mat´a - na ( מתּנה , mattānāh ; Codex Vaticanus, Μανθαναείν , Manthanaeı́n ; Codex Alexandrinus, Μανθανείν , Manthaneı́n ): A station of the Israelites which seems to have lain between Beer and Nahaliel ( Numbers 21:18 f). The name means "gift," and might not inappropriately be applied to a well in the wilderness (Budde translates "Out of the desert a gift"; see The Expository Times, VI, 482). Some would therefore identify it with Beer. This is improbable. There is now no clue to the place, but it must have lain Southwest of the Dead Sea.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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