Epilogue to the Manna Story/1/en

Epilogue to the Manna Story

Introduction

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On Future Events

The bulk of Shemot 16 recounts the first week of the miracle of the manna, detailing how it rained down on regular weekdays, the double portion which was collected on Fridays, and that it didn't come on Shabbat.  Toward the conclusion of the chapter, however, several verses detail events which concern the future:

EN/HEע/E

 (לב) וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה י"י מְלֹא הָעֹמֶר מִמֶּנּוּ לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם לְמַעַן יִרְאוּ אֶת הַלֶּחֶם אֲשֶׁר הֶאֱכַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּהוֹצִיאִי אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. (לג) וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל אַהֲרֹן קַח צִנְצֶנֶת אַחַת וְתֶן שָׁמָּה מְלֹא הָעֹמֶר מָן וְהַנַּח אֹתוֹ לִפְנֵי י"י לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם. (לד) כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה י"י אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיַּנִּיחֵהוּ אַהֲרֹן לִפְנֵי הָעֵדֻת לְמִשְׁמָרֶת. (לה) וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אָכְלוּ אֶת הַמָּן אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה עַד בֹּאָם אֶל אֶרֶץ נוֹשָׁבֶת אֶת הַמָּן אָכְלוּ עַד בֹּאָם אֶל קְצֵה אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן.

 

When Did the Manna Cease?

Verse 35 and its description of the forty year duration of the miracle of the manna is the classic example used to prove that sometimes the Torah inserts achronological information so as to complete a story.¹  It is often overlooked, however, that the verse might not be limited to events of the fortieth year.  The verse speaks of eating the manna until the nation's arrival at both "אֶרֶץ נוֹשָׁבֶת" and to "קְצֵה אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן".  What is the relationship between these two terms; do both refer to the settled land of Arvot Moav,  both to Israel, or one and one?    Is Moshe speaking only of events in his own lifetime, or also to those that happened after his death on the other side of the Jordan?² 

Preserving the Manna

The epilogue's achronology is not limited to the above description.  Verse 34 speaks of Aharon's preserving of the manna by storing it "לִפְנֵי הָעֵדֻת", the Torah's common designation for the Ark of Testimony.  At this point of the story, however, the Tabernacle and Ark have not yet been built, placing this event no earlier than the second year.  Here, too, though, the extent of the achronology is unclear.  Did the event take place right after the building, or at some later point?  Moreover, in Moshe's directive he speaks of placing the manna "לִפְנֵי ה'".  Is that term identical to "לִפְנֵי הָעֵדֻת" and speaks of the same event, or are they distinct and the manna might have been placed in two different places at two different times, perhaps even before the Tabernacle's construction? Do Moshe's instructions in verses 32-33 take place at the same time as the fulfilment in verse 34?   Finally, when would have been the most logical time to have set aside the manna – when the phenomenon first began, when there was a proper place for safe-keeping, or perhaps only at the eve of the nation's entry into the land, when it became necessary to commemorate the soon to be lost miracle?

When was the Epilogue Written?

When the Torah concludes a story by including a future event, when is that event recorded?  Did Moshe receive all the information where it was supposed to be written and prophetically write it even before the event transpired, or did he add it in only after the fact?  Did he do so immediately, or only at the end of the forty years?  When were the events of this epilogue written?  If Moshe wrote about the forty year duration of the manna already in the first year, does that mean he was privy to the decree of wandering even before the spies sinned?  If verse 35 describes events that took place on the other die of the Jordan,  does that suggest that Moshe wrote about events that took place after his death? 

Textual and Philosophical Issues

• Why Aharon? – Why is Aharon specifically chosen to store the manna?  Is this related to his role as priest or assistant to Moshe?
• "קְצֵה אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן" versus "אֶרֶץ נוֹשָׁבֶת" –  What is the relationship between these two terms;  do both refer to the settled land of Arvot Moav, both to Israel, or one and one?  If the terms are identical, why the repetition?  If not, what is the verse trying to say about the cessation of the manna?

¹ See, for instance, Ibn Ezra on Shemot 12:50 and Ramban on Bemidbar 21:1 who both reference it as evidence when trying to suggest that other verses too come just "to finish the story".

² On a textual level, too, the doubling is problematic.  If the terms are identical, what is the need the repetition? If not, what is the verse trying to say about the cessation of the manna?