Now is the usual conjunction waw, and it is dropped in most translations. The house of Israel is an unusual expression, but it still means “the people of Israel” (Good News Translation), or “the Israelites.” Called its name manna means that they “called the food manna” (Good News Translation), or they named it “manna.” The Hebrew is simply man, and so is the Greek in the Septuagint, but in Num 11.6-7 of the Septuagint it is manna. This is the first use of the term, which sounds like the question man huʾ (“What is it?”) in verse 15. (See the discussion there.)

It was like coriander seed describes the size and shape of the manna, but not the color or taste. Coriander was a small herbal plant that produced small brown seeds. White describes the color of the manna. In areas where the coriander plant is unknown, one may express this as Good News Translation does: “it was like a small white seed.” And the taste of it refers to the manna, not the seed. Like wafers made with honey refers to flat biscuits or “thin cakes” (Good News Translation) sweetened with honey, or “honey-cakes” (Translator’s Old Testament).

Honey may here refer to the sweet product of wild bees, but the Hebrew word devash usually refers to a thick, sweet syrup made from dates or grapes, as in 3.8. In only a few places does the word explicitly refer to the sweet food made by wild bees (Deut 32.13; Judges 14.8-9; 1Sam 14.25; and Psa 81.16). In cultures where dates are unknown, but wild bees’ honey is known, the term for this may be used. In certain languages this will be referred to as “bee excretion,” “bee water,” or even “the sweet juice made by insects named ‘bee.’” However, in cultures where date trees are common, there may be a term for this sweet syrup known to Arabs as dibs, and this would be a preferable translation. The important idea to bring out here, however, is that the honey was a thick, sweet syrup with which the people were familiar.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .