The house of Israel called its name “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.
Parallel Translations
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The house of Israel called its name “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.
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And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
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And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna; and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Exodus 16:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 11:6-9 but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
- Exodus 16:15 When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.
- Song of Solomon 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In form and figure, but not in color, Num.…
In form and figure, but not in color, Num. 11:7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 16:31 And the house of Israel called the…
Exo 16:31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it [was] like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it [was] like wafers [made] with honey.
Ver. 31. And the taste of it.] It had not all manner of good tastes, according to every man’s appetite, {Num 11:8} else why should the people lust and murmur as there they did? {Exo 16:4-5}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain It was like coriander seed, in shape and figure,…
It was like coriander seed, in shape and figure, but not in colour, for that is dark-coloured, but this white, as it follows here, like bdellium, &c., Num 11:7.
The taste of it, when it was raw; but when it was drest it was like fresh oil, Num 11:8.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot,.... The…
And Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot,.... The Targum of Jonathan calls it an earthen pot; and so Jarchi; which, if it could be supported, might be considered as an emblem of the ministers of the word, in whom, as in earthen vessels, the Gospel of Christ is put: Aben Ezra says, it was a vessel either of earth or brass, which latter is more likely for duration; since an earthen vessel can hardly be supposed to continue so long as this did, and much less a glass pot, as others take it to be: but the Septuagint version renders it a golden pot; and so it is said to be by Philo the Jew (a), and which is confirmed by the apostle, Heb 9:4 and which puts the thing out of question; and this may denote the word and ordinances which retain and hold forth Christ as the bread of life, and are a memorial of him, as evidently set forth, crucified, and slain, to future ages, comparable to gold; both for the preciousness of them, being more to be desired than gold, yea, than fine gold, and for the duration of them, they being to continue until the second coming of Christ:
and put an omer full of manna therein; the manna, and the full measure of it, according to a man's eating, was to be put into it, denoting that a full Christ, or Christ in all the fulness of his person and grace, is to be held forth in the word and ordinances to the eye of faith:
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and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations; in a place where the Lord would hereafter fix the symbol of his presence, the ark, cherubim, and mercy seat; and may signify the presence of Christ with his Father, the efficacy of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, his mediation and intercession; for he is not only held forth in the word, for faith to look at, but he is before the throne as though he had been slain, Rev 5:6.
(a) De Cong. Quaer. Erud. Gratia, p. 438.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 31. Called the name thereof Manna] See Clarke…
Verse 31. Called the name thereof Manna] See Clarke on Ex 16:15.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 16:31. It was like coriander-seed — In size,…
Exo 16:31. It was like coriander-seed — In size, not in colour, for that is dark coloured, but this was white, as is here said, or like bdellium or pearl, Num 11:7; and its taste like wafers — Or little cakes made with honey; that is, when it was raw, for when it was dressed, it was like fresh oil. The reader ought to be informed, however, that the Hebrew word here used, and rendered coriander-seed, is of rather doubtful interpretation. It may possibly mean some other small seed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain manna - It was not indeed the common manna,…
manna - It was not indeed the common manna, as they then seem to have believed, but the properties which are noted in this passage are common to it and the natural product: in size, form and color it resembled the seed of the white coriander, a small round grain of a whitish or yellowish grey.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Manna. This miraculous food, with which the children of…
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) --- Seed in size, but white; whereas the seed of coriander is black. (Menochius) --- Samaritan, "like a grain of rice." --- Honey, or oil, Numbers xi. 8. (Calmet) --- This was the usual taste. But if any one liked another better, the manna assumed it, Wisdom xvi. 20. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 31. Like coriander seed — It lay on the…
31. Like coriander seed — It lay on the ground in small seed-like, pearl-coloured grains. Though called bread it is not to be imagined as a loaf, but as like a grain or seed.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 31. the house of Israel] Unusual: cf. Exo_40:38, Num_20:29,…
31. the house of Israel] Unusual: cf. Exo_40:38, Num_20:29, Jos_21:45 (all P). Lev_10:6; Lev_17:3; Lev_17:8; Lev_17:10; Lev_22:18 (P and H) are rather different.
like coriander seed] So Num_11:7. Coriander is an umbelliferous plant, which grows wild in Egypt and Palestine, producing small greyish white round seeds, about the size of a peppercorn, with a pleasant spicy flavour. The seeds are used largely in the East as a spice to mix with bread, and to give an aromatic flavour to sweetmeats (NHB. p. 440). In Num_11:8 the manna is also said to have resembled bdellium (Gen_2:12), i.e. the transparent wax-like gum or resin, valued for its fragrance, called by the Greeks βδέλλα.
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wafers] Only here: LXX. ἐγκρίς, i.e. (Athen. xiv. 54, p. 645, cited by Kn.) pastry made with oil and honey. The root means in Arab. and Eth. to spread out. In Num_11:8 the taste of the manna is said to have been like a rich oily cake (לְשַׁד הַשֶּׁמֶן, i.e. oily richness; LXX. ἐγκρὶς ἐξ ἐλαίου, Vulg. panis oleatus; RVm. cakes baked with oil). Travellers state that the manna gathered from trees (see below) is used by the natives of the Sinaitic Peninsula as ‘a dainty instead of honey.’
31–34. A further description of the manna, and directions for a pot of it to be preserved in the sanctuary, as a witness to future generations how Israel had been sustained in the wilderness.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (31) Manna.—Rather, man. (See Note on Exo_16:15.) “Manna” is…
(31) Manna.—Rather, man. (See Note on Exo_16:15.) “Manna” is a Greek form, first used by the LXX. translator of Numbers (Exo_11:6-7; Exo_11:9).
It was like coriander seed.—The appearance of the manna is compared above to hoar frost (Exo_16:14); here, and in Num_11:7, to coriander seed. The former account describes its look as it lay on the ground, the latter its appearance after it was collected and brought in. The coriander seed is “a small round grain, of a whitish or yellowish grey.” In Numbers it is further said that the colour was that of bdellium, which is a whitish resin.
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The taste of it was like wafers made with honey.—In Numbers the taste is compared to that of fresh oil (Num_11:8). The wafers or cakes used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and other ancient nations as offerings, were ordinarily composed of fine wheaten flour, oil, and honey. According to a Jewish tradition which finds a place in the Book of Wisdom (Exo_16:20-21), the taste of the manna varied according to the wish of the eater, and “tempered itself to every man’s liking.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 31-36. THE APPEARANCE OF THE MANNA, ITS CONTINUANCE,…
Vers. 31-36. THE APPEARANCE OF THE MANNA, ITS CONTINUANCE, AND ITS DEPOSITION IN THE TABERNACLE. In bringing the subject of the manna to a conclusion, the writer adds a few words.
1. On its appearance;
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2. On its deposition by divine command in the Ark of the Covenant; and
3. On its continuance during the forty years of the wanderings.
It is evident that verses 32-34 cannot have been written until after the sojourn in Sinai, and the command to make a tabernacle (ch. 26.): as also that verse 35 cannot have been written till the arrival of the Israelites at the verge of the land of Canaan. But there is nothing in the passage that militates against the Mosaic authorship of the whole.
The house of Israel. This expression is unusual, and is not admitted by the Septuagint, the Syriac, or the Arabic versions, which all have "the children of Israel." Several Hebrew MSS. have bent, "sons," instead of beyth "house." Manna. Literally, as in the Septuagint, man the word used when they first beheld the substance (verse 15), and probably meaning "a gift.:" The elongated form manna, first appears in the Sept. rendering of Num_11:6, Num_11:7. It was like coriander seed. This is "a small round grain of a whitish or yellowish grey." The comparison is made again in Num_11:7, where it is added that the colour was that of bdellium either the gum so called, or possibly the pearl. The taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Such wafers or cakes were constantly used as offerings by the Egyptians, Greeks, and other nations. They were ordinarily compounded of meal, oil, and honey. Hence we can reconcile with the present passage the statement in Num_11:8, that "the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 coriander seed
coriander seed
Coriander is also known as cilantro. People dry the seeds and grind them into a powder and put it in food to give it flavor. (See: Translate Unknowns)
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wafers
very thin biscuits or crackers
omer
2 liters (See: Biblical Volume)
bread
This refers to the bread that appeared as thin flakes on the ground each morning.
translationWords
Israel
manna
seed
honey
Moses
Yahweh
generation
descend
desert
Egypt
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.