See also mu 129.
[1] Exodus 16:15: "When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was." According to Nahum Sarna, the Hebrew מן הוא man-hu ("What is that?") "is a folk explanation for the term by which the inhabitants of the wilderness knew the substance." Propp points to the Semitic root מון "*mwn (provide, feed) attested in Arabic" and states that "man" is also "a primitive form of the Hebrew interrogative pronoun מה 'ma(h),' 'what?'"
[2] Theodoret of Cyrrhus, On the Psalms 77.25, PG 80:1489C.
[3] The word amblision is ambiguous. It occurs as alpha 1522 (from which the present addendum derives), defined there merely as "manna". Alpha 1521 defines ἀμβλίζω merely as "a verb." It is my opinion that the compiler did not know the meaning of the word, but included it here because he knew that his source used the term to describe manna. Adler's apparatus points to a similar entry in the unpublished Lexicon Ambrosianum, Milan Amb. B12 sup, entry 1742. Perhaps the word means "ground" or "milled". Prof. Robert Kraft, Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, suggests a relationship to "amulos," an "unmilled, very fine flour or starch," as found in Aquila's version of Exodus 16:31. In the passage where the Israelites found that manna tasted like "wafers made with honey," Aquila used "amulos" for "wafers" rather than the more usual "enkris," or "cake." Pointing to the "U/V/B interchange in Greek vowel sequences (for example σταυρός /σταβρός )," Professor Kraft suggested a derivation of the verb ἀμβλίζειν from ἀμυλίζειν which would mean "to grind very finely." This is especially suggestive since there is the feminine noun "manna," meaning "granules or powder of frankincense," as well as the adjective "amblus," meaning "dull, the edge worn down." There are also references to millstones found in the third heaven, "where manna is constantly being ground" by the angels "for the future use of the pious" [ Medieval Texts - Philology Codicology and Technology "MEDTEXTL@POSTOFFICE.CSO.UIUC.EDU", Thu, 15 Jun 2000 15:16:04 -0400]. Timothy Janz, Lincoln College, Oxford, points to the definition of "ambrosia" as "manna" by Hesychius. Janz states that "this connection, and the idea of emending the Suda's AMBLISION to AMBROSION, was already suggested in 1746 by Johannes Alberti in his edition of Hesychius; you will also find it referred to in the 19th-c. incarnation of Henri Estienne's TGL (produced by Ambroise Firmin Didot and not to be confused with the TLG!), s. v. AMBLISION" [Reply-To: Medieval Texts - Philology Codicology and Technology "MEDTEXTL@POSTOFFICE.CSO.UIUC.EDU", Fri, 16 Jun 2000 04:33:15 +0100].