Editing Manna (section)

==Description==

=== Biblical narrative ===
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], manna is described twice: once in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 16:1–36 with the full narrative surrounding it, and once again in [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] 11:1–9 as a part of a separate narrative. In the description in the Book of Exodus, manna is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the [[Ground frost|frost on the ground]].<ref name="e1614">{{bibleverse||Exodus|16:14|HE}}.</ref> It is described in the Book of Numbers as arriving with the [[dew]] during the night.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|11:9|HE}}.</ref> Exodus adds that it had to be collected before it was melted by the heat of the [[Sun]],<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|16:21|HE}}.</ref> and that it was like a [[coriander seed]] in size, but white in colour.<ref name="autogenerated10">{{bibleverse||Exodus|16:31|HE}}.</ref>

Numbers describes it as having the appearance of [[bdellium]],<ref name="autogenerated4">{{bibleverse||Numbers|11:7|HE}} However, commentators such as John Gill prefer to interpret the Hebrew word {{script/Hebrew|בדולח}} ''bəḏōlaḥ'', usually translated "bdellium", as a reference to a white precious stone ([http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/numbers-11-7.html John Gill, Commentary on Numbers 11:7]). Others translate the word as "[[Gum (botany)|gum]] [[resin]]," "[[hoar frost]]," "[[pearl]]" or "[[amber]]." ([https://biblehub.com/numbers/11-7.htm BibleHub])</ref> adding that the [[Israelites]] ground it and pounded it into cakes, which were then baked, resulting in something that tasted like cakes baked with oil.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|11:8|HE}}.</ref> Exodus states that raw manna tasted like wafers that had been made with honey.<ref name=autogenerated10/> The Israelites were instructed to eat only the manna they had gathered for each day. Stored manna "bred worms and stank",<ref name="autogenerated1">{{bibleverse||Exodus|16:20|HE}}.</ref> the exception being that stored the day before the [[Sabbath]] (Preparation Day), when twice the amount of manna was gathered. This manna did not spoil overnight. Exodus 16:23–24 states:<blockquote>This is what the {{LORD}} commanded: "Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the {{LORD}}. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning". So they saved it until morning, as [[Moses]] commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.<ref>Bible, New International Version.</ref></blockquote>

===Quranic narrative===
The word ''mana'' appears three times in the [[Quran]], at 2:57, 7:160, and 20:80.<ref name="Rippin2017">{{cite book|last=Rippin|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Rippin|title=Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szlGDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA308|access-date=6 April 2017|date=24 April 2017|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-96480-4|page=308}}</ref> It is narrated in ''[[Sahih Muslim]]'' that [[Muhammad]] said: "[[Terfeziaceae|Truffles]] are part of the 'manna' which God sent to the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel|people of Israel]] through [[Moses in Islam|Moses]], and its juice is a medicine for the eye."<ref>Hadith:https://sunnah.com/mishkat:4569</ref>

===Identification===
[[Image:Pine branch with Marchalina hellenica honeydew.jpg|thumb|Pine branch with ''[[Marchalina hellenica]]'' honeydew]]
[[Image:Tamarix gallica bloemen.jpg|thumb|''[[Tamarix gallica]]'']]
''“Mann”'' or “المَنّ” or “ّمَن” in lexicon, according to some, refers to small droplets like dew that settle on trees and have a sweet taste. Others describe it as a type of sap or tree resin with a sweet flavor, sometimes sweet with a hint of sourness. According to a narration from Muhammad, ''“mann”'' was edible mushrooms that grew in {{Clarify|text=that land|date=May 2025|reason=which land?}} {{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}.

Some have also said that ''“mann”'' refers to all the blessings that God bestowed upon the Children of Israel as a divine favor {{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}.

Alternatively, it has been interpreted as a type of natural honey found in the mountains near that desert, or an energizing syrup derived from specific plants that grew in scattered parts of the wilderness.<sup><small>[10/2]</small></sup>

In the biblical account, the name Manna is said to derive from the "question" ''man hu?'' ({{langx|he|מן הוא|mān hū}}), seemingly meaning "What is it?",<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|16:15|HE}}.</ref> which is perhaps derived from [[Aramaic]], not [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].<ref name="Nelson-1962" /> ''Man'' is possibly cognate with the [[Arabic]] term ''man'' ({{lang|ar|من}}), meaning [[aphid]]s, with ''man hu'' thus meaning "this is aphids",<ref name="Nelson-1962" /> which fits one widespread modern identification of manna as the crystallized [[honeydew (secretion)|honeydew]] of certain [[scale insect]]s.<ref name="Nelson-1962" /> 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.<ref name="Nelson-1962" />

In particular, there is a scale insect that feeds on [[tamarisk]], the Tamarisk manna scale (''[[Trabutina mannipara]]''), the secretions of which are often considered to be the prime candidate for biblical manna.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581818/tamarisk-manna-scale |title=Tamarisk manna scale – insect |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> At the turn of the twentieth century, [[Arabs]] of the [[Sinai Peninsula]] were selling this substance as ''man es-simma من السما'', roughly meaning "heavenly manna".<ref name="Seligsohn-1906"/> Tamarisk trees (particularly ''[[Tamarix gallica]]'') were once comparatively extensive throughout the southern Sinai, and the honeydew produced by the Tamarisk manna scale is similar to wax, melts in the sun, is sweet and aromatic (like honey), and has a dirty-yellow color, fitting somewhat with the biblical descriptions of manna.<ref name="Lefrak">{{cite news |last1=Lefrak |first1=Mikaela |title=Is this biblical food the next foodie fad? This chef thinks so |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/is-this-biblical-food-the-next-foodie-fad-this-chef-thinks-so/2018/08/03/1f2cafa2-8b60-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html |access-date=8 August 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=7 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="Biblica-1902"/><ref name="Nelson-1962">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/peakescommentary00blac/page/224/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Peake's Commentary on the Bible |date=1962 |publisher=T. Nelson |editor1-last=Black |editor1-first=M. |pages=224–225 |editor2-last=Rowley |editor2-first=H. H. |url-access=registration}}</ref> However, being mostly composed of [[sugar]], it would be unlikely to provide sufficient nutrition for a population to survive over long periods of time,<ref name="Biblica-1902">{{cite book |title=Encyclodaedia Biblica |date=1902 |publisher=MacMillan and Company |editor1-last=Cheyne |editor1-first=T. K. |volume=3 |pages=2929–2930 |chapter=Manna |editor2-last=Black |editor2-first=J. S. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/Encyclopaedia_Biblica_Vol_I_to_IV/EncyclodaediaBiblica_Vol_III/page/n139}}</ref> and it would be very difficult for it to have been compacted into cakes.<ref>{{harvnb|Black|Rowley|1962|page=259}}.</ref>

Another type of honeydew is [[Quercus cerris|turkey oak]] manna, also called [[Persian language|Persian]] ''gezengevi''-gezo, ''men'', [[Turkish language|Turkish]] ''kudret helvasi'', ''man-es-simma'', also [[Diarbekir]] manna, or [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] manna. It is formed by aphids and appears white. It was common in western Iran, northern Iraq and eastern Turkey. When dried it forms into crystalline lumps which are hard and look like stone. They are pounded before inclusion in breads.<ref>"Sherbet & Spice: The complete story of Turkish sweets & desserts" by Mary Isin, publisher I.B. Tauris, {{ISBN|9781848858985}}.</ref>

Some scholars have proposed that manna is cognate with the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] term ''mennu'' ([[wikt:mnw#Etymology 2|''mnw'']]), which designated a substance that figured in offerings; a white aromatic plant that smelled of [[wikt:ꜥntjw|''antiu'']] (possibly [[myrrh]]).<ref>Georg Ebers, [https://archive.org/details/durchgosenzumsi00ebergoog/page/n252 ''Durch Gosen zum Sinai''], p. 226, Paul Pierret, [https://archive.org/details/vocabulairehir00pier/page/n219 ''Vocabulaire hiéroglyphique''], p. 212.</ref><ref>James P. Allen (2010). ''Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs'', 2nd edition, Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], →ISBN, pages 171, 257.</ref>

Other researchers have believed manna to be a form of [[lichen]]{{snd}} a plant-like colony that often has a low mass per unit volume density and a large "sail area". In particular, ''[[Lecanora|Lecanora esculenta]]'' has been postulated. Known natural aerial falls of various lichens have been described as occurring in accounts separate from that in the Bible. "In some parts of Asia ''Lecanora esculenta'' covers the soil to such a degree that, according to Parrot, it forms beds 15 to 20 centimetres thick."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/lichen/case-studies/diyarbakir-manna.html |title=Diyarbakir's heavenly bread – Lichen Case Studies |website=www.anbg.gov.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/lichen/case-studies/manna-lichens.html |title=Manna Lichens – Lichen Case Studies |website=www.anbg.gov.au}}</ref>

In 1921, the American consul in [[Jerusalem]] reported to the American government that he had identified manna as a "form of dew" that "hardens and assumes the form of a grain" when it falls on the leaves of oak trees.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tells of Modern Manna |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/03/24/98657938.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120030611/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/03/24/98657938.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-20 |url-status=live |access-date=24 March 2021 |work=The New York Times |volume=LXX|issue=23,070 |date=24 March 1921 |page=4}}</ref>

===Differences===
[[Image:Frostw.jpg|thumb|[[Hoarfrost]] on grass lawn. Manna is described as white and comparable to hoarfrost in colour.]]
Some [[form critic]]s posit conflicting descriptions of manna as derived from different lore, with the description in Numbers being from the [[Jahwist]] tradition, and the description in Exodus being from the later [[Priestly source|Priestly tradition]].<ref name="Nelson-1962"/><ref name="Hirsch-1906"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hirsch |first1=E. G. |last2=Seligsohn |first2=M. |last3=Barton |first3=G. A. |date=1906 |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11617-numbers-book-of |title=Numbers, Book of |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com}}</ref> The [[Babylonian Talmud]] states that the differences in description were due to the taste varying depending on who ate it, with it tasting like [[honey]] for small children, like [[bread]] for youths, and like [[Olive oil|oil]] for the elderly.<ref>[[Yoma]] 75b.</ref> Similarly, [[classical rabbinical literature]] rectifies the question of whether manna came before or after dew, by holding that the manna was sandwiched between two layers of dew, one falling before the manna, and the other after.<ref name="Seligsohn-1906"/><ref name="Hirsch-1906"/>