Heavenly manna as a sign of the word of God

Wisdom  16 : 24 - 29

IECOT edition (2019, Kohlhammer)

For the creation, obeying

you (God) who made it,

becomes hard to punish

the unjust and softens

in favor of those who trust

in you.  At that time too,

therefore, adapting itself

to everything, it was at the

service of your gift, (GREEK

dorea )  which

nourishes all, according to

the desire of those who had need,

so that your sons, whom you

love, o Lord, might learn

that it is not different kinds of

fruits that nourish people,

but that your word protects

those who trust in you.

For what was not destroyed in

fire

melted, when simply heated by

a fleeting ray of the sun,

so that it might be known that 

one must rise before the sun

to give you thanks (GREEK

eu-charistia)

and pray to you at the dawning

of the light. [Psalm 57:9 MT]

But the hope of the ungrateful will

melt like the frost in winter and seep

away like useless water.

______________________________

The richness of the theme of the manna presented

here is found again in the New Testament: the

discourse on the bread of life (Gospel of John ch.6)

and Apostle Paul's reflections on the Exodus

events (I Corinthians 10: 1-6) where he mentioned

a "spiritual food". . .This passage has an important

future in interpretation of the ancient church 

and its liturgical tradition, read as an image

and symbol of the Eucharistic tradition.