Psalms 78:25

Man did eat angels' food,.... Or, "the bread of the mighty" (d); such as Moses and Elijah ate of; so Arama; but Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it of the clouds, or skies, said to be strong, Job 37:18

Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

Angels’ food; manna, so called, either, 1. Because was made by the ministry of angels. Or rather, 2. Because of its excellency, such food as might befit the angels they could cat food, and such as hath some resemblance with the blessed angels in regard of its heavenly origin; its pure and spirituous substance, its rigour and efficacy preserving and nourishing those who used it according God’ s appointment. Or this place may be translated as is in the margin, every one did eat the bread of the mighty i.e. even the common Israelites fed upon as delicious as the greatest nobles and princes used to do. Sent them meat to the full; which may belong, either, 1. To the flesh mentioned in the following verses, which God gave them even to satiety or glutting, which he threatened to do, . Or rather, 2. To the manna, of which he is here speaking, which he gave them in such plenty, that their desire of other food could not proceed from their necessity, but merely from wantonness and lust.

Psalms 78:25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. Ver. 25. Man did eat angels’ food] Heb. the bread of the mighty, Pan de nobles (Hispan.); (Angels are called mighties, Isaiah 10:34 Revelation 18:21); such delicate bread as might beseem angels to eat, if they did eat any at all; such as the poets feign to be their Nectar, and Ambrosia. Or, the bread of the mighty, sc. that mightily strengthened them. He sent them meat to the full] Heb. meat taken in hunting; so called, because dainty as venison, or, quia semper ambulabant, et in via quasi eam venabantur, sc. Joshua 1:11 (Aben Ezra).

(25) Angels’ food.—See margin, and comp. Wis 16:20. LXX. and Vulgate, “angels’ bread.” Some explain, after Job 24:22; Job 34:30, lordly food, such as nobles eat—here, quails. But in connection with “food from heaven,” the popular idea of angels’ food which poetry reluctantly gives up may be retained.

Verse 25. Man did eat angels' food] לחם אבירים אכל איש lechem abbirim achal ish, "Man did eat the bread of the mighty ones;" or, each person ate, c. They ate such bread as could only be expected at the tables of the rich and great the best, the most delicate food. How little did this gross people know of the sublime excellence of that which they called light bread, and which they said their soul loathed; Numbers 21:5! It was a type of Jesus Christ, for so says St. Paul: "They all ate the same spiritual meat, and drank the same spiritual drink," c., 1 Corinthians 10:3-4. And our Lord calls himself "the bread that came down from heaven, that giveth life unto the world," John 6:31-35: but a Jew sees nothing but with the eyes of flesh. It is true their doctors or rabbins are full of allegories, mysteries, and conceits but they are, in general, such as would disgrace the Cabinet des Fees, and would not be tolerated in the nursery. O, how thick a veil hangs over their gross and hardened hearts.

25. Everyone did eat the bread of the mighty, He sent them provision to the full. The A.V. rendering of the verbs in Psalms 78:23-24 as pluperfects is contrary to the rules of Hebrew grammar. The connexion of thought is that God was wroth at the unbelief of the Israelites, and yet He provided for their wants. The Psalmist does not follow the order of time in his recital, but combines the different murmurings, and then the different provisions of manna and quails. The doors of heaven, as of some vast storehouse: cp. ‘the windows (or ‘flood-gates’) of heaven,’ 2 Kings 7:2; 2 Kings 7:19; Malachi 3:10. The Psalmist closely follows the language of Exo 16:4, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.” Cp. Psalms 105:40; John 6:31. Corn of heaven may allude to the granular form of the manna (Exodus 16:31). Angels’ food (LXX, Vulg., Syr.) is probably a right paraphrase of the words the bread of the mighty, though the term is nowhere applied to the angels. But cp. Psalms 103:20. Wis 16:20, “Thou feddest thine own people with angels’ food,” naturally follows the LXX. It is a question whether we should render ‘Everyone did eat’ &c. cp. Exodus 16:16; Exodus 16:18; Exodus 16:21; or man, as contrasted with angels: cp. the Targ. “The sons of men ate bread which came down from the dwelling of the angels”: but the former is probably right. For to the full cp. Exodus 16:3; Exodus 16:8; Exodus 16:12.

Man did eat angels’ food - Food that came from heaven; food so directly and manifestly from heaven that it might be supposed to be the same kind that was eaten there, and that had now been sent down

25. Man did eat—Every “man,” without exception. There was no lack at any point to give cause to the complaint. See Exodus 16:16-18. Angels’ food—So called because of its origin and of its excellent quality.