He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the LORD’s mouth.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 3. Not in bread alone, and so forth that is That God is able to make food of what he pleases for the support of man. Challoner.—Obedience to his law will insure a happy life, verse 1. God can support a person’s life without any sustenance, as he did Moses, Elias, and so forth for a long time. When the usual food is wanting, he can send some of a supernatural kind, as he did the manna.—Word. Hebrew “by whatever proceedeth,” and so forth The Septuagint and our Saviour (Matthew 4:4,) cite it, however, agreeably to the Vulgate. The word of God and Jesus Christ nourish our souls. Saint John Chrysostom—Philo says, “God feeds us with his most universal word … which is more ancient than the creation.” Calmet.—God could make the most poisonous things afford more nutrition, if he commanded us to eat them, than even the most delicious viands. Abulensis. Tirinus.—God can make food of whatever He pleases, or sustain men without meat. Worthington.