Psalms 78:24
in Psalms 78He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven.
KJV
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
He commanded the clouds above
on Psalms 78:23-29
The doubt is answered with the gift, manna rained down, grain from heaven, the bread of angels. An east wind and a south wind brought meat like dust and birds like the sand of the sea. They ate and were filled with what they craved.
This site's exposition
He gave them grain from heaven
Clarke gave the Hebrew as grain of heaven, for the manna lay around the camp like seed and seemed to rain down from the clouds. Barnes added that it took the place of grain as food. Both readings rest on the manna.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Let us turn back to the one who performed these miracles. He is himself the bread that came down from heaven; but bread that nourishes and never diminishes; bread that can be eaten but cannot be eaten up. This bread was also signified by manna, of which it was said, "He gave them the bread of heaven; people ate the bread of angels. Who can the bread of heaven be, but Christ? But for people to eat the bread of angels, the Lord of angels became a human being. Because if he had not become this, we would not have his flesh; if we did not have his flesh, we would not eat the bread of the altar.
This is where you are going; the same one is the way by which you are going. You do not go through one thing to something else; you do not come through something else to Christ. You come through Christ to Christ. How through Christ to Christ? Through Christ the man to Christ the God, through the Word made flesh to the Word which in the beginning was God with God, from that which people ate to that which every day the angels eat. For so it was written, "He gave them the bread of heaven; people ate the bread of the angels." Who is the bread of angels? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." How did people eat the bread of angels? "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."
Lastly, when both these things have been briefly touched, afterwards he is evidently following out the order of the narrative. "Because they believed not in God, nor hoped in His saving health." For when he had told why fire was lighted in Jacob, and anger went up upon Israel, that is to say, "because they believed not in God, nor hoped in His saving health:" immediately subjoining the evident blessings for which they were ungrateful, he saith, "and He commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of Heaven." "And He rained upon them manna to eat, and gave them bread of Heaven." "Bread of angels man did eat: dainties He sent them in abundance." "He brought over the South Wind from Heaven, and in His virtue He led in the South West Wind." "And He rained upon them fleshes like dust, and winged fowls like the sand of the sea." "And they fell in the midst of their camp, around their tabernacles." "And they ate and were filled exceedingly; and their desire He brought to them: they were not deprived of their desire." Behold why He had delayed. But what He had delayed let us hear. "Yet the morsel was in their mouths, and the anger of God came down upon them." Behold what He had delayed. For before "He delayed:" and afterwards, "fire was lighted in Jacob and anger went up upon Israel." He had delayed therefore in order that He might first do what they had believed that He could not do, and then might bring upon them what they deserved to suffer. For if they placed their hope in God, not only would their desires of the flesh but also those of the spirit have been fulfilled. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And had rained down manna upon them to eat,....
God, who has the key of the clouds, opened the doors of heaven, and that is more than opening the windows, which yet is spoken of as a great blessing, Mal. iii. To all that by faith and prayer ask, seek, and knock, these doors shall at any time be opened; for the God of heaven is rich in mercy to all that call upon him.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
And had rained down manna upon them to eat. There was so much of it, the skies poured with food, the clouds burst with provender. It was fit food, proper not for looking at but for eating; they could eat it as they gathered it. Mysterious though it was, so that they called it manna, or "what is it?" yet it was eminently adapted for human nourishment; and it was both abundant and adapted, so also was it available! They had not far to fetch it, it was nigh them, and they had only to gather it up. O Lord Jesus, thou blessed manna of heaven, how all this agrees with Thee! We will even now feed on Thee as our spiritual meat, and will pray Thee to chase away all wicked unbelief from us. Our fathers ate manna and doubted; we feed upon Thee and are filled with assurance. And had given them of the corn of heaven. It was all a gift without money and without price. Food which dropped from above, and was of the best quality, so as to be called heavenly corn, was freely granted them. The manna was round, like a coriander seed, and hence was rightly called corn; it did not rise from the earth, but descended from the clouds, and hence the words of the verse are literally accurate. The point to be noted is that this wonder of wonders left the beholders, and the feasters, as prone as ever to mistrust their Lord.
And had rained down manna upon them to eat. There was so much of it, the skies poured with food, the clouds burst with provender. It was fit food, proper not for looking at but for eating; they could eat it as they gathered it. Mysterious though it was, so that they called it manna, or "what is it?" yet it was eminently adapted for human nourishment; and it was both abundant and adapted, so also was it available! They had not far to fetch it, it was nigh them, and they had only to gather it up.
The corn of heaven - The manna. It fell about their camp in the form of seeds; and as it appeared to come down from the clouds, it was not improperly termed heavenly corn, or heavenly grain, דגן שמים degan shamayim. The word shamayim is frequently taken to express the atmosphere.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And had rained down manna upon them to eat - Exo 16:4-5, Exo 16:14; Num 11:7-9. Compare the notes at Joh 6:31. And had given them of the corn of heaven - Food that seemed to come down from heaven. The reference here is to the manna, and it is called corn in the sense that it was food, or that it supplied the place of grain. It may also have been called corn from its resemblance to grain. See Exo 16:31.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּמְטֵ֬ר | vaiyamter | and he rained down | H4305 → | 17 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מָ֣ן | man | manna | H4478 → | |
| לֶאֱכֹ֑ל | leekhol | to eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וּדְגַן־ | udeganosha- | and [the] grain of | H1715 → | 40 times |
| שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם | shamayim | heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| נָ֣תַן | natan | he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | lamo | to them |
וַיַּמְטֵ֬רand he rained down
vaiyamterH4305 →17 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֣םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
מָ֣ןmanna
manH4478 →
לֶאֱכֹ֑לto eat
leekholH398 →810 times
וּדְגַן־and [the] grain of
udeganosha-H1715 →40 times
שָׁ֝מַ֗יִםheaven
shamayimH8064 →421 times
נָ֣תַןhe gave
natanH5414 →2011 times
לָֽמוֹ׃to them
lamo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 8:3He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
it leads to
- Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
- 1 Corinthians 10:3
They all ate the same spiritual food
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 13:5–6
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Psalms 78:23–25
Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
- Matthew 4:4
Through
Nehemiah 9:15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:3–4
They all ate the same spiritual food
- Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
- Deuteronomy 1:8
See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
About Psalms

This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 130:2; Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13:4.2; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
