The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. The naming of the manna as manna — crystallizing the question what is it? into a proper name — preserves the experience of first encounter in the name itself. Every subsequent reference to manna carries the memory of that first morning: white flakes on the desert floor, the question of an entire community standing over something they have never seen, the naming of mystery as food. The description of taste — like wafers made with honey — is the most sensory moment in the manna narrative. The bread from heaven is not merely sustaining but pleasant, not merely functional but good to eat. Psalm 34:8 says taste and see that the Lord is good — the manna is the wilderness occasion for tasting and seeing.

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