Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.
Parallel translations
- WEB The manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium.
- KJV And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
- BSB Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin.
- NASB Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.
- NLT The manna looked like small coriander seeds, and it was pale yellow like gum resin.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The text describes the manna's appearance, underscoring it as a real, tangible gift. God's provision was concrete and recognizable.
Overview
A brief description of the manna—like coriander seed, with the look of bdellium—affirms its reality and consistency. The detail rebukes the people's contempt by reminding the reader of the daily miracle they dismissed. It also prepares for the comparison Jesus draws between this perishable bread and himself, the bread that endures (John 6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Exod 16:31The house of Israel called its name Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.
- Gen 2:12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there.
- Exod 16:14–15When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.
- 1 Cor 1:23–24but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 11:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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