Exodus 16:15 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

They said one to another, It is manna, &c.— There is a seeming contradiction in our version: we read, They said, it is manna; and yet, in the next clause, it is added, for they wist not what it was. The rendering in the margin of our Bibles is more just: They said one to another, What is it? הוא מן man hu? quid hoc? what is this? In allusion to which, and to commemorate the universal surprise and doubt respecting this celestial food, they called it by the name of מן man, manna, Exodus 16:31. And in this interpretation all the ancient versions agree. This manna fell with the dew, which being exhaled by the heat of the sun, Exodus 16:14 the manna then appeared upon the face of the ground. The sun, as the heat of it increased, melted also the manna, Exodus 16:21. In Numbers 2:9, it is said, the manna fell upon the dew, which might more properly be rendered the manna fell with the dew, עליו alau. (See Noldius, in על, 9.) The Vulgate renders it descendebat pariter et man, and the manna equally descended. As to its size, it is described as a small round thing (a mode of expression which evidently proves what we have before observed, that it was something new to them: something, whereof they knew not either the name or nature. Indeed, Moses expressly asserts that they did not, Deuteronomy 8:3 where he calls it manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know). It was as small as the hoar-frost upon the ground: and still further in Exodus 16:31 it is said to be like coriander-seed for roundness and size; and for colour, it is said to have been white: or, as in Numbers 11:7, of the colour of bdellium, which, according to Bochart, was a kind of pearl. See Genesis 2:12. Its taste is said to be like wafers made with honey; and, in Numbers 11:8 as the taste of fresh oil. It is to be observed, that it is spoken of in Numbers as prepared and baked; but here, as it first fell; and therefore the sweetness which it had, when eaten fresh, may be supposed to have evaporated when baked, &c. See Wis 16:20-21 the author of which, following perhaps some Jewish traditions, asserts, that it suited itself to every man's taste; which may be so far true, that, as the Almighty designed it for a general food, so it was in general pleasing, as is the case with bread.