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it from its mineral taste; which most probably was given it from the very earth, against which they must thus dash it? But it is needless to refute at large this fancy of Josephus.

The writer of the Book of Ecclesiasticus hints a different reason for the cure of those bitter waters; who suggests, that the wood which Moses was directed to use, had naturally a medicinal virtue to correct the taste of the waters at Marah. Was not, says he, the water made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be known 21 But I cannot think, that the opinion of this writer can be admitted: for 1. It does not seem probable, that Moses here used a whole and large tree; rather he took a little bough, such as he himself put into the water, and immediately the taste of the waters changed. 2. If it could be thought, that Moses employed the people to take down a very large tree, and convey it into the water; can we suppose, that even the largest tree, steeped in a lake, should immediately communicate a sufficient quantity of its natural sweetness, to correct the taste of water, enough for the occasions of so many hundred thousands of people? But 3. We have great reason to think, that there was no tree in these parts of this virtue. Had there been such a one, after the virtue of it was thus known, especially Moses having recorded this his use of it; it would certainly have been much used by others, and as much enquired after by the

Ecclus. xxxviii. 5.

naturalists. But though Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Pliny have all remarked, that there were bitter waters in these parts of the world; yet they knew of no trees of a medicinal quality to correct their taste.Pliny tells us of a method afterwards invented to meliorate the taste of such waters; but though he has treated largely of the powers and virtues of trees and plants, and particularly the trees in these parts of the world; yet he never heard of any of this sort, and therefore undoubtedly there were not any. The author of Ecclesiasticus was a very learned man, and had given himself much to reading the writings of his fathers; and had carefully collected their sen timents, to which he added some observations of his own;" and this seems to have been his own. Had it been a received opinion of the Jewish writers; I think Josephus would have had it; or had there really been a tree of this nature, the heathen naturalists would have observed it. But from their entire silence, I imagine that the author of Ecclesiasticus, speculating in the chapter where we find this hint, upon the medicines which Gon had created out of the earth, suggested this hint purely from his own fancy, without any authority for it. The Book of

Nitrosa aut amara aquæ polentâ addità mitigantur, ut intra duas horas bibi possint. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 24. c. 1. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 24. per tot. lib.

Ibid. c. 12.

* Ecclus. xxxviii, 4.

"Prologue to Ecclus.

Ecclesiasticus is but a modern composition, in comparison of Moses' writings, being first published in Egypt about one hundred and thirty-two years before CHRIST; and being published in Egypt was much read by the Jews of Alexandria. Accordingly Philo, who lived there about our Saviour's time, was acquainted with the opinion of this author; but he very justly doubts the truth of it, and queries whether the wood here used, had naturally, (or whether God was pleased to give it) its virtue for this particular occasion.*

From Marah the Israelites removed to a place, where they found twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees. this, is described by Strabo, called Elim. From hence after marched first to the Red Sea ;

A place not unlike which the Israelites some days' rest, they perhaps to the very

C

place where they came over out of Egypt, and from thence they went into the wilderness of Sin, on the fifteenth day of the second month, after their departing out of the land of Egypt, i.e. exactly a month after their leaving Egypt; for they left Egypt soon after midnight of the fourteenth day of the first month. The wilderness of Sin was a barren desart,

Prideaux Connect. part ii, b. i, vol. iii, p. 62. * Philo de vitâ Mosis, lib. 1.

• Φοινίκωνα είναι ενυδρον, τιμασθαι τε κομίδη, δια το πασαν την

κυκλω καυματῆραν τε, και ανυδρον, και ασκιον υπαρχειν. Strabo. b Numb. xxxiii. 10.

Geog. lib. 16, p. 776.

Exod. xvi. 1.

Ibid. v. 12.

not capable to supply them with provision; which as soon as they felt the want of, they were ready to mu tiny, and most passionately wished themselves in Egypt again. But God was here pleased miraculously to relieve them, by great flights of quails, a sort of birds very common upon the coasts of the Arabian, or Red Sea; and besides sending these, he rained them bread from heaven. Every morning when the dew was off, there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost upon the ground," which was like coriander seed of a white colour, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." When the Israelites saw

•Exodus xvi. 3. Athenæus Deipnos. lib. 9.

Joseph. Antiq. lib. 3. c, 1.
Exod. xvi. 13, 14.

The Hebrew writers have had various conceits about the taste of manna; some of them perhaps deduced from some expressions in the Book of Wisdom. That Apocryphal author says of the manna, that it was able to content every man's delight, agreeing to every taste, and that serving to the appetite of the eater, it tempered itself to every man's liking. Wisdom xvi. 20, 21. Lyra, from the Rabbins, represents, that it had the taste of any sort of fish or fowl according to the wish of him who ate it: but then with St. Augustine he restrains the privilege of finding in the manna the taste of what they most loved, to the righteous only. The authors of Talmud Joma, and Lib. Zohar say, the manna had all sorts of tastes, except the tastes of the plants and sallads which grew in Egypt; but there is no end of pursuing or refuting the fancies of these writers. Moses says of the manna here in Exodus,

it, they knew not what it was, and therefore asked one another man hua; for they are two Hebrew words, and signify what is this? Man signifies what and hua, this and not knowing what name to give it, they called it man, or what, i. e. is it, ever after.'; . The Israelites were ordered, every head of a family, to gather as many omers of this manna every morning as he had persons in his family; but as they went out to gather without taking measures

that its taste was like wafers made with honey. In Numbers xi. 8, he says, the cakes' made of it had the taste of fresh oil; so that we may conjecture, that it had a sweetness when gathered, which evaporated in the grinding, beating and baking. It tasted like honey when taken off the ground, but the cakes made of it, were as cakes of bread, kneaded with oil. The Israelites used it as a sort of bread, they had the quails instead of flesh, Exodus xvi. 12. Numb. xi. The manna is represented to have had no high taste, Numb. xi. 5, and we have not any hint from Moses of its being so variously delightsome to the palate, as the author of the Book of Wisdom seems to suggest.

Our English word, manna, Exod. xvi. 15, seems to intimate, that the Israelites put the two words man hua together, as the name of this food; but they used but one of them; for they called it man and not man hua. See Exod. xvi. 15, 31, 35. Numb. xi. 6, 7, 9. Deut. viii. 3. 16. Joshua v. 12. Nehem. ix. 20. Psalm lxxviii. 24, &c.

An omer is the tenth part of an ephah, probably about three pints and a half of our measure.

1 Exodus xvi. 16.

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