Deuteronomy 8:2-4

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ¹  has brought you these forty years through the desert ²  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. ³  He did this to teach you ⁴  that humankind ⁵  cannot live by bread ⁶  alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. ⁷  8:4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years.

Deuteronomy 29:5

29:5 I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out ⁸  nor have your sandals ⁹  deteriorated.

Nehemiah 9:21

9:21 For forty years you sustained them. Even in the desert they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

Luke 22:35

22:35 Then ¹⁰  Jesus ¹¹  said to them, “When I sent you out with no money bag, ¹²  or traveler’s bag, ¹³  or sandals, you didn’t lack ¹⁴  anything, did you?” They replied, ¹⁵  “Nothing.”

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

³ tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).

⁴ tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).

⁶ tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).

⁷ sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).

⁸ tn The Hebrew text includes “on you.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn The Hebrew text includes “from on your feet.”

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Traditionally, “purse” (likewise in v. 36).

¹³ tn Or possibly “beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145).

¹⁴ sn This refers back to 9:3 and 10:3-4. The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “did you?” Nothing was lacking.

¹⁵ tn Grk “said.”