Joshua 5:12

12. Manna This was always regarded as a miraculous gift directly from God, and not a product of nature. It is described in Exodus 16:14-36, where see notes. It fell upon the encampment six times each week during forty years. As each man had an omer three quarts a day, there must have been 15,000,000 pounds a week. The natural product of the Arabian deserts, the tamarisk-manna, called by the same name, differs in the following particulars: it is purgative, and not nutritious; it is produced only three or four months, and not all the year; it is found in small quantities; it can be kept good for a long time, and is not corrupted by being kept over the Sabbath; nor would a natural product cease at once and forever. It now ceased because it was no more needed. See Joshua 1:11, note.