Sin was a barren Defart, not capable of fupplying them with Provifion, which as foon as they felt the want of, they were ready to mutiny, and moft paffionately wifhed themselves in Egypt again (d): But God was here pleased miraculously to relieve them by great Flights of Quails, a fort of Birds very common upon the Coasts of the Arabian or Red-Sea (e), and befides sending thefe, He rained them Bread from Heaven: Every Morning, when the Dew was off, there lay a small round Thing as small as the boar Froft upon the Ground (f) it was like Coriander Seed of a white Colour, and the Tafte of it was like Wafers made with Honey (g):

(d) xvi. 3. (e) Jofeph. Antiq. 1. 3. c. 1. Athenæus Deipnof. 1. 9. (f) Exodus xvi. 13, 14. (g) The Hebrew Writers have had various Conceits about the Taste of Manna, fome of them perhaps deduced from fome Expreffions in the Book of Wisdom. That Apocryphal Author fays of the Manna, that it was able to content every Man's Delight, agreeing to every Tafte, and that serving to the Appetite of the Eater it tempered itself to every Man's liking. Wisdom xvi. 20, 21. Lyra, from the Rabbins, reprefents, that it had the Tafle of any fort of Fish or Fowl according to the Wish of him that eat it; but then with St. Augustin he reftrains the Privilege of finding in the Manna the Taste of what they most loved, to the Righteous only. The Authors of Talmud Joma and Lib. Zohar fay, the Manna had all forts of Tafes, except the Taftes of the Plants and Sallads which grew in Egypt; but there is no End of purfuing or refuting the Fancies of thefe Writers. Mofes fays of the Manna bere in Exodus, that its Tafte was like Wafers made with Honey. In Numbers xi. 8. he fays, the Cakes made of it had the Taste of fresh Oil; fo that we may conjecture, that it bad a fweetnefs when gathered, which evaporated in the grinding, beating and baking: It tasted like Honey when taken off the Ground, but the Cakes made of it, were as Cakes of Bread kneaded with Oil. The Ifraelites used it as a fort of Bread, they had the Quails inflead of Flef, Exodus xvi. 12. Numb. xi. The Manna is represented to have had no high Tafle, Numbers xi. 5. and we have not any Hint from Mofes of its being fo variously delightfome to the Palate, as the Author of the Book of Wisdom feems to fuggeft.

the

the Ifraelites when they faw it, knew not what it was, and therefore asked one another No Man bua, for they are two Hebrew Words, and fignify what is this? Man fignifies what and Hua this, and not knowing what Name to give it, they called it Man, or What, i. e. is it, ever after (b).

The Ifraelites were ordered, every Head of a Family, to gather as many Omers (i) of this Manna every Morning as He had Perfons in his Family (k); but as they went out to gather without taking Measures with them, it so happened, that fome gathered more than their Quantity, and fome lefs; but they corrected this before they carried their Gatherings home; for they measured what they had gathered with an Omer, and he that had gathered more than his Quantity, gave to him that had gathered lefs, fo that every one had his juft Quantity made up, and no more: The Words of the 18th Verse, as our English Verfion renders them, feem to imply, that God was here pleased miraculously to adjust the feveral Quantities that were gathered. We tranflate the Place, The Children of Ifrael gathered fome more, fome lefs, and when they did mete it with an Omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that

(b) Our English Word Manna, Exod. xvi. 15. Seems to intimate, that the Ifraelites put the two Words Man hua together, as the name of this Food; but they used but one of them; for they called it Man and not Manhua. See Exod. xvi. 15, 31, 35. Numb. xi. 6, 7, 9. Deut. viii. 3, 16. Joshua v. 12. Nehem. ix. 20. Pfalm. lxxviii. 24, &c. (i) An Omer is the tenth Part of an Ephah, probably about three Pints and a half of our Measure. (k) Exod. xvi. 16.

gathered

gathered little had no lack; which Words may be thought to hint, that God was pleased miraculously so to order it, that when they came to measure, the Store of him that had gathered too much was diminished to the exact Number of Omers which he was to have, and the defective Quantity of him, that had not gathered his due Quantity, was miraculously increased to the just Measure of what He was to have gathered; fo that he that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack, the divine Providence caufing the Quantity which every one had gathered, to anfwer exactly to the appointed Measure. Jofephus, I think, took this to be the Fact (kk); But 1. to what Purpose could it be for God to command the People to gather an Omer for each Perfon, if He defigned miraculously fo to order it, that let them gather what they would, they should find their Gatherings amount to an exact Omer, neither more nor lefs? 2. The Words of Mofes, if rightly tranflated, exprefs the Fact to have been very different from this Reprefentation of it. The Word, which we tranflate had nothing over, fhould be rendered (1) He made to have nothing over, and in like manner the Word tranflated had no Lack, fhould be rendered He caused to have no Lack, and Mofes was the Person who thus ordered it, and the 17, 18

(kk) Jofeph. Antiq. lib. 3. c. 1, § 6. (1) This is the true Senfe of the Hebrew Verbs in the Conjugation they are here used in. in the Conjugation Kal fignifies to abound or to have over, but

in Hiphil is to caufe to abound: Thus D in Kal fignifies, to fall fhort or to want, but DM in Hiphil is to diminish, or to cause to want. See Ifaiah xxxii. 6.

and

and 19 Verses should be word for word thus tranflated.

Ver. 17. And the Children of Ifrael did fo, and gathered fome more, fome lefs.

Ver. 18. And they measured with an Omer, and Mofes (m) caufed him that had more, not to abound, and him that had lefs, not to fall short, [for they gathered, each one according to (n) his eating]

Ver. 19. the morning.

And said, Let no man leave of it till

So that the Fact here was, that Mofes directed them to give to one another, they that had more than their measure, to make up what was wanting to them that had lefs, that all might have their full Quantity, and no more. 3. St. Paul very plainly intimates this to have been the Fact, by alluding to what the Ifraelites here did with their Manna, in order to induce the Corinthians to contribute a Relief to the poorer Chriftians, fuch as the Corinthians could at that Time well fpare out of their Abundance. I mean not (lays he), that other Men be eafed and you burthened, but by an Equality, that now at this Time your Abundance may be a Supply for their Want, that their Abundance also may be a Supply for your

(m) In the Hebrew Text, Mofes the Nominative Cafe to three Verbs, is put after the Laft, a Conftruction very common in the ancient Languages. (n) The Words, They gathered each one according to his eating, are a Remark by way of Parenthefis, to give a Reafon for what Mofes directed. He caufed them that had over much, to give to them that had less than they were to have, because they gathered, as we fay, from Hand to Mouth, and it would have been of no Service to have laid up what they had to Spare.

Want,

Want, that there may be an Equality, as it is written, He that had gathered much, had nothing over, and He that had gathered little, bad no Lack (o).

Another order given the Ifraelites about the Manna was, that they were every Day to eat what they had gathered, and to leave none all Night for the next Day's Provifion (p). Some of the People were not strictly careful in this Point, but left fome of their Manna until the Morning, and it bred Worms and ftank (q). Every fixth Day, they were to gather twice as much as on any other Days, because the seventh Day was the Sabbath, and on that Day they were to gather no Manna, nor do any fort of Work (r), and accordingly on the feventh Day there fell no Manna; for there went out some of the People to gather but they found none (s); and what remained of the double Quantity which the People gathered on the fixth Day, and referved for the feventh, did not ftink, neither was there any Worm therein, tho' if any Part of any other Day's Gathering was not eaten on the Day it was gathered in, it would not keep nor be fit to be eaten on the Day following (t): Thus miraculously did God feed the People in the Wilderness for about forty Years; for they had this fupply of Manna, until they came unto the Borders of the Land of Canaan (u).