to heaven by angels singing hymns, and by Martyrs.
The Anagogical Sense of Manna Anagogically, manna signifies the ambrosia of the Blessed, and their ineffable happiness, joy, gladness and sweetness in the heavens. For glorious things are said of thee, O city of God, as the dwelling place of all that rejoice is in thee. There, says St. Gregory in Psalm VII of Penance, is light without defect, joy without lamentation, desire without pain, love without sadness, satiety without disgust, safety without defect, life without death, salvation without sickness. "Perfect charity flourishes in all, one joy to all, one gladness." And St. Augustine: "In the city of God, he says, the king is truth, the law is charity, dignity is equity, peace is happiness, life is eternity." St. Bernard, On the Reward of the Heavenly Fatherland: "The reward is to see God, to live with God, to live from God, to be with God, to be in God, who will be all in all. And where the highest good is, there is the highest happiness, the highest gladness, true freedom, perfect charity, eternal security, and secure eternity: there is true joy, full knowledge, all beauty, and all beatitude. There is peace, piety, goodness, gentle virtue, honesty, joys, sweetness, perennial life, glory, praise, rest, love and sweet concord." Latin text from the critical edition of Cornelius a Lapide's Commentaries on Sacred Scripture, first published in the seventeenth century. This text is provided for scholastic and educational use.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 4 « Profectique sunt de Elim, et venit omnis multitudo filiorum Israel in desertum Sin, quod est inter Elim et Simai; quintodecimo die mensis secundi, postquam egressi sunt de terra Ae- Jypli ». Ergo integrum mensem itineri insumpserant, censetque Ps. Ion. eo usque durasse annonam, quam secum ex Aegypto asportavissent Hebraei. Reapse, licet proficiscendi veniam nacti sint subito profectique sint festinanter, tamen gratuito supponuntur profecti esse' imparati : cur non secum abstulerint totas illas terrae Gessen segetes a grandine et locustis tam mirabiliter servatas?
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v. 2 « Et murmuravit omnis congregatio filiorum Israel contra Moysen et Aaron tn solitudine ».
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v. 3 « Dixeruntque filii Israel ad eos : Utinam mortui essemus per manum Domani in terra Aegypti, quando sedebamus super ollas carnium , et comedebamus panem n saturitate. Cur eduxistis nos in desertum istud , ut occideretis omnem. multitudinem fame? » Non id solum dicunt, melius sibi futurum fuisse mori in Aegypto quam fame consumi in deserto, sed aiunt maioris se favoris loco habituros id fuisse ut JaAve se in Aegypto interemerit, quam ut fame consumendos in desertum eduxerit : acerba est ironia.
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v. & « Dixit autem Dominus 'ad Moysen », oratione ab eo consultus (Sy/v.) : « Ecce ego pluam vobis panes », seu verius panem « de coelo ». Cur solius panis meminit Deus, - petente populo et panem et carnes? Populo sane tam impudenter petenti non erat Deus omnia illico petita concessurus. Concedit panem .seu potius cibum, is quippe h.l. vocis est sensus. « Egrediatur populus » de tentoriis (Tost.), non enim v. 13 edicit (Sy/v.) solum extra castra repertum esse manna ; « ef colligat, quae suffictunt per singulos dies : ut tentem eum , utrum ambulet in lege mea, an non ». « Voluit praeterea dare illis cibos non per singulos menses, sed per singulos dies, ut nullus praeteriret dies, in quo circa se non sentirent ipsius beneficium » (Vat.).
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v. 5 « Die autem sexto » hebdomadae, non vero lati huius mandati, — non sequitur manna primum comparuisse die dominiea (Or. Hom. 7) — « parent quod inferant, et sit duplum quam colligere solebant per singulos dies ». Adverte verba v. 4 sq. proloqui Deum ad solum Moysen, quin eadem iubeat populo repeti. Eiusmodi quaedam eloquia non sine certa ratione ad Moysen solum dirigi vidimus 3,14 et 6,2-5. Non prohibent ea ad verbum repetit, illud de £entat?one sapienter tacet : e contra aliud a Deo dictum distinctius effert. Sc. Deum liberalissimum perspicit, quo die annonam promisit, eo ipso illam esse largiturum coenamque pro ieiunio paraturum : quare v. 6 pro eodem vespere divinam manifestationem indicit. Promiserat item v. 4 Deus se quotidie annonam esse praebiturum, sane pro matutina etiam refectione : quare v. 7 Moyses annuntiat mane item revelatum iri divinam gloriam. - Quorsum vult Deus populum tentare? « Ut quasi experimento cognoscam », inducit Bonfr. Deum loquentem, «an beneficiis meis illecti inducantur ad praecepta solum ad ea, quae v. 4 sq. efferuntur, « ut dietim colligant, et septimo die duplicatum » (Cai.). Id confirmat triplex v. 16-30 tentatio. Murmurationes carpit Deus primum per Moysen v. 7, dein ipse v. 12; non erat ratio earum carpendarum in privato Moysis innocentis alloquio. Fuerunt eae murmurationes Deo occasio tentandae populi fidei et sabbati inculeandi : haec ei magis erant cordi quam vel murmurationum reprehensio ipsumque manna.
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v. 6 « Dizeruntque Moyses et Aaron ad omnes filios Israel : Vespere scietis, quod Dominus eduxerit vos de terra Aegypti » — Non de hoc v. 3 dubitaverat populus, tamen aut Iahven reputabant deum imbecillum aut nomen inane. Ergo verba h.l. aut id sonant, non solum Moysen (Tost.) praetenso per fraudem Iahve nomine illos eduxisse ; aut Arg. — Populo coram tabernaculo adunato, manifestatur gloria Dei in nube; promissio v. ^ facta eo distinetius enuntiatur, ut cibus concedendus sit (semel) carnes et (quotidie) panis; advehuntur coturnices vespere, reperiturque manna mane. . Convocatur iam populus ad divinum contuendum portentum ; idque muneris Moyses Aaroni demandat, per seniores aliosve exse- Ex. 46,9 soQ. — — | 169 quendum.
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v. 9 « Dixit quoque Moyses ad Aaron : Dic universae congregationi. filiorum Israel : Accedite coram Domino, audtott. enim murmur vestrum ». Ex his cum Ca. concludere oportet : « Ante conditum tabernaculum, conditam arcam erat locus aliquis deputatus Deo ». Cf. v. 34 et, quae p. 3 sqq. dicebamus et ad 33,7 dicemus de praemosaico apud Hebraeos tabernaculo.
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v. 10 « Cumque loqueretur Aaron ad omnem coetum filiorum. Israel, respexerunt ad solitudinem », ergo orientem versus (Bonfr.), «et ecce gloria Domtnt apparuit in nube », sc. in columna nubis (Tost.), quae erat ante castra (cf. 13,22); quod autem vox « columna » non adsceribatur, non est ratio cum Ca. alterius cuiusdam nubis affingendae. Porro, eum interdiu illa columna nubis esset, non ignis, apte cum 7'st. aliisque gloriam illam explicabimus fuisse « fulgorem tamquam advenientis Dei et sonitum loquentis ». Dillm. putat, iubente Aarone populum ad desertum facies vertisse : de eiusmodi iussu nihil in contextu habetur. Versiones 2 verterunt cum, et optime cum Cler. secundum incisum trahes ad prodosin : cum Aaron loqueretur et populus facies conversas haberet ad solitudinem, ubi nubes erat, ecce apparuit etc. Sed quid loquebatur Aaron? Verbum Aaron erat ipsum illud nuntium per seniores aliosve circummissum, ut ad tabernaculum confluerent. Quo dum. pergebant, faciebus ad tabernaculum ideoque ad orientem conversis, evenit portentum.
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v. 41 « Locutus est autem Dominus ad Moysen », « nam Aarone populum alloquente , Moyses ad columnam nubis oraturus accesserat » (Men.), « dicens » :
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v. 19 « Audivi murmurationes filiorum Israel. Loquere ad eos : Vespere » — Hebr. : inter duas vesperas , cf. 12,6. Tempus aecuratius etiam quam ante determinatur — « comedetis carnes, et mane saturabimini panibus , scietisque quod ego sum Dominus Deus vester » , quodque ego (cf. v. 3) eduxerim vos de Aegypto, vobisque sim provisurus.
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v. 13 « Factum est ergo vespere, et ascendens coturnir cooperuit castra; mane quoque ros iacuit per circuitum cas- (rorum ». Quem non esse idem atque manna, sed verum rorem, docet Num. 11,9 patetque ex hoc etiam textu, ubi Hebr. v. 1& pergit : e£ ascendit effusio roris, et ecce etc. Ergo ascendente rore seu nebula, quae rorem effuderat, apparuit humi iacens manna. v. 1^ « Cumque operuisset superficiem. terrae, apparuit in. solitudine minutum |et| quasi pilo tusum, in similitudinem pruinae super terram ».
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V. 15 « Quod cum vidissent filii Israel, dixerunt ad invicem : Manhu? [Quod significat : Quid est hoc?] Ignorabant enim, quid esset ». Licet NT) V3 possit,verti « hoe est manna », tamen verba 2gnorabant etc. lestantur, Hebraeos primum non agnovissee manna, et nominis hic derivationem proponi. v2 apud Hebraeos significat quts (Ps. 60,8), item apud Assyros : ci. nomen proprium Mannukiramman , '« Quis est similis Ramman? » (Schrader WM p. 2546). Item apud Chaldaeos : cf. Dan. 3,15; 1 Esdr. 5,3. 4. 9. Potuit tamen antiquitus vox etiam significationem qwid habere. Ceterum, an habuerit, non ita multum refert, cum haec nominis explicatio non sit necessario accipienda ut etymologiea, sed ut mnemoneutica, quales plures in Genesi leguntur. « Quibus ait Moyses : Iste est panis » seu cibus, « quem Dominus dedit vobis ad vescendum ». "u. Chald. Syr. "5b, Ios. óptóov : sunt coturnices, quarum numerosissima in Aegypto vere et autumno agmina; alites graves, esculenti, quos veteres Aegyptii retibus vel foveis prehendebant et sale condiebant. LXX ópzvyoujvox proprie est crez, alia omnino avis; tamen vocem h.1. explicat Photius, ut sit ügroE péac, Hesych., ut sit ópruS bxepueveOc, ergo rursum coturnix. Cf. Dillm., Ebers p. 235 sq. et : Natur u. Offenbarung XIV 289 sqq. Münster 1868. — Sensum vocis D2DT12 satis definiunt versiones : Vulg. pilo tusum; Chald. Syr. Aq. Theod. abrasum ; Symm. &vacopóucvoy , nudatum (?), LXX e v. 31 huc transtulere coriandrum. Sensus sane est, fuisse manna in parva grana distinctum. Quae autem desensu radicis nativo afferuntur, ea sunt perquam incerta. Alterum p? ignorant Vulg. LXX. — v. 31 describitur manna : « erat quasi semen coriandri, album, gustusque eius quasi similae cum melle ». Quibus externa eius species clare definitur. Porro manna uti alia describunt Hebraei, imo Deus Hebraeos alloquens, secundum externam apparentiam. Ros de coelo descendebat ve. etiam pluebat; manna, antequam ros descenderat, non conspiciebatur, nebula vero, quae rorem attulerat, recedente cum rore humi effusum cernebatur. Quod abunde sufficiebat, quo manna diceretur panis de coelo descendens (16,4; Ps. 77,24 sq. ; Sap. 16,20; Io. 6,31 sqq.), Deusque diceretur illud pluere. Nota sunt /os. de manna verba : « Hodiedum tota illa regio pluit manna, quemadmodum et tunc in Moysis gratiam Deus illud alimentum demittebat ». Et Bonfr. : « Dico », inquit, « mihi etiam probabile videri eiusdem speciei fuisse » manna Israelitarum cum manna vulgari; « sed cum angelorum ministerio illud generaretur, habuit multas excellentias accidentales prae vulgari manna in sapore, puritate etc. ». Recentiori tempore viatores plures europaei in illud zanna vulgare inquisierunt et, quid ipsi repererint, nobis primum considerandum est. Rabbinorum de manna placita vide in J. Buztorfi? Dissertatione de Manna (apud B. Ugolinum : Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum VIII. 587 sqq., Venetiis 17/7). rum viatorum placita : neque enim veteres Hebraei neque veteres Arabes sagaciores erant in factis naturae indagandis. Arabes moderni, si illis stipendium (bakschisch) proferatur, mirabilia quaeque tam sacra quam profana digito demonstrant. Monachi item S. Catharinae non aliam ostendi possunt habere traditionem , quam aut e sua pietate, aut e recentiorum Hebraeorum et Arabum commentis hauserint. Alterum , quod lectorem monemus, illud est, non oportere a limine excludi eorum placita, qui manna biblicum cum aliquo eventu naturali comparent, dummodo 4llud non e solis causis naturalibus explicent. Cum. enim plagae aegyptiacae omnes, imo ipse transitus Maris Rubri, licet plura in his facta sint super naturam, tamen probabiliter videantur revocanda ad eventus quosdam consentaneos conditioni Aegypti, non sunt impietatis damnandi ii, qui simile quid de manna affirmant. Intime connectit scriptura portentum coturnicum eum portento mannae : fuit vera avis coturnix, prodierit e vera planta manna. Nonne uno veluti spiritu v. 8 carnem et panem promittit Deus? Nonne aeque de coturnicibus poterat dicere Deus : Ecce caro, quam dedit vobis Iahve ad vescendum? Cum miracula illi sint eventus, qui limites naturae excedunt, eorum verior cognitio etam pendet ab accuratiore illorum limitum cognitione, eorumque explicatio etiam huic accuratiori cognitioni erit conformanda. Ita progressum scientiarum consequetur progressus sacrae interpretationis. Quae non tam scientiis prolanis « concessiones faciet », quam illud ab eis prümupam exiget, quod pendere tenentur creatori AS Igitur inde a Wadi Gharandel reperitur hodiedum Tamarix manni- [era Ehrenb., arbor in. viginti fere pedum altitudinem excrescens ; in Wadi Feiran eius conspicitur silva horae fere longitudinem habens. Mensibus Iunio, Iulio et Augusto, quandoque iam Maio eorum imprimis annorum, quibus abundantes exstitere pluviae vernae, tempore maximi aestus exsudat cortex tam trunci quam ramorum humorem mellis similem, qui mane guttatim e ramis foliisque pendet atque in terram decidit. Sunt globuli albi magnitudinis pisi, qui, sin mane colligantur, solis radiis dissolvuntur, secus vero ceraeinstar durescunt. Sapore imitantur mel praebentque tam gustui quam odoratui aroma quoddam. Arabes hoc manna collectum decoquunt, expurgant, aliquam eius partem in Aegyptum divendunt, aliam monachis monasterii S. Catharinae tributi cuiusdam instar persolvunt, maiorem partem suis usibus reservant, azymis panibus mellis instar infundunt, panem in illud intingunt, nunquam vero ex solo manna (Num. 11,8) tortulas coquunt. Hoe igitur manna ab Arabibus hodiedum « manna de coelo » vocatur diciturque « pluere ». An hoe in mente habuerit /os. hoc eodem usus verbo, non satis constat. Hoc in templo Edfu inter alia dona mannwu, deseribiturque fuisse « album, ad instar granulorum anta » (Ebers p. 226 sq.); est autem «n/a resina aliqua pretiosa a quibusdam Aethiopiae arboribus profecta. Hoc 15483 Bernardus de Breydenbach, Decanus Moguntinus, et Petrus Belon du Mans c. 1550, qui Sinaitiden ipsi invisere, pluresque alii cum manna Hebraeorum comparaverunt. Manna hoc vulgare aliquam cum manna biblico affinitatem habere, primo obtutu patet : moventur tamen etiam graves quaedam obiectiones. | Respondent a): Licet sagaces viatores plura nos de manna vulgari edocuerint, non omnia comperta habemus, plura supersunt penitiori studio indaganda. b) Duo nos de manna docet scriptura : prinum mansisse illud incorruptum per singulos dies, imo biduo, quoties occurrebat sabbatum, et « in futuras retro generationes », quatenus aliqua eius copia reposita et asservata fuit coram Domino ; secundo, cum aliqui Moysi inobedientes manna servassent ultra tempus praescriptum, illud eomputruisse. Alterutrum factum miraculum fuerit. Quodsi miraculo adstruas paucorum illorum hominum manna computruisse, nihil erit in manna biblico , quod a manna vulgaris indole diserepet. Respondent, seripturam nullibi dicere , Hebraeos. per quadraginta. annos solo manna vixisse, neque id e populi v. 3 querelis eruitur, quae utique rem exaggerabant. Cibus sane erat gregum lac, et etiam carnes, Mare Rubrum abundabat piscibus; Deut. 2,6 iubentur Hebraei cibos emere ab Edomitis (cf. Deut. 2,18); emerunt sane etiam antea data occasione; simila tot sacrificiis et oblationibus adhibita (cf. Lev. 8,2. 26. 31 sq.; 9,4; 24,5 sqq.; Num. 7; Ios. 1,11) supponit frumenti copiam; quando per annum et amplius in eodem loco considebant, supponi possunt etiam agros sevisse. Haec profecto obiectio difficilius solvitur. Respondent tamen, manna vulgaris naturam non esse sufficienter exploratam, illud tortasse mortariis tritum esse una cum aliis substantiis vegetabilibus ete. Cf. C. Ritter : Die Erdkunde von Asien B. VIII Abth. II Abschn. 1 p. 665 sqq., Berlin 1848; Ebers p. 224 sqq. — Consule item C. Gutberlet : Das Buch der Weisheit, Münster 1874, p. 433 sqq. : Sed praeter manna vulgare e tamarice mannifera collectum considerandum h. l. venit. Sphaerothallia esculenta Nees ab. Es. Qui hichen à Tauriea Chersoneso ad Tartariam usque, itemque in Asia Minore, Persia, Africa septentrionali plurimus reperitur in locis altioribus. Is ubi aestu exsiccatus est, vento abripitur in. valles ve/ etiam ?n adiacentes regiones , ubi quandoque 2n granula commznutus pluviae instar decidit. A Tartaris vocatur « panis terrestris », ex eoque reapse comparatur panis aliquis. Fuerunt eiusmodi pluviae in variis Asiae tractibus 182^, 1828, 1841, 18406, 1864. Cf. Leunis : Synopsis der Pflanzenkunde, Hannover 1883-1886, 8 939.1^6.1. multo magis tum in regionibus Orientis abundasse quam nunc : verum id, tot argumentis diversam tune aeris temperiem circa Sinaitiden suggerentibus, quis neget? An vermibus corrumpatur is lichen nescimus, uti etiam alia plura eam plantam spectantia. — Neque dicas, nomen aegyptium mannu certe non ad illum lichenem sed ad manna vulgare referri. Potuit quippe Hebraeorum manna ob similitudinem appellari eodem nomine atque aegyptium mannuw; potuit nominum similitudo esse mere fortuita; potuit nomen hebraeum revera petitum esse a populi admiratione. Habemus igitur tres de manna sententias. Prima illud pronuntiat inaudito atque constanti miraculo esse concessum neque cum ullo naturali eventu quidquam habere commune. Altera, quae a recentioribus pluribus defenditur, sed 1mmerito nova dicitur, cum Iosephi fuerit et a Bonfr, approbetur, manna biblicum substantia idem esse concedit atque manna vulgare. Tamen haec quoque sententia portentum agnoscat necesse est. Cernitur illud in pluribus, quae manna attnent, divinitus ante eventum praenuntiatis; in manna illo, quod à quibusdam ultra diem asservabatur, putrefacto. Copia item illus manna cum singulis diebus, tüm per omnes anni menses miraculo carere haud videtur. — Tertia tandem sententia manna biblicum repetit non a mauna vulgari e tamarice nato, sed a lichene Sphaerothallia. Ea, uti praecedens sententia, in pluribus portentum agnoscere compellitur. Tamen illius lichenis naturam tam parum habemus exploratam atque, si ille portento explicando adhibeatur, tam multa sunt gratuito supponenda, ut consultius esse 1iudicemus neque huic explieationi accedere, sed quaestionem, an manna biblicum cum aliquo eventu naturali affinitatem habeat, in medio relinquere, futuris fortasse studiis elucidandam. Arg.— Triplici Moysis mandato v. 16,19-25 ea inchoatur. Iubentur Hebraei eam quotidie copiam mannae colligere , qua singulis obveniat gomor unum : qui plus colligunt, non reprehenduntur. Iubentur nihil servare in sequentem diem : qui servant, reprehenduntur portento et verbis Moysis. Vetantur sabbato colligere : qui collectum exeunt, rursum portento carpuntur et verbis ipsius Dei.
16:16
v. 16 « Hic est sermo, quem praecepit Dominus : colligat unusquisque ez eo, quantum sufficit ad vescendum » (cf. 12,4); et statuitur comEX. 16,16 soo. 115 munis pro omnibus mensura « gomor », lit. 3,8. Quibus mensura satis superque definitur. Adiiciuntur nihilominus expressiones synonymae omnino tres ad rem ceteroqui planam inculeandam : « per sengula capita, iuxta numerum animarum vestrarum, quae habitant in tabernaculo », — seu verius secundum habitantes — « [s?c] tolletis ». De stilo huius mandati. casuistica effugia praecidente cf. quae dicebamus p. 116 sq.
16:17
v. 17 « Feceruntque tta filit Israel, et collegerunt alius plus, alius minus ».
16:18
v. 48 « Et mensi sunt ad [mensuram] gomor : nec qui plus collegerat, habuit ampltus; nec qui minus paraverat, reperit minus ; sed singuli iuxta 2d, quod edere poterant, congregaverunt ». Inde a los. plures in hoe insigne sibi visi sunt deprehendere miraculum. Aliqui plus gomore collegerant, quod eolligentes vasibus uterentur modo maioribus modo minoribus (Tost., Sylv.) neque, dum colligerent, mensurarent : dein stupendo Deus miraculo eorum, qui plus collegerant, manna condensabat et ad gomor mensuram redigebat, eorum vero, qui minus collegerant, manna multiplicabat. Tamen eiusmodi miraculum non oportet adstruere. Collegerunt utique alii plus, alii minus, cum ob vasorum diversam capacitatem, tum quod res non mera collectione, sed. men- $ione tandem esset definienda; collegerunt imprimis alii plus, alii minus, quod animarum in familiis numerus modo esset maior, modo minor (Vat.). Sed postea viri fortasse a Moyse constituti metiebantur manna, ita ut neque qui agiliores fuissent in colligendo, acciperent plus, neque reliqui acciperent minus, sed singuli *5zwN "25, quod Deus praeceperat. Cf. Bonfr., Calm. Altera de manna lex fertur, ut sc. nihil eius relinquatur 1n. mane.
16:19
v. 19 « Dizitque Moyses ad eos : Nullus relinquat ex: eo in mane ».
16:20
v. 20 « Qui non audierunt eum, sed dimiserunt quidam ex eis usque mane, et scatere capit vermibus » — nm a am elevari item. derivant. LXX £E£Cece, ebullivit, Chald. Syr. zm, ebullivit. Di/Irn. derivat à Q'2* sensu putrescendi : sed eam radicem habuerintne Hebraei, ot ea quidem sienificatione , minime constat — « atque computrui. Etiratus est coniraeos Moyses ». Fuit autem hoc, uti dicebamus, miraculi.
16:21
v. 21 « Co/- ligebant autem » — Hebr. quovis — « mane singulz, quantum sufficere poterat ad vescendum; cumque incaluisset sol » , tllud quod remanse- rat super faciem agri (Chald.) , non quod collectum fuerat, « /iquefiebat ». : c. Tentatio tertia Ex. 16,22-30. Dies sexta est dies ante sabbatum, cf. v. 5. Narratio omnino supponit, Hebraeos tum hebdomadis dies distribuisse et diem septimum, non utique lege stricte dicta aut divina, sacrum habuisse.
16:22
v. 22 « /n die |homines| ». Xn Moyses illud v. 5 populo edixerit, feria sexta duplicem fore annonae copiam colligendam, nescimus, cum et illud v. ^ de tentatione siluerit. Quodsi etiam hoc siluit, haud mirum, populum v. 92 miratum esse tantam cireumiacentem feria sexta copiam mannae. Verum ea copia portentum erat non minus, s! praesciebatur; neque de eiusmodi portento semel praemonitus populus Hebraeorum totam eius rationem continuo erat perspecturus. Praeterea , licet ipsum portentum praesciretur, at eius nondum ratio fuerat explicata (Men.), quare principes (cf. 92,98) non tribuum solum (Tost.), sed etiam familiarum (Bonfr.) Moysen adierunt. « Venerunt autem omnes principes multitudinis », quos crediderim distributioni manna praepositos fuisse, « e£ narraverunt Moysi ».
16:23
v. 93 « Qui ait eis : Hoc est, quod locutus est Dominus » (v. 5). Quae immediate sequuntur, non Sii Del verba, qui sane non usus erat voce c7as, sed sunt ipsius Moysis explanatio. « Requies sabbati sanctificata est Domino cras ». Hebr. : Sabbatismus , requies sacra Iahve est cras. « Quodcunque operandum est, facite ». Sed Hebr. : quaecunque pinsenda sunt, pinsite ; quod sane proxime ad manna refertur. At non ideo etiam, quod modo de coquendo dicitur, cum Di/Ím. ad solum manna est limitandum, sed scribitur generatim et cum 7ost. etiam de carnibus accipi potest. « Et quae coquenda sunt, coquite. Quidquid autem reliquum fuerit », non a coquendo (Caz.), ut sola cruda serventur, sed ab edendo feria sexta , « reponite » — reliqui nw3v15, ad custodiendum; quod Syr. PI x0, frigida — « usque in mane ». « De eo, quod hodie paraveritis et Ecos! hodie comedite quantum opus fuerit; quidquid autem de manna sive cocto sive incocto superfuerit, reponite ad cibos in diem crastinam. Idemque iudicium est de aliis cibis, s1 qui eos haberent » (Sylv.). Perperam Ps. Jon., vocem cras repetens aut supplens : « quibus vobis cras coctis opus erit, ea coquite hodie ». v. 2^ « Feceruntque tta, ut praeceperat Moyses ». Hebr. id, quod praecipuum erat, dislic int effert : e? reposuerunt illud usque mane. « Et non computrwuit , neque vermis inventus est in eo ». Unde Moyses occasionem sumpsit inculcandae legis sabbati
16:25
v. 25 : « Dixitque Moyses : Comedite zllud hodie, quia sabbatum » hodie « est Domini : non invenietur hodie tn agro ». Ergo hodie nihil comedendum habetis praeter illud, quod heri collectum hodie incorruptum perseverat.
16:26
v. 26 « Sez dzebus colligite, 2n die autem septimo sabbatum lest Domin], ?dcirco non invenietur » in eo, l. e. in agro. v. 27 Hebr. incipit e£ factum est, in die septima , unde clare perspicitur, non esse sequentia referenda cum Tos. ad alterum aliquod sab- batum, sed ad illud, quo primum manna desiderabatur. « Venitque septima dies, et egressi de populo ut colligerent, non tnvenerunt ».
16:28
v. 98 « Dixit autem Dominus ad Moysen », fortasse antequam quisquam (v. 22) illi narrasset : « Usquequo non vultis custodire mandata mea et legem meam? » Hebr. utrumque nomen plurali scribit. Est 2y 2i 295iy. Una hae in unum mandatum inobedientia ostendunt animum ad obediendum mandatis divinis parum pronum.
16:29
v. 29 « Videte, quod Dominus dederit vobis sabbatum », ilud. vobis observandum proposuerit, « e£ propter hoc die sexta tribuit vobis cibos duplices : maneat unusquisque apud semetipsum, nullus egrediatur de loco suo die septimo », ad. colhgendum manna (Bonfr.) aut generatim ad opus servile peragendum. Unde sequitur
16:30
v. 30 : « Et sabbatizavit populus die sep- Amo ». 4. Supplentur aliqua ad manna spectantia Ex. 16,31-36. Arg. — "Traditur nomen, quod fuerat v. 15 indicatum. Narratur mannae aliquid in tabernaculo perpetuo esse asservatum. Definitur tempus, quo manna pasti sunt Hebraei, et mensurae gomor capacitas.
16:31
v. 34 « Appellavitque domus Israel nomen etus Man » (cf. ad v. 15). « Quod erat quasi semen coriandri album , qustusque eius quasi similae cum melle ». Dum v. 14 manna describebat primum et procul conspectum, v. 31, qui v. 1^ sq. intime iungitur, 1dem veluti manu pre- Coriandrum (L.) planta umbellifera bina producens granula inter se iuncta. DnTzs, Sam. TWnhZN est Xza& Aeyópsvov. Vulg. vertit similam seu triticum; LXX £&yxote, Chald. genera. Porro à placentarum e farina non fermentata confectarum gustu non ita multum. differt gustus favi, i. e. cerae mel continentis : quem favum exprimit alia Symm. lectio ueAucjotov (cf. ueAGxnoov). Quibus omnibus gustus manna satis accurate describitur, ut imitetur gustum panis non fermentati melle tincti, aut favi mel habentis. E contra Syr. NTY^22, i. e. mel liquefactum, cum illico mel recenseatur, abundat. — v. 29 (cf. v. 28) Deus inducitur de se ipso loquens in tertia persona .: aut aliquid in textu excidit, aut aliquid corruptum est, aut etiam textus talis primitus exstitit, qualis nunc legitur. Cum sc. omnia illa divina effata primum a Deo dicta sint Moysi, deinde à Moyse populo repetita, bene potuit stili inaequalitate aliqua auctor etiam inspiratus priorem effati partem, ut a Deo ad Moysen, posteriorem, ut a Moyse ad populum pronuntiabatur, describere.
16:32
noverint panem , quo alui vos in solitudine , quando educti estis de terra | Aegypti ».
16:33
v. 33 « Dixitque Moyses ad Aaron : Sume vas unum, et. mitte ibi man, quantum potest capere gomor, et repone coram Domino ad servandum in generationes vestras » ,
16:34
v. 3& « sicut praecepit Domainus Moysi ». Ultimum incisum, si ad. praecedentia trahatur, utique | claudicat; sequentibus iungi potest, attamen nonnihil durius. « Posuitque illud Aaron £n tabernaculo reservandum ». Salomonis aevo 3 Reg. 8,9 illud non iam exstabat. nzxix est &xof Aeyópsvov. Certe est vas aliquod (Vulg.). Rem accuratius definire attentant LX X scribentes e:«p.yov , urceus; Targ. nro, patera; Syr. NuDp-— &£otTc, sextarius, vas continens duodecimam partem Hin (Levy). LXX scribunt aureum, for- | tasse ante rinN legentes 355; et cf. Hebr. 9,4. — ny (Sam.) est lex seu, ut Vulg. LXX constanter vertunt, testimonium ; sola ea vox nunquam designat tabernaculum , sed tantummodo praefixo ons. Neque 125 significat in, sed ante : verum ante tabernaculum illud manna certe non asservabatur. Aliunde Ex. 25,16. 21 nWw7Y indubie significat id, quod intra arcam asservabatur, tabulas legis. Cum igitur ex 33,7 habeamus, exstitisse apud Hebraeos tabernaculum aliquod praemosaicum, erit h. l. n" intelligendum de sacro illo, quod intra illud tabernaculum asservabatur. Reposuit Aaron manna intra tabernaculum ante illud sacrum. Adverte duas, quae idem edicunt, expressiones v. 33 mnm 3155 et v. 34 nYyn 325. Sensere quidem post Aug. plures v. 32-34 hic scribi per anticipationem, ut omnia, quae manna spectent, in hac una pericope absolvantur; rem vero serius et post exstructum tabernaculum actam esse. Quae opinio defendi potest. Tamen praeplacet cum Mar. fateri, « aliqua sacra publica gestasse Iudaeos, et habuisse aliquod tabernaculum ante id, quod. Moyses » fecit. De religione quippe Hebraeorum praemosaica perpauca novimus; scimus Abraham ritu Chaldaeorum imm olasse, praecepta noachica et circumoisionis viguisse, scyphos adhibitos esse auguriis etc.; vix dubium ritus sacrorum exstitisse : accuratos : cur non fuerit arca aliqua, arcarum Aegyptiorum fortasse affinis? De quibus rebus silebat Pentateuchus etiam ideo, ne Iudaei in tentationem inciderent eiusmodi antiquorum, sed inde a Moyse abrogatorum, rituum superstitiose repeten-
16:35
v. 35 « Filii autem Israel comederunt Man quadraginta annis , donec venirent in terram habitabilem » ; idemque altera expressione explicatur : « Aoc cibo aliti sunt, usquequo tangerent » — Hebr. venirent ad — « fines terrae Chanaan ». Cf. los. 5,12.
16:36
v. 36 « Gomor autem decima pars est ephi », quae secus vv audit. Fortasse vox "27 mox adhiberi desiit, et recentior aliquis hanc notam adseripsit. — Pulchre de manna agunt Ps. 77 (18), 17 sqq. et Sap..16,20 sqq. Illud Christus Io. 6,31. 49. 59 Sacramento sui corporis compara t. | Raphidim. Inter quae loca Num. 33 duas inserit stationes, Daphca et Alus. Quas h. 1. diseutiemus, quo Hebraeorum ad montem Sinai iter perspiciamus. Igitur Daphca idem videtur esse nomen atque aeg. mafkat seu, dempta terminatione feminina, mafka et, praefixo articulo feminina, (mafka : nomina aegyptia saepe addito articulo in alias linguas transiere, quae item m post denlalem eliminant. Pro mafka saepissime scribitur mafek, ita ut nomen correspondeat hebraeo npe, etiamsi ij supponatur esse locale. Porro mafka erat nomen gemmae, quae malachites vocatur, et regio mafka Aegyptiis erat ea Sinaitidis pars, ubi illas gemmas frequentissimas excavabant. Qui locus hodie audit Wadi Maghara, ubi etiamnum Aegyptiorum inscriptiones et cuniculi in rupes acti conspiciuntur. Primus ibi gemmas conquisivit Snefru, ultimus tertiae dynastiae rex; supremus, cuius repertae sunt inscriptiones, est Ramses II, Hebraeorum in Aegypto oppressor. Erant . autem graves rationes, cur eum locum Moyses non praeteriret. Prima, quod pharaones consueverint prope eiusmodi fodinas in desertis sitas aquarum receptacula proeurare; dein, quod innumeros illue servos et captivos ad durissimos labores mitterent, inter quos plures tum fuisse Hebraeos non immerito coniicitur. Cf. Ios. e. Apion. I. 26 et Ebers p. 135 sqq. 539 sqq. Wadi Maghara a Wadi Taiibeh distat horis non plane quatuordecim. Ubi Alus fuerit, ignoramus. At Raphidim plerique concedunt esse Wadi Feiran, . oasin omnium maximam et fertilissimam, quam ad Sinai pergentes attingere de- — buere, pro qua sine dubio Amalecitae dimicavere. Antequam oasin ingrediaris, demonstrant Arabes rupem Hesy el Khattatin, e qua Moyses aquam elicuerit. In oasi, inter Wadi 'Ajeleh et Wadi Alejat, in media valle assurgit ad altitudinem fere 33 m. rupes Meharret, in qua Moyses fertur durante proelio orasse, locus certe aptissimus, hostibus a meridie venientibus inaccessus, unde latus in vallem patet prospectus. Cf. Ebers p. 188 sqq. Arg. — lam Marae Deus aquae penuriae subvenerat, cibum in deserto Sin suppleverat. Nihilominus populus siti laborans in Raphidim convielis Moysen et Deum impetit. Quos illustriori etiam quam Marae miraculo per virgam, tot portentorum monumentum, patrato reficit Deus, aquis e rupe ad tempus elicitis. v. 2 censet Dillm. non esse nisi v. 3 corruptionem, eadem edici. Non eadem edicuntur. V. ? populus, uti crediderim, in locum recens advectus aquam postulat importune; quos Moyses monet, querelis non tam se ipsum impeti quam Iahve providentiam. At mox, ubi in eodem loco (ibi v. 3) increvit sitis, Moysen ac Dei providentiam conviciis petunt, quae v. 7 hac formula resumuntur : » Estne Iahve in medio nostri, annon? » Nunc tandem Moyses clamat ad Iahve. — ' Cap. XVI
16:1
… But already in 1900 Fr. Lagrange pointed out that the plain of el-Marḥah (= desert of Sin?) is not topographically between "Elim and Sinai" (Ex. 16:1) and that if the itinerary marked by tradition had been followed, the biblical silence about the oasis of Fejrān, the pearl of the Sinaitic peninsula, would not be explained. …
1. Desert (Heb. Sin) crossed by the Israelites on their itinerary from Elim and the Red Sea to Raphidim (v.) and to Sinai (Ex. 16:1; 17:1; Num. 33:11).
… appellation arose from the veneration on the mountain of the Babylonian moon god Sin, since for the Canaanites and the Western Semites the moon god was Jerah; it cannot, however, be excluded that it derives from the name of the neighboring steppe called Sin (Ex. 16:1; Num. 33:1) because of the abundance of thorn bushes (Heb. sênêh).
16:2
Aaron (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology)
… changed into blood, the invasion of frogs and of gnats (Ex. 7:10-8:19). An assiduous coadjutor of Moses, with him he received the orders of Yahweh (Ex. 9:8; 12:1, 28, 43, 50). The people associated them in trust as well as in murmurings and rebellions (Ex. 16:2). Ps. 76:21 regards them both as liberators of Israel.
16:3
… that it also represents the whole complex of the pre-Israelite Palestinian populations (Gen. 15:16; Josh. 24:15; Am. 2:9 ff.) and therefore sometimes corresponds to "Canaanites" (Josh. 24:15, 18; Judg. 6:10; 1 Sam. 7:14; 1 Kings 21:26; Ex. 16:3, 45; etc.).
Having fallen under Egyptian influence with the victory of Thutmose III, the Jebusite Urusalim (thus called in the el-Amarna letters, ca. 1400 B.C.), had a mixed population (Ex. 16, 3: "your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite") and was governed by princes vassal to the Pharaoh. …
16:4
… show the way." Starting from this fundamental meaning ("indication" of the path to be followed), t. passes through three semantic stages: "directive," "instruction," and finally "law." T. does not occur in the J document, rarely in E (Ex. 13, 9; 16, 4; 18, 16, 20; 24, 12); it becomes frequent in Deuteronomy, in Leviticus and other so-called "priestly" documents down to Par.-Eid.-Neh., and increasingly so in the more recent …
16:5
Also in Ex. 16:5, on the sixth day of the week (Friday), whatever was needed for the Sabbath had to be prepared, gathering a double portion of manna (ibid. 16:22).
16:8
… 14-15; Mich. 6, 8; Is. 66, 2; Jer. 4, 3-4 and 14, 7). They inculcated the relationship between the soul and God not only with the ancient concept of filial adoption, but also with the delicate image of spiritual marriage (Hos. 1-3; Jer. 2, 2; Ex. 16, 8; Canticle), of life-giving water, of light, of fire (cf. Psalms and Wisdom Books).
16:9
Manna (Hebrew: mān; Septuagint: Mánna)
… (Num. 11:8). Night fell and it was gathered every morning, except on the Sabbath, for which it was gathered the previous day. The manna gathered beyond need went bad, bred worms, except that kept in the ark, as a testimony to the goodness of the Lord (Ex. 16:9-36).
16:13
Moses (Mōšeh, Μω[θ]σῆς, Vulg. MoySES, Ancient Latin Moses)
… There is also the catching of the quails (Ex. 16:13), which occurs in a sarcophagus of Arles, now in the archaeological museum of Aix in Provence, in one of Pisa and on the lid of one of Avignon (Wilpert,
QUAILS. - La presa delle q., che fu uno dei cibi apprestati dal Signore agli Ebrei nel deserto, come si narra in Ex. 16,13, venne scolpita in alcuni sarcofagi cristiani, cioè in quello del Museo di Aix in Provenza (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, p. 244 e tav. 97, 2-4); in quello di Pisa forse proveniente da Oscia …
16:14
Manna (Hebrew: mān; Septuagint: Mánna)
MANNA (Hebrew: mān; Septuagint: Mánna). - Food with which the Hebrew people were nourished for 40 years in the desert (Ex. 16:35). The Bible presents the manna as something tiny, granular, fine as hoarfrost, like white coriander seed and with a taste like a cake with honey (Ex. 16:14, 31). "The people scattered to gather it and, having ground it into flour at the mill or pounded it in the mortar, cooked it in a pot and made cakes of it" (Num. 11:8). Night fell and …
16:22
Also in Ex. 16:5, on the sixth day of the week (Friday), whatever was needed for the Sabbath had to be prepared, gathering a double portion of manna (ibid. 16:22).
… indeed condemned to death a man found gathering wood on a sabbath day (Num. 15:32-36); during the journey through the desert, the manna did not fall on the sabbath, because gathering it meant violating the rest; the preparation of food was permitted (Ex. 16:22-30), but not the kindling of fire.
16:23
… But at bottom the religious concept always predominates, that of a kind of offering which the people made to God (cf. Ex. 16:23; 20:10; Lev. 23:3; Deut. 5:14).
16:32
Aaron (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology)
In the desert of Sin A. gathered a gomor of manna to preserve it in the Tabernacle (Ex. 16:32-34), beginning his office of minister and guardian of holy things. …
16:33
Ark (of the Covenant), Ark of the Testimony
… Inside was placed "the testimony," that is, the two tablets of the Law (I Kings 8:9; cf. Ex. 25:16); according to Hebr. 9:4, also a golden jar with some manna and Aaron's rod (but cf. Ex. 16:33-34); beside it was placed the book of the Law of Moses (Deut. 31:26).
Tabernacle (Tent) of Meeting (Hebrew 'Ohel, usually followed by Me'eth: "Tabernacle of Convene")
… In Ex. 16:33-34, there occurs a place "before Jahweh" called ha-ēdhuth ("precept," perhaps indicating the tablets of the law), where an 'ōmer of manna was kept; it is not clear whether it should be …
16:35
Manna (Hebrew: mān; Septuagint: Mánna)
MANNA (Hebrew: mān; Septuagint: Mánna). - Food with which the Hebrew people were nourished for 40 years in the desert (Ex. 16:35). The Bible presents the manna as something tiny, granular, fine as hoarfrost, like white coriander seed and with a taste like a cake with honey (Ex. 16:14, 31). "The people scattered …
… Let these suffice as examples: Deut. 17, 14-20 (law of the king: cf. I Sam. 8, especially vv. 6-9, 18 and I Sam. 10, 25, according to which the "statute of the kingdom" was written by Samuel); Ex. 16, 35 (which, if it is by Moses, was added at the end of his life); Num. 32, 41-42; Gen. 36, 31-43 (cf. v. 31); Deut. 4, 41 ff.; 19, 7; elements of Deut. 14 and 26; etc.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.