Manna in the Wilderness

The words

1. Coriander

   Exodus compares manna to coriander seed and describes it as white, giving a familiar point of comparison for the unfamiliar food.

   Did you know?

   Numbers describes people grinding manna in mills or beating it in a mortar, then baking it in pans and making cakes.

   Exodus 16:31 (opens a new tab) · Numbers 11:7–8 (opens a new tab)

2. Elim

   Israel leaves Elim before reaching the wilderness of Sin; the earlier campsite has twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees.

   Exodus 16:1 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 15:27 (opens a new tab)

3. Forty Years

   Exodus says Israel eats manna for forty years, until the people reach the borders of the land of Canaan.

   Did you know?

   Joshua describes manna ceasing after Israel eats the land’s produce near Gilgal, following a Passover observance.

   Exodus 16:35 (opens a new tab) · Joshua 5:10–12 (opens a new tab)

4. Gathered

   The people gather manna each morning according to what they can eat; when the sun grows hot, the remaining manna melts.

   Exodus 16:21 (opens a new tab)

5. Hoar Frost

   White ice crystals on a surface.

   After the dew lifts, Exodus describes something small and round on the wilderness ground, comparing its smallness to hoar frost.

   Exodus 16:13–14 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: hoar-frost (opens a new tab)

6. Manna

   Moses identifies the unfamiliar food as bread given by the LORD; Exodus also records Israel calling it Manna.

   Did you know?

   The NET Bible reads “What is it?” where the KJV has “It is manna” as the people first see the food.

   Exodus 16:15 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 16:31 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Exodus 16:15 (opens a new tab)

7. Murmuring

   Complaints or grumbling.

   Israel complains to Moses and Aaron, remembering Egypt’s food and accusing them of bringing the assembly into the wilderness to die of hunger.

   Exodus 16:2–3 (opens a new tab)

8. Omer

   A volume measure, often approximated as 2 quarts (2 liters).

   An omer is assigned per person for gathering manna; Exodus explains that this measure is one-tenth of an ephah.

   Did you know?

   Moses tells Aaron to put an omer of manna in a pot for later generations to see the wilderness food.

   Exodus 16:16 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 16:36 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Exodus 16:16 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 16:32–34 (opens a new tab)

9. Quails

   Quails cover the camp at evening, matching the promise of meat to eat and bread in the morning.

   Exodus 16:12–13 (opens a new tab)

10. Sabbath

    Moses tells the people to prepare the sixth day’s double gathering for the Sabbath, when they will find no manna in the field.

    Exodus 16:22–26 (opens a new tab)

11. Seventh Day

    Some people go out to gather on the seventh day and find nothing; the account ends with the people resting that day.

    Exodus 16:27–30 (opens a new tab)

12. Wafers

    Thin cakes.

    The taste of manna is compared to wafers made with honey, adding a flavor comparison to the description of its appearance.

    Exodus 16:31 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: wafer (opens a new tab)

13. Wander

    Numbers assigns a year for each day spent searching the land: forty years of wandering, while those under judgment die in the wilderness.

    Numbers 14:33–34 (opens a new tab)

14. Wilderness

    Israel reaches the wilderness of Sin between Elim and Sinai; there the LORD promises daily bread from heaven for the people to gather.

    Exodus 16:1 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 16:4 (opens a new tab)

15. Worms

    Manna kept overnight against Moses’s instructions breeds worms; the portion saved at his direction for the Sabbath remains free of them.

    Exodus 16:19–20 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 16:22–24 (opens a new tab)