The Lord provided this miraculous food for the Israelites in the desert during their wilderness wanderings. It originally appeared in the form of thin flakes, like frost on the ground, around the Israelite camp (Exodus 16:14-15). It is compared elsewhere with coriander seed and bdellium, or resin (Numbers 11:7). Its taste is said to have been like that of honey or of fresh oil (Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:8). Since the experience of taste and color is somewhat subjective, these descriptions do not necessarily conflict. The word comes from the Hebrew “man,” which means “what?” When the Israelites saw the manna, they asked, “What is it?” (Exodus 16:15).
Attempts have been made to link manna with substances discovered by modern travelers in Sinai and Arabia. In early summer (June-July) the tamarisk tree in these regions exudes a sweet-tasting liquid, produced as the result of the activity of a tiny insect. This liquid falls to the ground, where it forms small grains that disappear when the sun gets hot. Reference also has been made to an edible lichen that in parts of southwest Asia is used instead of grain in years of famine. But the regularity and abundance of the manna cannot be explained on any but miraculous grounds. The Israelites were to gather it for one day at a time. Anything collected above that measure was subject to spoiling (Exodus 16:20). Only the Sabbath day was an exception to that rule. Manna was no longer provided after Israel entered Canaan (Joshua 5:12). When the people of Israel craved other food besides manna, they were punished with an excess of quail (Numbers 11:4-6, 18-20). In poetic literature it was called “the grain of heaven” (Psalms 78:24; compare with 105:40), and “the bread of angels” (78:25). Jesus pointed to himself as the true manna, the bread from heaven, which, when eaten, would nourish man unto life everlasting (see John 6:25-59).