Êxodo 16
Ambrose of Milan · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Êxodo 16:15
"This is the bread that God gave" to you "to eat." Hear who this bread is: "The word," Scripture says, "which God has ordained." This then is the ordination of God; this food nourishes the soul of the wise. It illuminates and it sweetens, resplendent with the gleam of truth and soothing, as if with a honeycomb, by the sweetness of different virtues and the word of wisdom. For "good words are sweeter than a honeycomb," as it is written in Proverbs. — Letter 64.2
Êxodo 16:15
That this is heavenly food is demonstrated by the person speaking: "I shall rain upon you bread from heaven." Manna is a cause (aition),because God, who waters minds with the dew of wisdom, uses it as an instrument. And manna is a kind of matter (hyle), because souls that see it and taste it are delighted and ask whence it comes, manna which is more splendid that light and sweeter than honey. They can be answered with a chain of quotations from Scripture: "This is the bread that the Lord gave to you to eat," and "This is the Word of God which God has established" or ordained. By this bread the souls of the prudent are fed and delighted, since it is fair and sweet, illuminating the souls of the hearers with the splendor of truth and drawing them on with the sweetness of the virtues. — Letter 8.7