Deuteronomy 8:2-6
8:2 a to prove your character (literally to know what is in your heart): God already knew the Israelites’ innermost thoughts (Pss 51:6 b; 139:1 c, 4 d, 23 e); he wanted their character to come out in their actions.• to find out whether: The Old Testament often describes God in human terms, even in ways that appear to limit God. Anthropomorphism (assigning human characteristics to God) and anthropopathism (assigning human feelings or emotions to God) are ways of representing God on a human level so the human mind can better grasp his ways, but God is not limited in his knowledge, power, or transcendence. Here, God is figuratively described as having only a human knowledge of the future, but other passages make it clear that God knows everything—past, present, and future (Ps 139:1-18 f; Heb 4:13 g).
8:3 h The word manna is derived from the Hebrew words man hu (meaning “what is it?”). God miraculously provided this food to teach his people total dependence on him (Exod 16:1-30 i; Num 11:4-9 j). Manna represented the word of God, which is even more essential to life and well-being than food is.
• people do not live by bread alone: Jesus quoted this phrase to rebut Satan (Matt 4:4 k; Luke 4:4 l).
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