Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
When their provisions ran out, the hungry Hebrews murmur. God sends them quails, and at verse 14, He snows or hails down manna, and feeds them with it daily for forty years.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 16:1-36
1. And they set out from Elim, and the whole multitude of the children of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month, after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3. And the children of Israel said to them: Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over the pots of meat and ate bread to the full! Why have you led us out into this desert, to kill the whole multitude with famine? 4. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. Let the people go out and gather what is sufficient for each day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5. But on the sixth day, let them prepare what they bring in; and let it be double what they were accustomed to gather daily. 6. And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel: In the evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7. and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He has heard your murmuring against the Lord. But what are we, that you murmur against us? 8. And Moses said: The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning, because He has heard your murmurings with which you have murmured against Him. For what are we? Your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord. 9. Moses also said to Aaron: Say to the whole congregation of the children of Israel: Come before the Lord, for He has heard your murmuring. 10. And when Aaron was speaking to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness; and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12. I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them: In the evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. 13. So it came to pass in the evening that quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. 14. And when it had covered the surface of the earth, there appeared in the wilderness something small and as if beaten with a pestle, in the likeness of frost upon the ground. 15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another: Manhu? which means: What is this? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them: This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16. This is the word that the Lord has commanded: Let each one gather of it as much as is sufficient for eating — a gomor per head, according to the number of your souls who dwell in a tent; so you shall take. 17. And the children of Israel did so; and they gathered, some more, some less. 18. And they measured it by the measure of a gomor: and he who had collected more did not have too much, and he who had prepared less did not find too little; but each one gathered according to what he could eat. 19. And Moses said to them: Let no one leave any of it until morning. 20. But they did not listen to him, and some of them left part of it until morning, and it began to swarm with worms and rotted, and Moses was angry with them. 21. Now they gathered it morning by morning, each as much as was sufficient for eating; and when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22. But on the sixth day they gathered double food, that is, two gomors for each person; and all the leaders of the multitude came and reported this to Moses. 23. And he said to them: This is what the Lord has spoken: Tomorrow is the rest of the Sabbath, sanctified to the Lord. Whatever work is to be done, do it; and what is to be cooked, cook it. But whatever is left over, store it until morning. 24. And they did as Moses had commanded, and it did not rot, nor was any worm found in it. 25. And Moses said: Eat it today, for today is the Sabbath of the Lord; it will not be found in the field today. 26. Gather it for six days; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and therefore it will not be found. 27. And the seventh day came, and some of the people went out to gather, and they did not find any. 28. And the Lord said to Moses: How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My law? 29. See that the Lord has given you the Sabbath, and for this reason on the sixth day He gives you double food. Let each one remain in his place; let no one go out from his place on the seventh day. 30. And the people rested on the seventh day. 31. And the house of Israel called its name Man: and it was like white coriander seed, and its taste was like fine flour with honey. 32. And Moses said: This is the word that the Lord has commanded: Fill a gomor of it, and let it be kept for future generations, that they may know the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when you were brought out of the land of Egypt. 33. And Moses said to Aaron: Take a vessel and put manna in it, as much as a gomor can hold; and store it before the Lord, to be kept for your generations, 34. as the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron placed it in the tabernacle to be preserved. 35. Now the children of Israel ate manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabitable land; they were nourished with this food until they reached the borders of the land of Canaan. 36. A gomor is the tenth part of an ephah.
Verse 1: The Whole Multitude of the Children of Israel Came into the Desert of Sin
This is the eighth station of the Hebrews in the desert; for the seventh, which was at the Red Sea, the route having bent back to it, as is clear from Numbers 33:10, is omitted here because nothing noteworthy happened at it.
This desert of Sin lies between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, and it is different from the desert of Zin (which is also called Kadesh), about which see Numbers 20:1 and chapter 34, verse 3, where Miriam died and the rock struck by Moses gave forth water. For our Sin here is written with samekh, but that one in Numbers is written with tsade; in that one was the thirty-third station, but in this one the eighth.
Sin in Hebrew means 'hatred,' and symbolically signifies that when we follow God calling us into the desert, departing from the world, we stir up great hatred against ourselves from the enemy — namely, the devil and worldly people. So says St. Jerome to Fabiola.
On the fifteenth day of the month — that is, on the thirtieth day after the departure from Egypt. For they departed on the fifteenth day of the first month; and on the fifteenth day of the second month (which is called Iyar, and corresponds partly to our April, partly to May) they arrived at Sin. For this, note that the Hebrews had lunar months; and a lunar month has 29 and a half days. Hence the Hebrews assigned 29 days to the first month, but 30 days to the second month, because the two half-days that had accumulated during both months made one day, namely the thirtieth. Now if the first month had 29 days, then from the 15th day to the 29th and last there are 15 days; add to these the 14 days of the second month, and you arrive precisely at the thirtieth day, on which the Hebrews reached Sin; and on the next day, namely the thirty-first day, manna began to rain, as is clear from verses 8 and 12. So say Torniellus and Josephus, as will appear at verse 2.
Verse 2: And the Whole Congregation of the Children of Israel Murmured
Since the kneaded flour, or dough, which they had brought from Egypt, was now running out; for it lasted about thirty days, says Josephus.
Verse 3: Would That We Had Died by the Hand of the Lord
That is, by a death inflicted by the Lord, whether naturally or violently.
When we sat over the pots of meat. — Others translate, 'beside the pots of meat'; our Interpreter [the Vulgate] translates more correctly, 'over the pots.' Scripture here notes the voracious gluttony of the coarse common people, who, just as cattle bend over grass, so these leaned over their pots. Behold here the example and pattern of those who apostatize: for first, when temptation strikes, they forget graces received even through miracles, just as the Hebrews here forget all the plagues and wonders of Egypt. Second, they regret having followed God calling them away from the allurements of Egypt — that is, of the world. Third, they despair of God's generous power, and finally, if they can, they return to their pots.
Why have you led us out into this desert, to kill us with famine? — Why have you cast us who were to be led out into these straits of the desert, so that we might die of famine there? For Moses could not have killed them by famine in any other way. From this it is clear that active verbs of the Hebrews, such as 'to kill,' do not always signify a physical action.
See 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,' He said, 'forgive them, for they know not what they do.' Second, Job, who, having suffered the worst from the devil, the Chaldeans, and his wife, said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there; the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' Third, David, who bore most patiently the persecution of Saul, Shimei, and Absalom. Fourth, St. Stephen, who prayed for those stoning him, saying: 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' 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 at Ancyra, under Julian the Apostate, when suspended on the rack, raised his hands to his head, bared his sides, and said to the Governor: 'There is no need for the lictors to toil in lifting me onto the rack; for I myself, without their help, am prepared to offer my sides to the torturers in whatever way you wish.' He said it and did it; for when his sides were being torn with hooks, he raised his hands to heaven and gave thanks to God. The witness is Sozomen, book V, chapter 10.
Genseric ordered Christians with their feet tied behind speeding chariots to be dragged over rocks and thorns. Bidding farewell to one another, they said: 'Farewell, brother, pray for me; the Lord has fulfilled our desire; this is how one reaches the kingdom of heaven.' So says Victor, book I on the Vandals.
Hear also the Confessors. The devil, unable to bear the magnanimity of James the hermit, threatened to strike him with a rod. Then James said: 'If you have been permitted by God, strike, and I will gladly accept the blow, as one who is struck by Him. But if you have not been permitted, you will not strike, though you rage a thousand times.' The witness is Theodoret in the Lives of the Holy Fathers, Life 21.
Irene, deposed from her imperial power by her servant Nicephorus, said: 'I give credit to God that He raised me, an orphan and unworthy, to the empire; but that He now permits me to be deposed, I attribute to my sins. In all things, both good and bad, blessed be the name of the Lord.' So says Paul the Deacon, book 23.
Alfonso, King of Aragon, when seriously injured in the eye by a man ahead of him on the road who let a tree branch swing back, said: 'I am truly grieved by nothing except the pain and fear of the one who struck me.' So says Panormitanus, book IV of his Life.
Tertullian, in his book On Patience, chapters 9 and 10, says: 'If I devote myself to patience, I will not grieve; if I do not grieve, I will not desire to take revenge.' And in chapter 15: 'God is the guarantor of patience. If you deposit your injury with Him, He is the avenger; if your loss, He is the restorer; if your pain, He is the physician; if your death, He is the one who raises to life.'
Verse 4: I Will Rain Bread from Heaven for You
'Bread,' that is, manna; for from it, once crushed, they made small cakes of bread, as is clear from Numbers 11:8. But for meat and the pots for which the Hebrews yearned, God gave them quails, verses 8 and 13.
That I may test him, whether he will walk in My law. — God speaks in human fashion; for He tests people by proving them and bringing their secrets and the very truth out into the open. But not for the same end as humans: for they test in order to learn what they do not know; but God, the knower of hearts, conscious of all things — indeed, foreknowing all — tests not so that He Himself may learn, but so that others may know themselves or others. God therefore tested here the obedience and temperance of the Hebrews, by giving them only manna; He also tested their hope, when He measured out daily food to them for each day, and commanded them not to store manna for the following day (for God had chiefly in view this law, which immediately preceded, in this trial) — and this so that they would learn to depend continually and constantly on God's providence, not being anxious about storing up provisions. In the same way we Christians too are commanded to ask God for our daily bread day by day.
Verse 5: On the Sixth Day Let Them Prepare What They Bring In
Namely on Friday; for on the seventh day, namely the Sabbath, God commanded them to rest; hence on the Sabbath manna did not rain. From this Origen infers, and St. Ambrose (on 1 Corinthians 10), St. Augustine (Sermon 23 On the Seasons), and the Council of Caesarea (which Bede relates in his letter On the Celebration of Easter), that the day on which manna first rained was a Sunday. For from this day, the sixth is the day of preparation, that is, Friday. Therefore for six whole days continuously manna rained, namely beginning from Sunday through Friday inclusive. By this it was mystically and silently signified that Sunday was to be preferred by Christ and Christians over the Sabbath, and that on Sunday the heavenly bread in the Eucharist and God's grace would descend to the faithful.
Note the phrase 'let them prepare what they bring in,' as if to say: On Friday let them store a portion of manna in their tents, on which they may feed the following Sabbath day; for on the Sabbath they had to cease from the labor of gathering, grinding, and cooking manna. Hence the sixth day is called Parasceve, from the preparation of food that was done on that day for the Sabbath.
Tropologically, during the six days of our life, provisions must be gathered for the seventh day of eternity, so that we may live on them in the eternal rest of heaven. So say Origen, Rupert, and Cyril, book IV on John, chapter 51.
Verse 6: In the Evening You Shall Know That the Lord Has Brought You Out of the Land of Egypt
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 clear from verses 12 and 13, by which you will recognize the glory of God, that is, His glorious power and providence.
Verse 7: For He Has Heard Your Murmuring against the Lord
That is, against Himself. Moses repeats the name of the Lord for the sake of honor, and uses the absolute form in place of the reflexive.
Note here how grave a sin is the murmuring of the people against their rulers; for it is against God, who established them. Hence God generally overlooked other sins of the Hebrews in the desert; but murmuring He almost always punished immediately. See St. Gregory, book XII of the Register, letter 31.
Verse 9: Come before the Lord
That is, approach the pillar of cloud, by which God's presence displays itself to you. For the tabernacle (upon which this pillar later rested), which those coming to the Lord afterward used to approach, had not yet been built.
Note: God was accustomed to speak to Moses, and then to the Hebrews, in three places. First, in the tabernacle within the Holy of Holies, after these had been constructed, and this to Moses or Aaron alone, as is clear from Exodus 25:22. Second, at the entrance of the tabernacle beside the altar of burnt offerings, as is clear from Exodus 29:42. Third, in the pillar of cloud, wherever it might be, as is clear from Psalm 99:7 and Exodus 33:9. So says Abulensis on Leviticus 1:1.
Verse 10: They Looked toward the Wilderness
That is, outside the camp.
And behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. — This glory of the Lord was a splendor and an august, radiant brilliance by which the divine majesty displayed itself as if 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 camp; but for just cause it would from time to time move itself, propelled by the angel, as it did in chapter 14:19, when it interposed itself between the camp of the Hebrews and the Egyptians. So here too the angel in the pillar, as if indignant at remaining with a people so given to murmuring, fled outside the camp to the wilderness, and from there summoned and drew Moses to himself, and there conversed with him, saying: 'I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel,' etc. God did this — or rather the angel on God's behalf — in order to restrain the murmuring people by the terror and brilliance of His divine power, and to lead them to believe and obey Moses, since they could see him conversing with the divine majesty, and being taught and instructed by it. So say Lyranus, Abulensis, and others.
Verse 11: The Lord Spoke to Moses
Alone; for while Aaron was addressing the people, Moses alone had withdrawn to his private place outside the camp — namely to the pillar of cloud — to pray to the Lord, having been silently summoned by Him.
Verse 12: In the Evening You Shall Eat Meat, and in the Morning You Shall Be Filled with Bread
'Meat' means quails, and 'bread' means manna. Allegorically, the evening was signified here — that is, the darkness of the law sacrificing the flesh of animals — about to pass in the morning into the heavenly bread, that is, Christ, who is the light and the manna of the world. So say Cyril, book III on John, chapter 34, and Rupert.
Second, as Origen and St. Augustine (Question 60) say, it was signified that at the evening of the world the Word would become flesh, would die and be buried in weakness; but in the morning would rise again in power, and would appear to His disciples, eating with them and feeding them.
Verse 13: The Quail Coming Up Covered the Camp
'Coming up,' that is, arriving and flying in; 'quail,' that is, a flock of quails, driven by a blowing wind, as is said in Psalm 78:26-27, which cast them down so that they fell in the midst of the camp, as is clear from verse 13 of Psalm 78. This sending of quails did not last, as manna did, for 40 years (as is said in verse 35), but happened only on this one evening, during which, however, the Hebrews could gather and preserve quails for several days. After this evening, therefore, on the following days, no quails flew to the camp of the Hebrews.
Note: God gave quails to the Hebrews twice: first here; second, in Numbers 11:31, at the graves of craving.
In the morning also dew lay round about the camp. — In Hebrew it reads, 'in the morning there was a lying-down, or a layer of dew,' as if to say: In the morning the whole plain was strewn and covered with dew, so that the dew lay upon it as upon a bed. This dew was manna, which is called dew because it was similar to dew and crystalline drops coagulated into the form of coriander seed. So say Nyssen, Philo, and Josephus. For manna was not similar to moist, liquid dew, but to something curdled and frozen.
Hence in verse 14 it is said to have been like frost. Therefore manna was similar to congealed dew — that is, to grains of hail, or frost, which is formed by the cold of night condensing and dividing it into small grains. So also our earthly manna (though it is far different from this heavenly manna), which in many places today forms on the leaves of shrubs and is carefully collected by physicians, and is called by Galen drosomeli and aeromeli — that is, dewy honey and airy honey (which is nothing other than an exhalation of water and earth, carefully attenuated and cooked by the heat of the sun, and condensed and thickened into one mass by the cold of the following night) — before it melts as the sun rises, has the appearance of frost.
Otherwise — that is, in the proper sense — the Hebrews, Lyranus, Vatablus, Oleaster, and Cajetan take 'dew' here; for they think that dew descended simultaneously with the manna, covering the manna; and when in the morning the dew vanished at the rays of the sun, it uncovered and left only the manna to be gathered by the Hebrews. The manna, therefore, was enclosed in dew both above and below, as if in a case. This the Jews even today represent at their table by a certain sign, namely by placing bread between two tablecloths.
This interpretation is supported by the version of the Chaldee and Vatablus, who translate: 'there was a covering of dew; and when it had ascended' — that is, had been consumed by the sun and had disappeared (and, as the Septuagint has it, katepausato, that is, 'when it had rested,' meaning, 'when it had ceased,' say some) — 'the dew, behold, on the surface of the desert something small and round appeared.'
From this interpretation, which is probable, one may draw a beautiful allegory about the Eucharist: for just as this dew covered the manna, so the species of bread cover the body of Christ; and just as when the dew vanished the manna appeared, so when the species of bread in the Eucharist are abstracted through faith, the faithful mind ascends to see and taste the very body of Christ.
However, our version seems to oppose this interpretation in the following verse, where it clearly explains this dew and says it was the manna itself. For the Hebrew vattaal, that is, 'it ascended,' which others interpret as 'it evaporated 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, just as in a similar way shortly before he said that the quails ascended and covered the camp.
Second, when the sun grew hot, the manna melted and vanished, just as dew is accustomed to vanish. Hence the Hebrews had to gather the manna early in the morning before the sun rose. Therefore it does not seem true, what the Hebrews say — that the hot sun consumed the dew but left the manna untouched.
Third, for what purpose would the dew have covered the manna? For the manna was clean in itself, nor could it be soiled from above by rain, snow, or hail (since God was restraining and averting these). Therefore it is far more true that this dew was nothing other than the manna itself. So says Abulensis.
You will object: In Numbers 11:9 it is said: 'When the dew fell upon the camp at night, the manna also fell together with it.'
I respond that 'dew' there is taken for frost, which did not cover the manna but was spread underneath it, lest the manna be soiled by contact with the earth. Hence the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Septuagint read: 'the manna ascended, and [fell] upon it' — namely upon the dew, that is, upon the congealed dew, meaning the frost just mentioned.
Abulensis notes that God most likely rained manna in this way: first He sent a wind to cleanse the surface of the earth from water, vapors, and similar substances, so that no water or filth remained on it that could stain the manna; then He rained down cold frost, formed into small grains; finally, upon the frost He rained the manna, as is clear from Numbers 11:9.
The earth, therefore, was like a bed; the frost or congealed dew was like a clean linen sheet, upon which the manna rested. Hence in Hebrew, manna is said here and in Numbers 11 to lie upon the earth and upon the dew, so that this frost or dew was below the manna like a veil — just as the species of bread in the Eucharist are a veil of the body of Christ.
Verse 14: There Appeared in the Wilderness Something Small
From this it is clear that manna did not rain in the camp of the Hebrews, because their camp was unclean; but outside the camp in the desert, or in the field, as is said in verse 25. Hence in verse 27 the Hebrews are said to have gone out of the camp to find and gather it in the desert.
Something small and as if beaten with a pestle, in the likeness of frost upon the ground. — Not as if the manna, when it descended from heaven, had been beaten with a pestle and reduced to powder or flour; for this the Hebrews did afterward, grinding it in a mortar or a mill, when they made cakes from it, as is clear from Numbers 11:8. But 'as if beaten with a pestle' means husked by the pounding of a pestle and stripped of its husks, as if to say: the manna was white like wheat from which the husk has been removed by pestle or mill. For Scripture always commends manna for its white color. Hence in Numbers 11:7 it is said to have been the color of bdellium. Thus the Septuagint, instead of 'beaten with a pestle,' translate lepton, that is, white; and the Chaldee translates, 'as if dehusked,' which agrees with the Hebrew mechuspas. Although this word is found nowhere else, yet because it has a four-letter root, it must by custom be reduced to a three-letter root, namely chasaph, meaning to strip bare, to dehusk. Hence it is strange that more recent scholars translate mechuspas as 'round,' as if they preferred to guess blindly rather than agree with St. Jerome, the Septuagint, the Chaldee, and other ancient and most learned Hebrews.
Furthermore, in Numbers 11, manna is said in color to have been like bdellium. Now bdellium is a kind of gum, or transparent resin. Hence the Septuagint translate 'like crystal,' as if to say: manna was whitish like crystal. The Hebrew bedolach, that is bdellium, Pagninus translates as 'pearl,' others as 'onyx' — as though the manna in color was similar to a pearl, or to onyx, that is, the color of a fingernail. For such is bdellium, especially the Bactrian variety, which among all is the most esteemed, as Pliny states in book 12, chapter 9, and Dioscorides in book 1, chapter 69. Therefore the white manna signified the Eucharist, in which the white species of bread represent and truly present the white and immaculate body of Christ.
Verse 15: Manhu? — What Is This?
Hence in Hebrew it was called man, and in Chaldee, manna. Vatablus translates the Hebrew man as 'gift.' For, he says, since 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 is a great and heavenly gift, promised to us by God," verse 4. Secondly, Oleaster translates man as "numerous," for the root manah signifies "to count" — hence mane, tekel, phares (Daniel, ch. 5, v. 25); for in great number and abundance, like snow, the manna rained down. Calvin goes further and errs, translating man as "prepared"; and Aben Esra claims man is not a Hebrew but an Arabic word. But it was not by Arabs but by the Hebrews here in the desert that it was called man.
But the Septuagint, the Chaldean, and our Vulgate, Philo, Josephus, Origen, Theodoret, Cyril (Book III on John, ch. 34), and everywhere both ancient and modern authors most rightly and genuinely translate man hu as meaning "What is this?" For so unusual a thing aroused wonder among the Hebrews, so that they asked: "What is this?" And the words that follow confirm this: "For they did not know what it was." Where in place of "what it was," the Hebrew reads ma hu; from which came man hu, with the addition of a paragogic nun. A similar paragoge of the letter lamed in the same interrogative ma occurs in Isaiah ch. 3, v. 15: mallachem, "what is it to you?" But the paragoge of nun is more common, for nun is widely added to Hebrew nouns, as is evident in corban, ischon, sculchan, nechustan. Finally, the Chaldeans say man instead of ma, meaning "who, which, what," as is evident in Daniel ch. 3 and 4. So too the Hebrews for the sake of euphony use man instead of ma, as is evident in Psalm 60, v. 8. The same is confirmed by the response of Moses. For when the Hebrews asked man hu — that is, "What is this?" — Moses responds: "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat."
Verse 16: Let Each One Collect from It
"Each one" — namely, whoever eats bread and solid food; for nursing infants who suckled at the breast did not eat manna. So says Cajetan.
A gomor per person. — A "gomor" is a choenix, that is, a measure that suffices for a person's daily sustenance. Hence it is called gomor, as if from gomer, meaning "a sheaf" — that is, a day's provision, says Arias Montanus. Or, as Vilalpando says (in his Apparatus of the Temple, Part II, Book III, ch. 12), gomor means the same as "customary," from the root amar, meaning "to use the service of," because for forty years in the desert this measure, the gomor, was chiefly in use for measuring manna. The gomor was the tenth part of an ephah (as stated in verse 36), that is, of three modii. The ephah in turn was the tenth part of a cor or homer (homer is different from gomor; for gomor is written with an ayin, homer with a chet), as is evident from Ezekiel 45:11. The cor, or homer, contained 30 modii — for so our translator renders it in Leviticus 27:16 and elsewhere. Likewise the Septuagint, who in Ezekiel 45 translate homer as six artabae. Now an artaba, according to Galen (On Measures), holds 5 Italian modii; therefore six artabae equal 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 thing, says Lipomanus. Josephus calls the gomor an assaron, that is, a tenth, so that these three — namely gomor, assaron, and tenth — are the same thing. Now the assaron, as Josephus says (Antiquities, Book III, ch. 7), contained seven cotylae; and a cotyla contained 9 ounces among the Atticans, says Thucydides (cited by Athenaeus, Book XI); by which reckoning the 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 treatise On Measures, I shall show that the gomor contained 8 pounds, or 96 ounces. This was indeed a large portion, and sufficient for the daily sustenance of anyone, however greedy and gluttonous, even in that ancient and robust age. However, as Vilalpando notes, manna was of lighter substance but of broader bulk than grain; hence he judges that a gomor full of manna provided only as much bread as a cabus full of grain. Now a cabus contained 4 sextarii, on which see the end of the book. Thus a gomor of manna amounted to about 4 pounds.
Note: God here gives six precepts concerning manna, and assigns just as many miracles.
The first precept is given in this verse, in which He commands the Hebrews to collect for each person from the manna each day the measure of a gomor — that is, as much as they reasonably think sufficient to fill a gomor. Hence some collected more than others, thinking they had not yet gathered a full gomor; others collected less, thinking they had already gathered a gomor when they had not yet collected the full amount.
Some think (and Abulensis also considers this probable) that what is said here about collecting a gomor for each person was not a precept given to the Hebrews, but an ordinance concerning the manna itself — namely that each person would daily have and eat one gomor. For they think that the Hebrews, according to how greedy or how moderate their appetites were, collected more or less manna — for example, he for whom half a gomor sufficed collected half a gomor; he who needed one or two gomors collected one or two. But when each person afterward measured what he had collected, all found only one gomor, because for those who had collected less, God rarefied and expanded what they had collected so as to fill a gomor; while for those who had collected more than a gomor, He condensed and compressed it so that it would not exceed a gomor.
This opinion, as regards its latter part concerning the rarefaction and condensation of the manna, is partly true, as I shall presently say. But its former part — namely that some deliberately collected only half a gomor and others two gomors — seems to be contradicted by the words of Scripture in this verse: "Let each one collect from it as much as suffices for eating, a gomor per person." Here the word "let him collect" is imperative and pertains to the gomor: He therefore commands that a gomor be collected for each person, no more and no less. Hence He adds: "Thus you shall take," namely a gomor per person.
Therefore each person was to collect daily only as much as he thought sufficient to fill a gomor; but on the sixth day, for that day and for the Sabbath, two gomors were to be collected per person, as is said in verses 5 and 22: "And they measured by the measure of a gomor: and he who had collected more did not have too much, and he who had prepared less did not find too little." Dionysius the Carthusian and Emmanuel Sa think that, following the Hebrew tradition, prefects had been appointed to measure the manna collected by each person and to measure out a gomor to each, so that from whoever had collected more than a gomor, the surplus would be taken away and given to whoever had collected less than a gomor. But this is hardly probable, for no mention of prefects is made here; and by performing this duty — taking away part of what had been collected from the Hebrews, especially the more possessive ones — they would have given great cause for murmuring and quarrels. Moreover, Scripture expressly says that he who had prepared less did not find less — as if secretly or by chance, not as if some supplement had been given to him by judges and prefects; otherwise it would have said: "The prefects supplied and completed the gomor for him who had prepared less."
I say therefore that this is the first, and indeed a great miracle of the manna: namely that it rained down daily in such abundance as sufficed to feed three million people, and that when individuals came home and measured the manna they had collected — whether they had gathered more or less — all nevertheless found one and the same gomor. An angel invisibly added to it if they had less than a gomor, and subtracted if they had gathered more. For this is what the express and explicit words of Scripture require, and Saint Paul, citing these words from the Septuagint in 2 Corinthians 8, says: "That there may be equality, as it is written: He who had much did not abound, and he who had little did not lack."
From this it follows that all at that time daily ate one gomor of manna, and consequently that the same measure of food — namely the gomor — was the portion for children, men, women, the strong, the elderly, and all the Hebrews alike. For God so digested and distributed each person's manna and gomor in their stomach and body that He adapted it to the nutritive power and nourishment, and to the strength of each individual, so as to satisfy all equally. And on the other hand, He supplied whatever was lacking in someone's natural heat or nutritive power for consuming a gomor, or at least made it so that in a weak stomach the manna was light and easy to digest, while in a stronger stomach it was more substantial. For thus, as we shall see later, manna varied its flavor for each person — for each one tasted in the manna whatever he desired. In the same way, therefore, God seems to have made it so that for a strong stomach the manna tasted and acted like robust pork, beef, and the like, while for a weak one it tasted and acted like veal, lamb, or like fish, eggs, milk, and so forth. So say Gregory of Nyssa, Lyra, Abulensis, Oleaster, Cajetan, Vatablus, Saint Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Anselm (on 2 Cor. 8:15).
Indeed even the Hebrews, as Genebrard attests (on Psalm 77, v. 29), relate that manna was a bodily food that was digested in the very members themselves (not just in the stomach); hence it did not burden the stomach with heaviness, nor the head with vapors, it did not produce excrement, and was easy to digest — and for this reason it was a type of the food of the just in the future age.
I would believe, however, that the angel condensed and compressed the manna in the gomor for those with larger appetites, while for the elderly, children, and the weak he rarefied and expanded it — so that the gomor of the latter contained less manna, while that of the former contained more, and thus the angel adapted and adjusted this measure of a gomor to each person's stomach and strength. For this is more natural, and God spares miracles and uses nature when it suffices. And this seems to be what Moses adds here.
Verse 18: Each One Gathered according to What He Was Able to Eat
As if to say: Each person, according to his appetite, estimated his gomor to be larger or smaller, and therefore collected more or less. But when they afterward measured what they had collected, each found one gomor, which was sufficient for each — yet in such a way that the angel condensed the manna for some and rarefied it for others. Moreover, from those who had collected far too much, he secretly subtracted, and for those who had collected far too little, he added a portion of manna. For rarefaction alone could indeed fill the gomor, but not the stomach, if the person could take and desired more food. Therefore, in order that the quantity of manna be proportioned to each person's stomach, the angel needed at times either to remove some, if someone had collected far too much, or to add some, if someone had collected far too little.
Moreover, the reason why God prescribed the same gomor for each person was, first, to restrain greed, gluttony, and excessive concern for food and earthly things by this arrangement, as Saint Chrysostom and Theophylact say (on 2 Cor. 8). Second, to teach how great a good equality is in a community — namely equal food, clothing, labor, burden, and so forth. Third, by this continuous miracle God wished to testify that for each person a sufficient measure of sustenance is prepared by the Lord, even if it may seem that from one's labors one can obtain less. So that when we sit at table, we may think of God raining manna from heaven upon us. For even today, not only to the rich but also to the poor, to the sick and weak, and to those burdened with many children, God nonetheless provides daily sustenance sufficient to maintain the life of all — a thing which seems wonderful and incredible to anyone who considers it, if he compares the small income and earnings they make with such great expenditure and the costs of so many members of a family. From this one experience alone one may gather the sweet and wonderful providence of God toward all. Hence Saint Chrysostom (Homily 40 on 1 Corinthians): "The greedy rich man differs from the poor man only in anxieties, in neglect of God, in bodily defilement, and in spiritual ruin; for both equally fill their bellies." I have said more on this verse in 2 Corinthians 8:15.
The allegorical reason was that the same gomor signified the same Christ, whom — whole and entire as He is — we all eat in the Eucharist. Anagogically, the same gomor signifies the same divinity, on which we shall fully feed and delight individually in heaven; but some will draw from it more, and others less, of flavor, sweetness, grace, and glory — just as from the same manna then, and from the same food now, some — for example, boys and young men — are nourished and refreshed more, while others — such as the elderly and the weak — less.
Verse 19: Let No One Leave Any of It until Morning
This is the second precept, to restrain the unbelieving greed of those who, against God's will and command, wished to provide for themselves for the next day. Hence they were afterward punished, for the manna kept until the following day began to swarm with worms. And in this punishment there was likewise the second miracle; for who would say that it was the nature of manna to putrefy the next day, when on the Sabbath what had been collected the day before was preserved unharmed? Indeed there is no grain or flour that rots so quickly. So says Theodoret.
Verse 21: They Gathered It Each Morning
Here the third precept is indicated: namely that each person should collect the manna in the morning, before the sun grew hot, because when the sun grew warm it melted. And this was so that the Hebrews might learn not to snore in bed but to rise early in the morning to pray to God and to prepare their sustenance. For this is what the Wise Man says, speaking of manna melting in the sun (Wisdom 16:28): "That it might be known to all that one must rise before the sun to give You thanks, and must worship You at the dawning 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, heated more intensely (for by a Hebraism, the simple form is used for the causative hiphil — that is, an intransitive or passive verb is used for the active). Yet the same manna, once collected, was so hard at home that it was pounded with a pestle and mill, and did not melt by fire but was formed into a cake, as is evident from Numbers 11:8. Cajetan offers a similar analogy with an egg: "For just as an egg," he says, "while it is in the hen has a soft shell which dries out immediately once the egg is laid and becomes hard, so those grains of manna, in the place where they were formed, were subject to melting; but once separated, they hardened to such a degree that they were no longer of a melting nature — so that, just as they could afterward withstand fire, they would also have withstood the sun, had they been exposed to the sun again."
God willed that the manna melt in the field lest that heavenly food, remaining on the ground, should putrefy or be trampled, and thus be dishonored and despised. Again, the Wise Man gives another reason (Wisdom 16:27): "That which could not be destroyed by fire, immediately melted when warmed by a faint ray of sunlight — so that it might be known to all that one must rise before the sun to give You thanks, and must worship You at the dawning of the light."
Similar to this manna of the Hebrews is the Polish manna, which in Poland (as all Poles attest) rains down at night in the months of June and July, and settles on plants like dew. For before the sun's rays they collect it by sifting, shake it out, pound it, mix it with water, and make porridge from it, just as porridge is made from millet or wheat flour. For if the sun grows warm, it dissolves the husk, and thus the grain of manna enclosed in it falls to the ground and is lost — which is indeed a remarkable and noteworthy thing. I have seen the grains myself, and they are like millet but longer and reddish; I have also tasted the porridge made from them: the flavor is like that of millet porridge.
However, this Polish manna differs from the manna of the Hebrews in that the Polish manna does not entirely melt in the sun but only dissolves enough for the hard grain or seed enclosed in it (which is hard like millet) to fall out; whereas the manna of the Hebrews melted entirely in the sun and vanished. Moreover, Polish manna is enclosed in a husk, while the manna of the Hebrews had no husk and was as if pounded with a pestle, as stated in verse 14.
Verse 22: On the Sixth Day They Gathered Double Food
This is the fourth precept, given in verse 5, that on Friday they should collect a double portion of manna — namely one gomor for Friday and another for the Sabbath — and this was to commend the rest and worship of the Sabbath. Likewise this was the fourth miracle: namely that on Friday a double quantity of manna rained down, like a double ration of provisions, and that each person returning home from collecting manna found exactly two gomors in his possession.
And they reported to Moses — that they had collected double manna on the sixth day, and they did this in order to hear and understand why this had been commanded to them; for up to this point God had not declared that He had prescribed this on account of the observance of the Sabbath.
Verse 23: Tomorrow Is the Rest of the Sabbath, Sanctified to the Lord
As if to say: Tomorrow is the holy Sabbath, dedicated to the worship of the Lord; hence then one must rest from all work and devote oneself to God. Therefore I commanded you on the sixth day to collect and prepare manna for the Sabbath.
Here, first, the knowledge and observance of the Sabbath seem to have been renewed and restored. Hence Philo even asserts that the Hebrews, who had forgotten the birthday of the world (on which this universe was completed), which was unknown to their forefathers, learned of it through this miracle — namely that on the day before the Sabbath double manna rained down and lasted for two days, contrary to what happened on the other days. I say "renewed" because I have shown at Genesis 2:3 that the Sabbath was instituted and observed from the beginning of the world. From the very origin of the world, therefore, the feast and worship of the Sabbath was established; but it had been entirely obliterated in the Egyptian servitude and idolatry of the Hebrews. Hence here it is recalled and restored by God.
Whatever is left over, set it aside until morning. — That is, save one gomor for the following Sabbath morning — namely, save the bread of one gomor that you made on Friday from pounded and cooked manna. For on the Sabbath it was not permitted to pound or cook manna. They could, however, save and eat whole, uncooked manna on the Sabbath if they wished, just as grains of sugar are eaten. Our Lorinus teaches this against Eugubinus in his commentary on Wisdom 16.
Verse 31: They Called Its Name Man
And it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like fine flour with honey. — Coriander seed is not white but black; therefore the word "white" should not be referred to the coriander but should be taken separately on its own. For three things are said here about manna: first, that in size and shape it was like coriander, because the grains were small and round like coriander — so says Josephus; second, that in color it was bright and white; third, that in flavor it was like honey, tasting like fine flour mixed with honey or oil.
And its taste was like fine flour with honey. — The manna was therefore similar to grains of sugar, both in color, in flavor, and in shape. This flavor was, as it were, innate and natural to the manna itself, and so it tasted this way if the person eating desired no other food or flavor. But if someone desired something else, the manna immediately took on that flavor. For by God's gift and a great miracle, the manna presented to each person every pleasantness of flavor. For this is what is said in Wisdom 16:20: "You nourished Your people with the food of angels, and You provided them bread from heaven ready-made, without labor, having in itself all delight and the sweetness of every flavor. For Your substance (namely the manna, by which You sustained the Hebrews) and Your sweetness, which You have toward Your children, You displayed; and serving the will of each person, it was converted into whatever each one desired." Hence also in chapter 19, verse 20, the Wise Man in the Greek calls manna ambrosia, which, as the most exquisite food, is imagined by the poets to be the food of the gods.
Some think that this privilege — namely that the manna tasted like whatever they desired — was given only to pious and just men. For they argue that this did not happen for the impious and unjust, but that for them the manna tasted only like bread with honey or oil. This is proven from the fact that otherwise they would not afterward have murmured against the manna, nor asked for meat, leeks, and melons (Numbers 11:4), if they had tasted all these things in the manna itself. So teach Saint Augustine (Retractations, Book II, ch. 19), Abulensis, Lipomanus, and others.
However, since Scripture makes no distinction here between the pious and the impious, but absolutely asserts that the manna presented to each person the flavor he desired; and since the other benefits of God — such as the pillar of cloud, the quails, water from the rock, etc. — were common to the impious as well as the pious in the desert; and since through this flavor God wished to draw away both the impious and the pious from the fleshpots of Egypt (for this is what the Wise Man adds: "That Your children, Your people whom You loved, O Lord, might know that it is not the produce of crops that nourishes people, but Your word preserves those who believe in You"): from all this it seems more true that the manna tasted to all — both impious and pious — like whatever each one wished it to taste. So teach the Hebrews, Saint Chrysostom, Nazianzen, and others, whom Lorinus cites and follows (on Wisdom 16:21).
You will object: Why then did the Hebrews grow nauseated by the manna (Numbers 11)? Lorinus responds that this nausea and murmuring arose not from excessive sweetness of the manna, nor even from weariness with one and the same food for 40 years, but from the fact that the color, smell, form, thinness, and other similar qualities remained always the same in the manna, whereas a pleasant diversity of such qualities attracts the palate more. For thus children and other gluttons strive to fill not only their bellies but also their noses, eyes, and hands with foods. And this is what the murmurers say: "Our soul is nauseated by this lightest of foods; our eyes see nothing but manna." They were therefore asking for the variety and solidity of other foods.
Some add that the manna changed not only its flavor but also its substance according to the desire of those eating it — so that if someone wished to eat an egg, a chicken, or sugar, the manna would immediately be transformed into an egg, a chicken, or sugar. They think this is signified by those words of Wisdom 16: "It was converted into whatever each one desired" (Greek: metekirnato, that is, "was transfused") — as if in this manna there was an express type of the transubstantiation of bread into the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. So think Gregory of Valencia, Claudius 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 flavor; otherwise the Jews would not have murmured on account of the manna (Numbers 11). And in this respect the manna was a type of the Eucharist, not with regard to transubstantiation, but with regard to the power and efficacy of the remaining accidents. For the flavor of the manna showed how the accidents of bread and wine could remain and nourish without their substance. And thus implicitly and consequently, the different flavor in the manna was also a type of transubstantiation. For a different flavor normally accompanies and indicates a different substance.
Note: The Wise Man, as also David (Psalm 77:25), calls manna the "bread of angels" — not because they ate it, but because they produced the manna from matter prepared for this purpose in the clouds. Hence they also 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, manna is called "bread of angels" — that is, the most delicate bread, such that if angels were to eat, they would eat no other bread than manna. So too the "tongues of angels" are called the most beautiful and elegant (1 Corinthians 13:1). For "angels" the Hebrew has abbirim, meaning "of the mighty" or "of the stronger ones," which is an epithet of angels who surpass men in strength and virtue. Secondly, "of the mighty" because through manna they became strong and vigorous, just as the Eucharist strengthens our hearts for eternal life (John 6).
Verse 32: Fill a Gomor from It, and Let It Be Kept for Future Generations
This is the fifth precept, by which God commands that manna be preserved as a perpetual memorial of divine sustenance. Thus manna rained at Arras (Atrebatum), which is still preserved and displayed there, as I myself have seen. Hence their rhyme: "At Arras manna rained, at Rome the sacred chrism, at Jerusalem blood: these are the three gifts of salvation."
Likewise this is the fifth miracle: namely that God preserved this manna incorrupt for so many centuries.
Verse 33: Place It before the Lord
Before the tabernacle and the ark, when they would have been built — this is therefore a prolepsis (an anticipation of future events). For in the Holy of Holies the manna was placed in a golden urn, as the Apostle says (Hebrews 9:4).
Verse 34: As the Lord Commanded Moses
That is, "me" — it is an enallage of person, for Moses speaks of himself as if about another person, in the third person.
And Aaron placed it in the tabernacle to be preserved — not in this first year of their departure from Egypt, but much later, when the tabernacle had been constructed. This is therefore placed here by anticipation, so that all things pertaining to the manna might be joined together. Again, Moses placed the manna in the small tabernacle that the Hebrews had before they built the great and elaborate one at God's command; for that they already had such a tabernacle at that time will be evident from chapter 33, verse 7. So say Lyra and others.
Verse 35: The Children of Israel Ate Manna for Forty Years
Here the sixth precept is indicated — of gathering manna each day and year, and that continuously for 40 years. Likewise the sixth miracle stands here: that in spring as well as in autumn, in summer as well as in winter, on each day for 40 continuous years manna rained down, until the Hebrews came to Canaan and there ate from the produce of the land. Therefore the angels daily formed the manna in the clouds from matter naturally disposed for this purpose, in the way that snow, hail, and even stones are generated in the clouds, and in the way that medicinal manna is produced — which, however, differs greatly from ours. For our manna was miraculous, as is evident from what has been said. Hence 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 ate other foods besides manna in the desert, I shall discuss at Deuteronomy 2:6.
Note: The manna allegorically signified Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, as is evident from John 6:49-50; but most especially the manna signified the reality contained in, and the effect of, the Sacrament, as Saint Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Cyril teach at length on the cited passage of John. Hence the Apostle also says (1 Corinthians 10): "All ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink" — which even Calvin understands of the sacred supper, saying that the manna was a type of the Body of Christ. From this one may rightly conclude that in the Blessed Sacrament the flesh of Christ is truly present, since the manna was a symbol of a truly existing reality, not of a chimeric one. Otherwise both we and the Jews would be eating spiritual food — that is, typical and symbolic flesh — and we would have no more signified truth than the Jews themselves, indeed far less. For the manna was more flavorful than our bread and far more clearly represented the Body of Christ than dry bread. This consequence, being so clear, was recently conceded by a certain Minister from this new flock. But who does not see that this contradicts both Sacred Scripture and reason? For the new law is superior to the old law; therefore the new Sacraments surpass the old ones. Hence the Apostle says: "These things were done as figures of us." But the figured reality is nobler than its figure, just as the body is nobler than its shadow, and a man nobler than his image. Therefore the Sacraments of the new law, and especially the Eucharist, as the figured reality, must be nobler than the Sacraments of the old law, and than the manna itself, which was merely a type and figure of our Eucharist. Again, in John 6, Christ most expressly declares His Body in the Eucharist to be superior to the manna itself (vv. 48 and 58): "This is the bread that came down from heaven — not like the manna your fathers ate and died; whoever eats this bread (namely the divine bread, consecrated and transubstantiated into the Body of Christ) will live forever." That manna more clearly represents the Body of Christ than bread, who does not see? For this can be shown by many arguments.
Manna as a Type of the Eucharist
Hence note: The manna corresponds most aptly with the Body of Christ in the Eucharist and most beautifully foreshadowed it. First, the color of the Eucharistic species and of the manna is the same. Second, the sweet flavor of both. Again, just as the sweetness in the manna was hidden, so too Christ is hidden under the species of bread. Third, neither is found or tasted except by those who have left behind the fleshpots of Egypt and the pleasures of the flesh. Fourth, for unbelievers and the greedy, both are turned into worms and judgment. Fifth, the manna was not given except after the crossing of the sea; the Eucharist is not given except after baptism. Sixth, after the manna the Hebrews fought against Amalek, whereas before, God alone had fought for them against the Egyptians.
They fought, I say, and they conquered: so too the obstacles and temptations of the heavenly life, which God allows to be hurled only at the more advanced, are overcome by the power of the Eucharist. Hence Saint Bernard, in his sermon On the Baptism Given at the Lord's Supper, says: "That Sacrament works two things in us: namely, that it diminishes our feeling in lesser matters, and in graver sins it entirely removes consent. If any of you does not now so often, nor so bitterly, feel the movements of anger, envy, lust, and the like, let him give thanks to the Body and Blood of the Lord, for the power of the Sacrament is working in him." And Saint Cyril (Book IV on John, ch. 17): "The Eucharist calms — when Christ dwells in us — the raging law of our members, strengthens piety, extinguishes the disturbances of the soul, and does not consider what sins we are in, but heals the sick, restores the broken, and like the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep, raises us up from every fall."
Seventh, manna was bread made without seed, without plowing, or any other human labor, made by the angels: so too the Body of Christ was born of the Virgin alone and by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Eighth, the manna gave the Hebrews every variety of flavor. Hence it is said of the manna in Wisdom 16: "You nourished Your people with the food of angels, and You provided them bread from heaven ready-made, without labor, having in itself all delight and the sweetness of every flavor." So too Christ is milk for little ones, vegetables for infants, and solid food for the perfect, as Gregory of Nyssa says. And Saint Cyprian, in his treatise On the Lord's Supper: "This bread surpasses all the enticements of carnal flavors and all the pleasures of every sweetness. See how for those who commemorate Christ's Passion within the sacred rites, torrents flow forth as if through certain channels from interior fountains, and the soul is delighted above all pleasures by nectarean tears; how great a sweetness the sighs of contemplation draw forth for the soul seeking where its God may be." Hence it follows, he says, "that henceforth it may shudder at the cups of sin, and every flavor of carnal delights may be to it as something rancid, and vinegar of sharp bitterness scraping the palate." From this follows jubilation and inebriation of the mind, "so that one may bear Christ in one's breast, carry Him in one's mind, and at all times let praises consonant with the jubilation of word and deed resound to Him who dwells within, and let thanksgivings be sung. This inebriation does not kindle but extinguishes sin. When forgetfulness has put to sleep all the mockeries of the flesh, wondrous are the things one feels, great the things one sees, unheard-of the things one speaks."
Chrysostom (Homily 24 on 1 Corinthians): "This table is the strength of our soul, the sinew of our mind, the bond of confidence, our hope, salvation, light, and life." Ninth, the manna was minute: Christ is enclosed in a small host. Tenth, the manna was pounded with a pestle: Christ was stripped of mortality by the pestle of the Cross. Eleventh, the faithful cry out in wonder: Man hu! — "What is this, that God should be with us?"
Twelfth, all collected an equal measure of manna — namely one gomor: so too all receive the whole Christ equally, whether the species, or host, be larger or smaller. So says Rupert. Thirteenth, manna was gathered in the desert only on six days: so too 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, the manna melted in the sun: so too when the species are dissolved by heat, the Sacrament is dissolved. Finally, Saint Ambrose, in Sermon 3, thinks that through the manna the Blessed Virgin was prefigured; for she is the Mother of Mercy, our life, sweetness, and hope.
Tropological Meaning of the Manna
Tropologically, the manna signifies the sweetest spiritual consolations, which are perceived in the contemplation of heavenly things and in victory over temptations and desires. Of these it is said in Psalm 30:20: "How great is the multitude of Your sweetness, O Lord, which You have hidden for those who fear You!" And in Revelation 2:17: "To the one who conquers I will give the hidden manna." For this consolation is a prelude and foretaste of eternal beatitude. This manna is not given except to one who departs from Egypt, leaves behind the fleshpots, and conquers his own desires — for it is promised by Saint John and by Christ the Lord to the one who conquers. Hence a preceding temptation is usually a sign of consolation to follow, for heavenly consolation is promised to those who have been tested by temptation. Experience shows that no one heroically conquers any temptation, weakness, contempt of self, desire, curiosity, illness, weariness, and so forth, without immediately feeling a wonderful pleasure and joy of soul, which far surpasses both the corresponding sorrow and the delights of concupiscence. Let each person test this in himself, and he will find it to be so.
So it was with Saint John, who predicted victory over the tyrants to the Emperor Theodosius. Having denied himself and forgotten himself, he searched out heavenly things, attending to God alone, conversing with Him, and celebrating Him with constant hymns, so that he seemed to be in heaven. Hence, speaking of himself through Palladius in the Lausiac History (ch. 46): "I know a man in solitude who for ten years tasted nothing of earthly food; but an angel every third day brought him heavenly food (behold, manna!) and placed it in his mouth, and this served him in place of food and drink."
Again, Palladius writes about another John (ch. 16): "John first stood for three years under a certain rock, praying perpetually, never sitting down at all, not sleeping except for what sleep he could steal while standing, and taking only the Sunday Eucharist (behold, manna!) brought to him by a priest — he ate nothing else." And in chapter 58, Abbot Anuph says of himself: "From the time I professed the name of the Savior, I have taken nothing of human food, being fed daily by an angel; no desire for anything other than God has entered my heart; God has hidden nothing from me among earthly things; I have received every petition from God. I often saw myriads attending upon God, I saw choirs of the righteous, I saw a multitude of Martyrs praising God, I saw the just rejoicing for eternity." Narrating these and many other things, on the third day he surrendered his soul to God; which Abbot Paul and his companions saw being carried up to heaven by angels singing hymns, and by the Martyrs.
Anagogical Meaning of the Manna
Anagogically, manna signifies the ambrosia of the Blessed, and their ineffable happiness in heaven, their delight, joy, and sweetness. For glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God, as the dwelling of all who rejoice is in you. There, says St. Gregory in the Seven Penitential Psalms, is light without failing, joy without groaning, desire without pain, love without sorrow, satisfaction without weariness, safety without fault, life without death, health without weakness.
"Perfect charity flourishes in all, one joy for all, one delight." And St. Augustine says: "In the city of God, 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 supreme good is, there is supreme happiness, supreme delight, true liberty, perfect charity, eternal security, and secure eternity: there is true joy, full knowledge, all beauty, and all blessedness. There is peace, piety, goodness, gentle virtue, honesty, joys, sweetness, perennial life, glory, praise, rest, love and sweet concord."