📖 Biblical Definition
"Bread from heaven" is the manna with which YHWH fed Israel forty years in the wilderness (Exodus 16) — given by miracle each morning, gathered before the sun grew hot, ceased only on Sabbath, and called "bread from heaven" by the Psalmist: "And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven" (Psalm 78:24; cf. 105:40). Christ takes up the imagery directly in John 6:31-58, contrasting the manna (which fed the body and let the eaters die) with Himself as the true bread from heaven: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever" (v. 51). The wilderness manna pointed forward to Him.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The manna; Christ as the true bread from heaven.
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The manna which YHWH gave Israel daily in the wilderness for forty years (Exod 16:4 — "I will rain bread from heaven for you"). Each morning a fresh portion; an omer per person; gathered before the sun melted it; doubled on the sixth day for the Sabbath. Psalm 78:24-25 calls it "bread from heaven" and "angels' food." Christ in John 6 confronts the crowd's sign-seeking by claiming to be the true bread from heaven — greater than the manna because the manna's eaters died, while He gives eternal life.
📖 Key Scripture
Exodus 16:4 — "Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day."
Psalm 78:24-25 — "And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full."
John 6:32-33 — "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Manna often read just as miraculous food-supply; the Christological fulfillment in John 6 deepens the meaning enormously.
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Sunday-school manna is daily-bread provision. John 6 deepens it: the manna prefigured Christ. The pattern (heaven-given, daily, life-sustaining) finds its fullness in Him. "Eating" the bread of life is the verb of saving faith.
Recover the Christology: every grain of manna pointed forward. Christ is the true and final bread from heaven; the saint eats Him by faith.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew lechem min ha-shamayim.
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['Hebrew', 'H3899', 'lechem', 'bread']
['Hebrew', 'H8064', 'shamayim', 'heavens']
Usage
"Manna prefigures Christ."
"Eat the true bread; live for ever."
"Daily provision, daily faith."