Mamma Mia! Manna's insect goo?

On the 28th January one of the WordLive writers suggested the Manna that sustained the Israelites in the desert was insect goo. It certainly wouldn't have counted as one of their five-a-day. Locusts are well known as being on the biblical menu, but that is normally for the prophetic elite. One of our readers spotted this and asked the following question.

'I wondered if you could tell me how you know that Manna was a type of insect goo. I've not heard this theory before and am curious to find out more.'

Well, not shy of a challenge, we sent out intrepid biblical expert into the jungle of theological tomes in the corner of the office. Several weeks later he emerged with the information we were all waiting for. So if you want to know all there is about manna, read on.

'Actually there have been a lot of attempts to identify manna with some natural edible substance found in the Sinai desert. To quote from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol 3, (Eerdmans, 1986), p239, ‘The most widely held theory , which has received support from scientific investigations, links manna from a secretion of the tamarisk tree (Tamarix gallica) that forms small, yellowish-white balls that are very sweet … FS Bodenheimer has argued that these are actually excretions of insects that penetrate the tender bark of the twigs, rather than a product of the tree itself.’ But since this only occurs for a few weeks every year one can’t get round the fact this was a supernatural occurrence!'

So there you have it, an event more amazing than Meryl Streep starring in a musical. Manna, a gift from God.