Numbers 11:8

8 And the people went about, and gathering it, ground it in a mill, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes thereof of the taste of bread tempered with oil.

Numbers 11:8 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 11:8

[And] the people went about and gathered [it]
Went about the camp on all sides, where it fell in plenty; this they did every morning, and this was all the trouble they were at; they had it for gathering, without any expense to them:

and ground [it] in mills:
in hand mills, as Aben Ezra; for though it melted through the heat of the sun, and became a liquid, yet, when gathered in the morning, it was hard like grains of corn, or other seeds, and required to be ground in mills:

or beat [it] in a mortar;
with a pestle, as spices are beaten and bruised:

and baked [it] in pans;
or rather boiled it in a pot, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, since it follows:

and made cakes of it;
which were baked on the hearth; all which may denote the sufferings of Christ, who was beaten, and bruised, and broken, that he might become fit food for faith, ( Isaiah 53:4 Isaiah 53:5 Isaiah 53:10 ) ;

and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil;
which is very grateful and pleasant, as well as very fattening and nourishing; so that the Israelites had no reason to complain of their being dried away by continual eating of it; (See Gill on Exodus 16:31).

Numbers 11:8 In-Context

6 Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing else but manna.

7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, of the colour of bdellium.

8 And the people went about, and gathering it, ground it in a mill, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes thereof of the taste of bread tempered with oil.

9 And when the dew fell in the night upon the camp, the manna also fell with it.

10 Now Moses heard the people weeping by their families, every one at the door of his tent. And the wrath of the Lord was exceedingly enkindled: to Moses also the thing seemed insupportable.