Exodus 16:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 Here in the wilderness the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our kettles of meat and ate our fill of bread! But you have led us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of famine!”
The Quail and the Manna. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses:(A) I am going to rain down bread from heaven[a] for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
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- 16:4 Bread from heaven: as a gift from God, the manna is said to come down from the sky. Cf. Ps 78:24–25; Wis 16:20. Perhaps it was similar to a natural substance that is still found in small quantities on the Sinai peninsula—probably the honey-like resin from the tamarisk tree—but here it is, at least in part, clearly an extraordinary sign of God’s providence. With reference to Jn 6:32, 49–52, the Christian tradition has regarded the manna as a type of the Eucharist. Test: as the text stands, it seems to leave open the question whether the test concerns trusting in God to provide them with the daily gift of food or observing the sabbath instructions.
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