Bitter Water, Quails, and Manna

Then Moses, rejoicing in the safety of his own people and in the destruction of the enemy by so great a miracle, sang a song of praise to God, and the whole multitude, men and women alike, joined in it. But after they had entered the desert and gone three days’ journey, lack of water distressed them; and when water was found, it was useless because it was bitter. Then for the first time the stubbornness of the impatient people showed itself and broke out against Moses. Following God’s instruction, he threw some wood into the waters, and its power was such that it made the water taste sweet. Moving on from there, the multitude found at Elim twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. [a]

Again the people complained of hunger, heaped reproaches on Moses, and longed for the slavery of Egypt with the plenty that went with it to please their appetites; and then a flock of quails was sent by God and filled the camp. Besides this, on the next day those who went out of the camp saw that the ground was covered with a sort of pods, which looked like coriander seed, snowy white, just as we often see the earth in the winter months covered with a spread of frost. Then the people were told through Moses that this bread had been sent them as God’s gift; that each was to gather, in vessels made ready for the purpose, only as much as would be enough for one day for each, according to their number; but that on the sixth day they should gather twice as much, because it was not lawful to gather it on the Sabbath.

But the people, never inclined to obey, did not hold back their desires, as is the way of human nature, and stored up provision not just for one day but for the next as well. What was stored up in this way swarmed with worms and gave off a dreadful stench; yet what was stored up on the sixth day for the Sabbath stayed quite unspoiled. The Hebrews lived on this food for forty years. Its taste was very like honey, and its name has been handed down as manna. Moreover, as a lasting witness to God’s gift, Moses is said to have stored a full measure of it, about two quarts, in a golden jar.