What was manna?

Question

Was it a grain, berry, seed?

Answer 1

The manna descended in the night in the form of coriander-seed of the color of bdellium (Num. xi. 7), so that in the morning the ground looked as if it were covered with hoar frost. The grains were ground or pounded into flour, and then the flour was prepared and baked in the form of cakes, the taste of which was like that of "wafers made with honey" or "as the taste of fresh oil" (Ex. xvi. 31; Num. xi. 8).

Answer 2

Manna was a small scale-like substance, comparable to hoarfrost in size.

Exodus 16:15
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

Exodus 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.

The people had to collect it first thing in the morning. They could only take what they and their families needed for the day because it would not keep. Those who tried to take more than needed, found it full of worms!

Answer 3

Exodus 16:31 (King James Version)
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.

I think that pretty much sums it up. It was like a white coriander seed which means it wasn't a seed, but looked like a seed, it was round and white. It tasted like honey wafers. It was supernatural in origin. It was from God.

PS: Isn't it strange the honey is the only food that can sustain life?

Answer 4

There is some debate about this, since "mennu" is actually just the Egyptian word for "food", and they were in Egypt, after all...

But the general consensus is that "manna" probably was (and still is) the crystallised honeydew of certain scale insects. In the environment of a desert, such honeydew rapidly dries due to evaporation of its water content, becoming a sticky solid, and later turning whitish, yellowish, or brownish. Honeydew of this form is considered a delicacy in the middle east, and is a good source of carbohydrate.

Answer 5

It appears to have been some kind of sap. The description is of a white, fluffy substance that drips from certain bushes. It spoiled rather quickly, which is something else that sap does because of its high sugar content.

Answer 6

bread

see Exodus 16:4

Answer 7

White corriander seed.

Answer 8

I think it's locusts. Manna in the desert, you mean?

Answer 9

Unlevened bread. Bread made without yeast so that it is just flat.

Answer 10

food from heaven....grain