◄ Numbers 11:7 ►
Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin.
Study Bible
Now the manna
The term "manna" is derived from the Hebrew word "מָן" (man), which is believed to be a question meaning "What is it?" This reflects the Israelites' initial reaction to this miraculous provision from God. Manna symbolizes God's faithful provision and care for His people during their wilderness journey. It serves as a reminder of God's ability to provide for our needs in unexpected ways, encouraging believers to trust in His provision even when circumstances seem dire.

resembled coriander seed
The Hebrew word for "coriander" is "גַּד" (gad), which refers to a small, round seed. Coriander is a spice known for its aromatic qualities, and its mention here provides a tangible description of the manna's physical characteristics. This comparison helps readers visualize the manna, emphasizing its smallness and simplicity. Spiritually, it suggests that God's provisions, though they may appear humble or ordinary, are sufficient and perfectly suited to meet our needs.

and its appearance was like that of gum resin
The phrase "gum resin" translates from the Hebrew "בְּדֹלַח" (bedolach), which is often associated with a precious, translucent substance, possibly similar to bdellium. This description highlights the manna's unique and divine origin, setting it apart from ordinary food. The comparison to a precious resin suggests that God's gifts, while meeting basic needs, also possess a beauty and value that transcend their immediate utility. This encourages believers to appreciate the divine nature of God's provisions and to recognize the beauty in His care for us.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites, who is responsible for guiding them through the wilderness and interceding on their behalf with God.

2. The Israelites
The people of God who are journeying from Egypt to the Promised Land, experiencing God's provision and testing in the wilderness.

3. Manna
The miraculous food provided by God to sustain the Israelites during their journey in the wilderness. It is described in this verse in terms of its appearance and texture.

4. Wilderness of Sinai
The desert region where the Israelites are traveling and where they receive the manna from God.

5. Coriander Seed
A spice that is used to describe the appearance of manna, indicating its small, round shape.
Teaching Points
God's Provision
Manna is a symbol of God's daily provision and care for His people. Just as He provided for the Israelites, He provides for our needs today.

Contentment and Gratitude
The Israelites' experience with manna teaches us the importance of being content and grateful for God's provision, rather than longing for what we do not have.

Spiritual Nourishment
Manna serves as a foreshadowing of Christ, the true bread from heaven. We are reminded to seek spiritual nourishment through a relationship with Jesus.

Faith in God's Timing
The daily provision of manna required the Israelites to trust God for their needs each day. We are called to have faith in God's timing and provision in our lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the description of manna in Numbers 11:7 help us understand the nature of God's provision for the Israelites?

2. In what ways can we see parallels between the manna provided to the Israelites and Jesus as the "bread of life" in John 6?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's provision in your life. How did it impact your faith and trust in Him?

4. How can we cultivate a heart of gratitude and contentment in our daily lives, especially when we are tempted to complain or desire more?

5. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are seeking spiritual nourishment from God's Word and presence daily?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 16
This chapter provides the initial account of God providing manna to the Israelites, detailing its collection and use.

John 6
Jesus refers to Himself as the "bread of life," drawing a parallel to the manna provided in the wilderness, emphasizing spiritual sustenance.

Psalm 78
This psalm recounts the history of Israel, including God's provision of manna, highlighting His faithfulness despite the people's rebellion.
Sermons
Murmuring, Lusting, and LoathingD. Young Numbers 11:1-9
The Complainers, and How God Made Answer to Their ComplaintsW. Binnie Numbers 11:4-15; 31-35
People
Eldad, Israelites, Joshua, Medad, Moses, Nun
Places
Egypt, Hazeroth, Kibroth-hattaavah, Paran, Taberah
Topics
Appearance, Aspect, Bdellium, Bdolach, Clear, Color, Coriander, Coriander-seed, Drops, Grain, Manna, Resin, Seed, Thereof
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Numbers 11:7

     4466   herbs and spices

Numbers 11:4-9

     1330   God, the provider

Numbers 11:4-10

     6218   provoking God

Numbers 11:4-34

     4438   eating

Numbers 11:6-9

     4474   manna

Numbers 11:7-8

     5187   taste

Library
April 12. "They were as it Were, Complainers" (Num. xi. 1).
"They were as it were, complainers" (Num. xi. 1). There is a very remarkable phrase in the book of Numbers, in the account of the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It reads like this: "When the people, as it were, murmured." Like most marginal readings it is better than the text, and a great world of suggestive truth lies back of that little sentence. In the distance we may see many a vivid picture rise before our imagination of people who do not dare to sin openly and unequivocally, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Deaf Stammerer Healed and Four Thousand Fed.
^A Matt. XV. 30-39; ^B Mark VII. 32-VIII. 9. ^b 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech [The man had evidently learned to speak before he lost his hearing. Some think that defective hearing had caused the impediment in his speech, but verse 35 suggests that he was tongue-tied]; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue [He separated …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Baptist's Testimony.
"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.... John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. For of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

False Ambition Versus Childlikeness.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 1-14; ^B Mark IX. 33-50; ^C Luke IX. 46-50. ^c 46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. ^b 33 And he came to Capernaum: ^c 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, ^b and when he was in the house [probably Simon Peter's house] he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34 But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. [The Lord with his disciples was …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified."--John vii. 39. We have come to the most difficult part in the discussion of the work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the tenth day after the ascension. In the treatment of this subject it is not our aim to create a new interest in the celebration of Pentecost. We consider this almost impossible. Man's nature is too unspiritual for this. But we shall reverently endeavor to give a clearer insight …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Third Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 9, 24-27; 10, 1-5. 24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2. …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 22-37; ^B Mark III. 19-30; ^C Luke XI. 14-23. ^b 19 And he cometh into a house. [Whose house is not stated.] 20 And the multitude cometh together again [as on a previous occasion--Mark ii. 1], so that they could not so much as eat bread. [They could not sit down to a regular meal. A wonderful picture of the intense importunity of people and the corresponding eagerness of Jesus, who was as willing to do as they were to have done.] 21 And when his friends heard it, they went …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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