שָׁטוּ֩ הָעָ֨ם וְלָֽקְט֜וּ וְטָחֲנ֣וּ בָרֵחַ֗יִם א֤וֹ דָכוּ֙ בַּמְּדֹכָ֔ה וּבִשְּׁלוּ֙ בַּפָּר֔וּר וְעָשׂ֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ עֻג֑וֹת וְהָיָ֣ה טַעְמ֔וֹ כְּטַ֖עַם לְשַׁ֥ד הַשָּֽׁמֶן׃
Le peuple se dispersait pour la recueillir, puis on l’écrasait sous la meule ou on la pilait au mortier; on la mettait cuire au pot, et l’on en faisait des gâteaux. Elle avait alors le goût d’une pâtisserie à l’huile.
That the Worse is wont to Attack the Better
§ 118. Two cakes. The idea is obtained by a combination of the descriptions of the Manna in Exod. 16:31 and Numb. 11:8. In the first “its taste was as an ἔγκρις in honey”: in the second “its pleasure was as an ἔγκρις from oil.” The ἔγκρις is defined elsewhere as a sweetmeat made from honey and oil. Philo passes with bewildering rapidity through the different suggestions of oil, (a) as rushing in a stream, (b) as giving light, (c) as an element in food.
On the Birth of Abel and the Sacrifices Offered by him and by his Brother Cain
[86] So after the “slicing” must come the “pounding,” that is, after division and classification we must continually dwell in and linger over the thoughts presented to our minds. Continued exercise makes solid knowledge, as its absence makes ignorance. We see how great is the multitude of those who, through shirking bodily training, have enfeebled their natural strength. Not such an example did those follow who fed their soul with the heavenly food called manna. They ground and chafed it and made of it “buried” cakes (Numb. 11:8), judging it right to crush and grind virtue’s heaven-sent discourse, that its impress on their understanding might be the firmer.