Exodus 16 - Manna

by rocketman 5 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  rocketman

  Shortly after the exodus from Egypt, the bible account of events records that God provided manna for the Israelites to eat (Exodus 16:10-15). The Israelites asked "what is it?" (vs 15), and the word manna was derived from that very question.

  Could manna have been a naturally occuring substance? There are scholars and others who contend that some biblical miracles can be explained by natural means. There are problems however in concluding that manna occured naturally. Here are some of those problems:

  - The Israelites did not know what the manna was. Granted, they had lived in Egypt prior to this incident, but would they have been ignorant of a food that could be found so close to Egypt? The book of Genesis notes that Jacob sent food to Egypt in advance of the second visit by his sons (Gen 43:11), and there were trade routes in the area, so it seems likely that most foods from the region would have eventually found their way into Egypt, and if manna was naturally occuring, the Israelites would likely have known what it was.

  - Manna had certain properties not associated with any known food. It would be available for only six days each week (Ex 16:26,27). It would smell and become infested with maggots if not gathered and kept according to instructions (Ex 16:19-25). Certainly, there is no known substance that has such properties.

  - Manna was available in the desert, throughout Israel's sojourn. No matter where they were, they found it.

  - A sample was kept for future generations, suggesting a unique and noteworthy food.

  There are some explanations that have been given for manna. For example, it's been associated with a sticky honeydew that is excreted in the Sinai area in early summer by various insects. This honeydew solidifies rapidly by means of evaporation.

  But such a honeydew still does not fit the characterizations given manna in the Biblical text. Whatever it was - a provision by God or a natural substance the use of which was embellished to fit a fanciful legend - the question "What is it?" was, and still is, very appropriate.

  Your thoughts on this "bread from heaven"?
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  ezekiel3

  Ahh, the power of myth.
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  AllAlongTheWatchtower

  How odd that you should post this, I was actually thinking about this off and on for the last week or so. I think I first began wondering about it after reading one of RunningMans's Atheist Bible chapters about the Israelites and latrine practices in their camp. It sparked me to thinking about how much food and water a huge camp of people on the move would consume, and wondering where they would get it. I am atheist, so I don't buy the water from a rock story from the bible. And while they may have been able to kill some of their livestock along the way for food, obviously they would have to keep most of them alive (compounding the problem, cause then you have to account for the food for the animals).

  I'm a big science fiction fan, and I love the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Much of the story is about a desert people called Fremen, who live in a desert so harsh that they distill water from the blood of their dead for drinking. A few times in the books, it mentions people going out every morning to collect the morning dew for water. I have a half-formed theory that the manna mentioned in the bible was actually just the morning dew, and that the Israelites would have needed to collect every bit of water they could possibly get their hands on for survival. Through the retelling of the story, and translation process, plus the addition of the mythical element of religion, I think that maybe them going out to collect dew for water somehow got twisted into god giving them food. Perhaps there was even a tradition of using dew to mix with flour to make dough? I'm sure its full of holes, but like I said, its only half-formed.

  Come to think of it, doesn't the bible itself say something about the manna 'falling like dew from the heavens' or 'falling with the dew' or something like that?
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  Kenneson

  John L. McKenzie in the "Dictionary of the Bible," page 541 has this to say on the topic: "It seems most probable that popular tradition has amplified an original datum and enveloped it in some marvelous features. The original datum appears to be a sweet resinous substance which is exuded from a desert tree known as the tamarix mannifera as well as by two or three desert shrubs. The tree exudes the substance when it is punctured by the insect Gossyparia mannipara. It is edible, but it appears only in small quantities and has none of the other properties attributed to manna. The memory of this food, found and eaten occasionally in the desert, was expanded in tradition to become the regular diet of all Israel, treated much as grain, and not available on the Sabbath...."
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  Carmel

  The Supper of the Lord which His Highness the Spirit ate with the apostles was a heavenly supper and not one of material bread and water, for material objects have no connection with spiritual objects. As at that time material food was also present, therefore the leaders of the religion of Christ thought that it was material food which was changed into spiritual food.

  The proof that it was not material food is this: The apostles upon many occasions partook of material food with His Highness Christ, yet the supper of that night became designated as the "Lord's Supper." From this designation it is plain and evident that they ate heavenly food at that supper. That heavenly food consisted of the love of God, the knowledge of God, the mysteries of God and the bestowal of God.

  (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 390)
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  rocketman

  AllAlong - Exodus 16:13,14 mention that in the morning, "there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost appeared on the desert floor". Psalm 78:24 says that God "rained down manna for the people to eat" and in vs 25 that "men ate the bread of angels." So it did have an association with dew.

  At 2 Corinthinas 8:15, Paul quotes the heart of Exodus 16:18 and applies it to Christian sharing. Paul does not mention the manna itself, but the lesson found in the collection process.