(Exodus 16:16-18, 33; Deuteronomy 8:3, 16). It fell for the first time after
the eighth encampment in the desert of Sin, and was daily furnished,
except on the Sabbath, for all the years of the wanderings, till they
encamped at Gilgal, after crossing the Jordan, when it suddenly ceased, and
where they “did eat of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of
Israel manna any more” (Joshua 5:12). They now no longer needed the
“bread of the wilderness.”
This manna was evidently altogether a miraculous gift, wholly different
from any natural product with which we are acquainted, and which bears
this name. The manna of European commerce comes chiefly from Calabria
and Sicily. It drops from the twigs of a species of ash during the months of
June and July. At night it is fluid and resembles dew, but in the morning it
begins to harden. The manna of the Sinaitic peninsula is an exudation from
the “manna-tamarisk” tree (Tamarix mannifera), the el-tarfah of the Arabs.
This tree is found at the present day in certain well-watered valleys in the
peninsula of Sinai. The manna with which the people of Israel were fed for
forty years differs in many particulars from all these natural products.
Our Lord refers to the manna when he calls himself the “true bread from
heaven” (John 6:31-35; 48-51). He is also the “hidden manna” (Revelation
2:17; comp. John 6:49,51).
- MANOAH rest, a Danite, the father of Samson (Judges 13:1-22, and
14:2-4). - MAN OF SIN a designation of Antichrist given in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10,
usually regarded as descriptive of the Papal power; but “in whomsoever
these distinctive features are found, whoever wields temporal and spiritual
power in any degree similar to that in which the man of sin is here
described as wielding it, he, be he pope or potentate, is beyond all doubt a
distinct type of Antichrist.” - MANSLAYER one who was guilty of accidental homicide, and was
entitled to flee to a city of refuge (Numbers 35:6, 12, 22, 23), his
compulsory residence in which terminated with the death of the high
priest. (See CITY OF REFUGE.) - MANTLE (1.) Hebrews ‘addereth, a large over-garment. This word is used
of Elijah’s mantle (1 Kings 19:13, 19; 2 Kings 2:8, 13, etc.), which was
probably a sheepskin. It appears to have been his only garment, a strip of