Psalms 78:24

24. Manna Hebrew מנ , ( man,) according to Gesenius from the Arabic, which signifies a portion, gift, because it was an allotment bestowed from Heaven. But more probably, in the popular phraseology, (Keil and Delitzsch,) used for מה , ( mah,) an interrogative, who? what? The Israelites did not know what to call it, and they exclaimed מנ הוא , What is this? (Exodus 16:15,) not “It is manna,” as in our English version. Josephus says, ( Ant., book iii, chap. i, sec. 6,) “The Hebrews call it manna, for the particle man in our language is the asking a question, What is this?” and so the passage should read. In form and colour it is compared to coriander seed, globular, and of whitish colour. Numbers 11:7. It is not to be confounded with the manna now known in merchandise, nor with the Arabian manna, a resinous substance which exudes from the leaf of the tamarisk, or turfa, as described by Burckhardt ( Travels in Syria, etc., p. 500) and other travellers, and called in Arabic mann. Ehrenberg discovered that this manna flows from the puncture of an insect. Its colour is a cloudy yellow, its taste like honey, and slightly aromatic. It falls in crystal drops from the trees, and is still gathered by the Arabs as a luxury. Though gathered in June, Lieutenant Welsted found the twigs in September retaining the sweetness of the gum. He says, in the best seasons the quantities gathered about Sinai may amount to $9,000 in value in the Cairo market. But the quantity necessary to sustain the Israelites for one week has been computed to be not less than 15,000,000 pounds. But neither in quantity nor quality does this compare with the Israelitish manna.

Corn of heaven Poetical for manna.