Manna

From Freepedia

This article is about the Biblical foodstuff. For other uses, see Mana.

Manna (sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is the name of the food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus. Manna ceased to appear when the Israelites first harvested their crops in their new homeland. "Man hu", or "manna" in the Hebrew language is translated as "what is it". George Ebers (Durch Gosen zum Sinai, 1881, p. 236), derived "manna" from the Egyptian mennu, "food" (JE "Manna"). By extension "manna" has also been used to refer to any divine or spiritual nourishment.

Christians apply the manna as the symbol of the Eucharist (Gospel of John, vi). When Paul calls the manna "spiritual food" (First Corinthians, x, 3), he alludes to its symbolical significance with regard to the Eucharist as much as to its miraculous character (CE "Manna"). Christian use of the word "manna" in reference to this, according to some, has definite archetypal similarities to Mana.

The mysterious substance which was provided miraculously by God to the Hebrews during their forty years in the desert descended by night like hoarfrost in the form of coriander seed of the color of bdellium (Book of Numbers xi. 7). It was collected before sunrise, before it melted in the sun. The people ground it, or pounded it, and then baked it (Num. xi. 8). A double portion was to be found on the day before the sabbath, when none was to be found.

When the Hebrews arrived at Gilgal, on the 14th of Nisan, and began to eat the grain grown there, the manna ceased.

Identifying manna

Some modern readers believe this may have been an edible wafer or the sap of a variety of succulent plant found in the Sinai peninsula, which may have had appetite-suppressing effects. Others have hypothesized that it was one of the species of kosher locusts found in the region. The most widespread explanations, however, are either crystallized honeydew of scale insects feeding on tamarisk twigs, or thalli of the Manna Lichen (Lecanora esculenta). At the turn of the 20th century local Arabs in Palestine collected the resin of the tamarisk as mann es-sama ("heavenly manna"), and sold it to pilgrims (JE "Manna").

Modern term

The term manna is also used in the modern context to refer to a secretion from various plants, including certain desert or semi-desert shrubs and especially the Ash Fraxinus ornus (manna or flowering ash) of Southern Europe. The material is produced by sap-sucking insects that secrete a honeydew like liquid, that when dried forms manna; it has a sweet taste. Eaten in large quantities, it is mildly laxative and has been used medicinally for that purpose.

Vegetarian view

Manna is also considered to be one of the “clean” foods because it is strictly vegetarian. According to the essay “The Semiotics of Food in the Bible,” by Jean Soler, the Creator (God) originally intended for man to only eat the food borne by plants such as fruits and vegetables. Plants were not considered “living” in part because they cannot move so “killing” them was not a sin. The manna that was given to the Hebrews during exodus was vegetarian and as follows: “It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafer made with honey” (Exodus 16:31).

God originally intended for man to not eat meat. This changed, however, due to the nature of man. Eating of animals was prohibited at the beginning because in order to eat animal one must first kill it, and this was against God’s will. People were, in time, permitted to eat only clean animals such as those that are strictly herbivorous, including sheep and cattle. Carnivorous animals were considered unclean because they ate the blood of the animals they killed. The blood was considered the life that God gave and therefore only God has the rights to the blood.