Why It Was Called Manna and How the Manna Settled Disputes

"And the house of Israel called its name manna" (Exodus 16:31). The interpreters of marked words say: Israel called it manna. "And it was like coriander seed" (Exodus 16:31) — you do not know of what. Rabbi Yehoshua said: you must say, like flaxseed. Or, just as flaxseed is red, perhaps it too was red? Scripture teaches: white. Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'in says: it resembled an aggadah [a teaching], which draws a person's heart. Rabbi Yose says: it told about itself that it was manna, for it did not come down on Sabbaths, nor on festivals, nor on the Day of Atonement. Others say: just as the prophet declares to Israel the hidden chambers and secrets, so the manna declared to them the hidden chambers and secrets. How so? If a woman sinned against her husband, she says, he sinned against me, and he says, she sinned against me. They come before Moses for judgment, and he says to them: in the morning there will be a verdict. In the morning, if her portion of manna was found in her husband's house, it is known that she sinned against him; and if her portion of manna was found in her father's house, it is known that he sinned against her. Likewise one who sells a slave to his fellow: this one says, I bought him, and the other says, I did not sell. They come before Moses for judgment, and he says: in the morning there will be a verdict. In the morning, if the slave's portion of manna was found in the house of the first master, it is known that he was not sold; and if his portion was found in the house of the second master, it is known that he was bought. "And its taste was like a wafer in honey" (Exodus 16:31). Rabbi Yehoshua says: like a thin cake with sweet pastry. Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'in says: like fine flour that floats on top of a sieve, kneaded with honey and butter.