Having in itself every delight, that is, the effect of every delightful food, producing a similar delight in the one eating: and the sweetness of every taste, that is, every pleasant taste: for it tasted to each person just as he wished, as Gregory says in the sixth book of the Morals.
But against this: It is said in Numbers 11 that it had the taste "as of bread made with oil."
It must be said that by its own nature it had a determined and most sweet taste, namely like the taste "of fine flour with honey"; but by divine grace it had diverse tastes, namely according to the diversity of desires, as the Gloss touches upon on that passage of 1 Corinthians 10: "They all ate the same spiritual food."
But against this: Because if it had the taste desired by anyone, then they would not have desired the meats of Egypt, nor would their soul have been nauseated over the manna as over a most light food, yet the opposite is read in Numbers 21.
It must be said, according to the Gloss: The good found the best taste therein, but the wicked were disgusted. Or it must be said that they required in food not only the delight of taste with respect to the palate, but also of color with respect to sight, and of odor with respect to smell. Jerome: Birds are cooked before the rich in their own vapors, so that they may be refreshed by sight and aroma, just as the luxurious are with wine, yet it is said in Proverbs 23: "Do not gaze upon wine when it turns yellow, when it sparkles in the glass," etc.
(Vers. 21.). For your substance, that is, your power of sustaining, and your sweetness, that is, your power of delighting, which you have toward your children, namely sustaining them through the substance of the food and delighting them through the taste of the same food, you showed etc.; in the Psalm: "You prepared in your sweetness for the poor, O God"; you showed, I say, by bestowing upon them the aforesaid food that sustains and delights. And serving, namely the aforesaid food or bread, the will of each one, namely of those eating, it was turned to what each one wished, that is, to whatever taste: for it had, as was said, one determined taste by nature, but various tastes by divine grace.
Mystically, by the manna Christ was fittingly signified under the Sacrament of the altar, first because he himself is the bread of angels, namely of priests, according to that passage of Malachi 2: "He is the angel of the Lord of hosts."
Second, because it is prepared from heaven, that is, because it is confected by heavenly power; John 6: "I am the living bread, who came down from heaven"; in the Psalm: "You prepared their food, for thus is its preparation."
Third, because those eating from it according to their desire, that is, their devotion, are refreshed, according to that word of the Psalm: "You have granted him the desire of his soul"; likewise in the Psalm: "He brought them their desire, they were not defrauded of their desire."
Fourth, because with it the dew of grace descends and is given, just as dew also descended with the manna, as is found in Numbers eleven. And therefore this bread is called eucharist : eucharist is interpreted as good grace .
Fifth, because, just as the manna appeared like "white coriander seed," so also Christ is received under a white cloud: Apocalypse fourteen: "Behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sitting like the Son of Man."
Sixth, because it was gathered on six days and not on the Sabbath, so Christ is received under the Sacrament in the present, but in the future Sabbath, of which Isaiah sixty-six says: "There shall be Sabbath after Sabbath," He will be seen openly: First Corinthians thirteen: "But then face to face"; likewise First John three: "We shall see Him as He is." Seventh, because they were nourished by that food in the desert for forty years until the entrance into the promised land, so until the end of the world in the desert of this world the faithful of the Church are nourished, according to that word of Matthew twenty-eight: "Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age."
But snow etc. Here is touched upon the reason for the affliction of the Egyptians: first on the part of those punished: second, on the part of those for whom they were punished: But this: third, on the part of the punishing God: Creature.
(Vers. 22.). He says therefore: But snow etc. It has been said that fire prevailed more in water: but snow and ice, that is, hail, sustained the force of fire, that is, heat, which is its quality of active power. And they did not melt, that is, they did not liquefy; whence Exodus nine: "The Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt; and hail and fire were carried mingled together"; so that they might know, namely the Israelites, that the fruits of the enemies, that is, of the Egyptians, burning fire was destroying, namely by heat: flashing in hail and rain, namely by splendor. "The flax and the barley were damaged, because the barley was green and the flax was already putting forth pods," Exodus nine.
(Vers. 23.). But this again etc. It should be known that the word this can be of the ablative case, so that it is expounded thus: this, for this reason; or of the nominative, so that it is read thus: but this again, supply: was done, so that the just might be nourished, namely the children of Israel. The fire also forgot its own power, namely by not destroying the fruits of the land of the just, as is clear from Exodus nine, where it is read that "only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, the hail did not fall." So also the fire forgot the force of its power when it did not harm the three just youths in the furnace, as is clear from Daniel three.
(Vers. 24.). For your creature, namely whatsoever creature, serving you its maker, that is, your will, by which you made all things, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Whatsoever he willed, he did": grows fierce, that is, is vehemently moved and stirred up, unto torment, of punishment, against the unjust, that is, your enemies. And is made milder, that is, harmless or innocuous, to do good for those who trust in you, that is, for the just: for creatures obey those who obey God, as is clear in Joshua 10, where it is read how the sun stood still at the command of Joshua, and they rebel against those who rebel: whence above in chapter five: "The whole world shall fight for him against the senseless."
For this reason etc. Here is touched upon the reason for the consolation of the Israelites: first, the recognition of the divine benefit: second, the exhibition of divine worship: For that which from fire: third, the avoidance of ingratitude: For the hope of the ungrateful etc. (Vers. 25.). For this reason, namely because the creature serves the Creator, and then, namely when the children of Israel were fed with manna in the desert, into all things, that is, into the flavor of all desired things, was transfigured, namely that creature itself, namely the manna: your grace, the nurse of all, that is, your gratuitous good will, so that it is understood of uncreated grace: Baruch 4: "You have saddened your nurse, Jerusalem"; they served, that is, they obeyed: The Gloss: "Let sinners be confounded here, because while all other creatures serve their Maker, they themselves resist. Whence they are scourged by the concord of all creatures." They served, I say, according to the will, to be fulfilled, namely, of those who were desired by you, namely, beloved with a special love, as the children of Israel: Deuteronomy 7: "The Lord your God has chosen you, that you might be his peculiar people from among all the peoples that are upon the earth."
(Vers. 26.). That your sons might know, namely the Israelites, according to that passage of Exodus 4: "Israel is my firstborn"; Isaiah 1: "I have nourished sons"; whom you loved, O Lord, namely with eternal and temporal love: Malachi 1: "I have loved you, says the Lord." Might know, I say, that it is not the fruits of birth, that is, not natural fruits, born from the earth, according to that passage of Genesis 1: "Let the earth bring forth," etc., that nourish men, namely insofar as they are men, that is, according to that by which they differ from beasts, namely according to the rational power or part of the soul. But your word, that is, the created word, that is, your commandment: Matthew 4: "Man does not live by bread alone," etc. Or: the Word, uncreated, that is, the Son, of whom John 17 says: "Your word is truth"; ibid. 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life"; preserves those who have believed in you: Deuteronomy 8: "The Lord gave you manna as food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
(Vers. 27.) For that which could not be destroyed by fire, namely the manna, because it hardened at fire, so that small cakes were made from it, as is clear from Numbers 11; when warmed by even a faint ray of the sun, immediately melted away, that is, it liquefied, as is clear from Exodus 16. Hence it was necessary that it be gathered in the morning.
(Vers. 28.). That it might be known to all, namely through this sign, that one must rise before the sun that is, before the rising of the sun, for your blessing, supply: to be obtained, that is, to receive and gather the manna, lest after the rising of the sun it be liquefied by the heat of the sun: thus, to obtain the blessing of grace, one must rise before the sun by keeping vigil in the morning, according to that passage of Proverbs 8: "Those who watch for me in the morning will find me"; in the Psalm: "In the morning I will stand before you and I will see," etc. And at the rising of the light, that is, as soon as the light rises, or toward the east, where the light rises, to adore you, namely for the reception of the manna itself: toward the east, I say, because, as Damascene says, everything that is better must be attributed to God; whence, because the east is the nobler part of the sky, therefore one must worship toward the east, according to that passage of the Psalm: "He who ascends above the heaven of heavens toward the east."
It should be noted, moreover, that in the fact that the manna melted at the rising of the sun, it was signified, according to the Gloss, that at the rising of Christ the old sacrament would cease, because "Christ is the end of the Law," Romans 10.
(Vers. 29.). For the hope of the ungrateful etc. Thus I said that it wasted away by the heat of the sun, and this as a sign of this, because the hope of the ungrateful will waste away etc. Or thus: I rightly said that it is necessary to worship at the rising of the light etc. for the reception of the aforesaid benefit, and this to avoid ingratitude, which is greatly harmful. For the hope of the ungrateful, namely of any impious person, or specifically "of the Jewish people," according to the Gloss, like winter ice: The Gloss: "Constricted by the cold of unbelief," according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus forty-three: "The cold north wind has blown, and ice has frozen from the water"; will waste away, that is, will be liquefied, that is, will be dissolved by the heat of the sun of justice on the day of judgment, whether particular or universal: in the Psalm: "As wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God." It will waste away, I say, as regards the punishment of loss, namely by losing all goods, whatsoever he had or hoped for, namely the goods of grace and glory; and will perish utterly, that is, will perish in a twofold manner, that is, will suffer torment in body and soul, and this as regards the punishment of sense. It will perish utterly, I say, like superfluous water, that is, useless water, which is poured out or cast upon the ground: so also the ungrateful one, as useless, will be cast into hell, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-five: "Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness." The hope of the ungrateful therefore will waste away and perish utterly etc.; whence above in chapter five: "The hope of the impious is like down which is carried away by the wind"; likewise Bernard: "Ingratitude is a scorching wind, drying up the fountain of piety, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace."