Texts in Conversation
Psalm 78 describes the manna in the wilderness as “food of the mighty ones,” a phrase understood in antiquity as “bread of angels.” Wisdom of Solomon makes this reading explicit, calling the manna “food of angels” sent from heaven.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalms 78:25
Hebrew Bible
23 He gave a command to the clouds above and opened the doors in the sky. 24 He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them the grain of heaven. 25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. He sent them more than enough to eat. 26 He brought the east wind through the sky and by his strength led forth the south wind.
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 16:20
Deuterocanon
19 At another time even in the midst of water it burns more intensely than fire, that it may destroy the produce of an unrighteous land. 20 Instead of these things, you gave your people angels’ food to eat, and you provided ready-to-eat bread for them from heaven without toil, having the virtue of every pleasant flavor, and agreeable to every taste. 21 For your nature showed your sweetness toward your children, while that bread, serving the desire of the eater, changed itself according to every man’s choice. 22 But snow and ice endured fire, and didn’t melt, that people might know that fire was destroying the fruits of the enemies, burning in the hail and flashing in the rains;
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... When Psalm 78:25 refers to ‘abirim it means “divine beings,” members of the heavenly entourage, and the Aramaic Targum to the verse confirms the divine identity of these beings when it identifies them explicitly as “angels”: “food that descended from the dwelling-place of the angels.” The verse appears similarly in all the ancient translations, including the Septuagint, Peshitta, and Vulgate, as well as in a paraphrase of the account in the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon: “Instead of these things you gave your people food of angels, and without their toil you supplied them with bread from heaven, ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste” (16:20) ...”
Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch, From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends, trans. Valerie Zakovitch (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2012), 51–52.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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