How the Manna Declared Hidden Verdicts in the Wilderness

"And the manna was like coriander seed (kezera gad)." Do you suppose that those who were saying "and now our soul is dried up" were the ones who said "and the manna is like coriander seed"? No. Rather, the wicked were saying "and now our soul is dried up," and the Holy One, blessed be He, says: Why are these wicked ones complaining? Is not the manna like coriander seed! Similarly you may say: "Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods?" (1 Samuel 4:8), and it says: "These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness" (ibid.). Do you suppose that whoever said this said that? No. Rather, the good ones among them said: "Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods?" But the wicked ones among them said: "These are the gods that smote the Egyptians, etc." — every plague that He was able to bring He has already brought upon the Egyptians, and now we have no other plagues; therefore, "Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, etc." (ibid.). "And the appearance thereof was like the appearance of bdellium." This teaches that precious stones and pearls were gathered together with the manna. And what is "like coriander seed (gad)"? Like flaxseed. And why did Scripture in this place call the flax "gad"? Because the manna would declare (maggid) to Israel many legal rulings. How so? If a man divorced his wife, and she was married within three months, and she gave birth at the end of seven months, and it was not known whether the child was of nine months to the first husband or of seven months to the second — the manna would declare whose son he was: if he belonged to the one who divorced her, then when he gathered the manna he would find an omer more than the members of his household had, and he would know that the son was his; and if the son belonged to the second husband, the omer of the child would be upon the second. And likewise two who were disputing over a slave or a slave-woman — this one says "he is mine," and that one says "he is mine," and they would come before Moses; he would say to them: Why do you ask of me? The manna will make known to you tomorrow whose he is. And likewise one who sold his slave-woman and she gave birth — this one says "she gave birth before I sold her," and that one says "she gave birth after I acquired her" — the manna would declare on the morrow, when they gathered, with whom the omer of the child would be found, his it is. And likewise a woman who rebelled against her husband and went to her father's house — she says "my husband wronged me," and he says "my wife wronged me" — the manna would declare: if her omer were found in her father's house, he wronged her; and if her omer were found in her husband's house, she wronged her husband.