After the children of Israel left Egypt, they struggled to trust that God would provide for them, even though God gave them lesson after lesson to show them His miraculous power.
One of those lessons was manna. They were living in a wilderness where no food was to be found. One morning, they saw a “small round thing” on the ground, and they had no idea what it was. So they called it, “what is it?” In the King James version of the Bible, the translators used the word “manna,” because in the original texts, the Hebrew phrase was “man hu.” However, that phrase literally translates to “what is it?” The children of Israel had no idea what that was, but it was all they had to eat, and so they ate it for 40 years.
Manna gives us a lesson in faith. We have to trust in God, even when we have absolutely no understanding of what is happening.
The children of Israel had no faith
Despite God continually showing His power, the children of Israel had no faith. Even after all the plagues, even after they crossed the Red Sea, even after God miraculously cleansed water for them, they feared and continued to doubt that God would deliver them.
No faith after the plagues
After all the plagues, Pharaoh finally allowed Israel to leave Egypt, but then he changed his mind and the armies of the Egyptians pursued the children of Israel to where they were encamped by the sea.1 When the Israelites saw the Egyptians coming, they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”2
Despite the Israelites’ doubts and murmuring, the Lord showed His power by parting the Red Sea and allowing the children of Israel to cross on dry ground.3 The armies of the Egyptians tried to follow, but the water returned and “covered” the Egyptians.4
No faith after crossing the Red Sea
After crossing the Red Sea, they praised the Lord for their deliverance.5 However, after only three days, the children of Israel murmured because they found only “bitter” water. 6The Lord again showed His power, making the water “sweet” by having Moses cast a tree into the water.7
No faith after the water was cleansed
Although they had been delivered from the plagues, although they had crossed the Red Sea, and although they had seen the waters cleansed, they once again murmured when they didn’t have any food:
“Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”8
Despite their murmuring and lack of faith, God again showed His power, giving them “bread from heaven.”9
What is manna?
When the children of Israel saw the manna, they had no idea what it was:
“[I]n the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”10
Next to the term “It is manna” in Exodus 16:15, there is a footnote reference that says, “OR What is it? (HEB man-hu.)” The abbreviation “OR” means, “Alternate words that clarify the meaning of an archaic expression.” (See “Abbreviations” in “Study Helps“). In other words, the word “manna” literally means “what is it?”
“Manna” in other bible translations
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints primarily uses the King James version of the Bible, but has recently identified “other Bible translations . . . that are doctrinally clear and also easier to understand.”11 The new “Holy Bible List” published by the Church references the following versions:
- 9th–11th Grade: English Standard Version (ESV); New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
- 6th–8th Grade: New International Version (NIV); New Living Translation (NLT); New King James Version (NKJV)
- 3rd Grade: New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)12
Reviewing challenging verses in other translations can help us better understand the Bible. In considering the meaning of the term “manna,” Exodus 16:15 is translated slightly differently in each version:
- King James Version: “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”
- English Standard Version: “When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.'”
- New International Version: “When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.'”
- New Living Translation: “The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. ‘What is it?’ they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, ‘It is the food the Lord has given you to eat.'”
- New International Reader’s Version: “The people of Israel saw the flakes. They asked each other, ‘What’s that?’ They didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It’s the bread the Lord has given you to eat.'”
Of all those versions, the King James Version is the only one that uses the word “manna.” All the other modern versions use the phrase “What is it?”
“Manna” literally translates to “what is it?”
A commentary for the Revised English Version contains the following definition for “manna”:
“‘What.’ The Hebrew word for ‘what’ is man, and the Hebrew phrase, man hu, is literally ‘what it?’ or as we would normally say in English, ‘What is it?’ or ‘What is that?’ The Israelites called it ‘man,’ literally “What.” The name ‘manna‘ comes from the Greek, not the Hebrew. It is not clear why English Bibles changed from the Hebrew word man to the Greek word manna. John Wycliffe’s Bible, translated in the late 1300s, reads ‘man.’ William Tyndale’s Pentateuch, done in 1530, also reads ‘man.’ The Geneva Bible, done in 1599, also reads ‘man.’ However, the King James Version of 1611 reads ‘manna.’ It seems likely that the translators used the Greek word manna because calling it ‘man’ might be confusing to some English readers who might think there was some kind of connection between the man that was bread from heaven and human man, adam who was created from the earth in Genesis. The Israelites named the manna “What?” because they did not know what it was (Exod. 16:31).”
What does this have to do with faith?
The Israelites continually failed to trust in God’s power. Despite miracle after miracle, they doubted and murmured. When they hungered, God revealed His power by giving them bread from heaven. They had no idea what this was. So they called it “what?”
Faith in God is all about moving forward without knowledge. “[F]aith is things which are hoped for and not seen.” (Ether 12:6). “[F]aith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things.” (Alma 32:21). But faith is not just “not knowing,” it means to trust or have confidence in God: “[Faith is] [c]onfidence in something or someone. As most often used in the scriptures, faith is confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that lead a person to obey Him. Faith must be centered in Jesus Christ in order for it to lead a person to salvation.” (Bible Dictionary, “Faith”).
Moving forward with faith in Jesus Christ is very much like when the children of Israel were given manna. They had no idea what it was. And we often have no idea what God expects of us. And yet, just as the Israelites had to eat this thing that they couldn’t even define, we often have to experience trials that we don’t want or understand: “[Y]e receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” (Ether 12:6). When Joseph Smith prayed for relief for himself and the Saints while he was locked away in Liberty Jail, the Lord said simply, “[K]now thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” (D&C 122:7).
“Just eat it”
Have you ever had an experience with a child complaining about a meal, and their parent says with frustration, “just eat it.” That seems to me to be the tone the Lord takes with the children of Israel in Exodus 14-16. All they could do was complain. And when they said, “what is it,” Moses just said, “This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.” (Exodus 16:15). When we go through trials, it is natural to ask why, but most often, the Lord doesn’t explain himself; instead, he gives us the information or help we need to get through the trial, or get out of it.
Exodus chapter 16 ends with this statement: “And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.” (Exodus 16:35). It may be that the Lord never gives us answers, and that He instead asks us to trust Him, even for a very long time.
Our need to exercise faith does not end in this mortal life. Early in 1 Nephi we read about Nephi’s faith and mighty works. And even then, as he went forward to try and obtain the brass plates, he said, “And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” (1 Nephi 4:6). Faith means moving forward even though we don’t understand. Faith means trusting in God and His power to deliver us. President Dallin H. Oaks has said, “Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing.”13
So when we ask, “what is it,” or “why is this happening,” we should make the effort to exercise faith and trust in God’s love for us, and His power to deliver.
References
- Exodus 14:5-9. ↩︎
- Exodus 14:11-12. ↩︎
- Exodus 14:19-22. ↩︎
- Exodus 14:26-30. ↩︎
- Exodus 15:1-19. ↩︎
- Exodus 15:22-23. ↩︎
- Exodus 15:25. ↩︎
- Exodus 16:3. ↩︎
- Exodus 16:4. ↩︎
- Exodus 16:13-15. ↩︎
- General Handbook, 38.8.40.1. ↩︎
- Holy Bible Translations, English Versions, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/translations-and-downloads/scriptures/holy-bible?lang=eng&id=p_tMUd1-p_boAPn#p_tMUd1. ↩︎
- Dallin H. Oaks, “The Atonement and Faith,” Ensign, April 2010, 29, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2010/04/the-atonement-and-faith?lang=eng. ↩︎