Angel's Bread

Ἄρτον ἀγγελῶν ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος. Ἀντι δὲ τοῦ, Ἄρτον ἀγγελῶν ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος, ὁ Ἁκύλας, Ἄρτον δυναστῶν ἔφαγεν ἀνὴρ ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος Καὶ πυρὸν οὐρανιον παρέσχεν αὐτοῖς, ἄρτον μεγάλων ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος. Καὶ τήρει ὅπως ἡ Ἐβραῖκὴ φωνὴ οὐ περιέχει τὸ Ἄρτον ἁγγέλλων· ἀλλ' ἤτοι κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, ἄρτον δυναστῶν· ἤ κατὰ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα, ἄρτον δυναστῶν· ἤ κατὰ τὴν πέμπτην ἔκδοσιν, ἄρτον δυναστῶν. Ἀγελλῶν δὲ, οὐδεὶς ἡρμήνευσεν. Ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τὸ Ἐβραῖκὸν τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν πρόπον, ἵνα μή τις νομίσῃ καὶ τὰς ἀγγελικὰς δυνάμεις αἱσθητῇ χρῆσθαι τροφῇ. Μέμγεται δὲ καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις τοῖς νομίζουσιν, ὅτι ἀγγέλων ἦν τροφὴ τὸ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ χορηγηθὲν τῷ λαῷ μάννα· διὸ ἔλεγεν· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῶν· οὐ Μωσῆς δέδωκεν ὑμῖν τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸν ἀληθινόν· καὶ πάλιν· Οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἔφαγον ἐν τῆ ἐρήμῳ τὸ μάννα, καὶ ἀπέθανον. Οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνων, ἵνα τιη ἐξ αὐτοῦ φάγῃ καὶ μὴ ἀποθνήσκῃ. Εἰ μὲν οὖν, φησὶν, οὐράνιος ἦν ἄρτος, ᾧ χρῆσθαι τοὺς ἀγγέλλους εἰκὸς, οὐδ' ἂν ἀπέθανον οἱ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ μετασχόντες ἄρτου· νῦν δὲ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἦν οὐράνιος, οὐδὲ ἦν ἀληθῶς ἄρτος ἀγγέλων, διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέθανον. Οὗτος δὲ ἐστιν ἀληθῶς οὐράνιος ἄρτος, οὗ ὁ μεταλαβὼν οὐκ ἂν ἀποθάνοι ποτέ. Καὶ τίς οὗτος ἦν διδάσκει λέγων· Ὁ γὰρ ἄρτος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ· παρίστησί τε αὐτὸν λέγων· Ἐγω εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς· ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς μὲ οὐ μὴ πεινάσει, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων εἰς εμε, οὐ μὴ διψήσει πώποτε· καὶ αὖθις· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς. Ἐαν τις φάγῃ ἐκ τοῦ ἐμου ἄρτου, ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Οὐκοῦν καὶ αἱ ἀγγελικαὶ δυνάμεις ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Λόγου μεταλήψεως αἰώνιον ζωὴν καρποῦνται. Μόνος γὰρ ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος πάσης λογικῆς οὐσίας θρεπτικὸς τυγχάνει. Διόπερ ἀκριβῶς ἡ Ἑβραϊκὴ ἀνάγνωσις ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις οὐ περιέχει τὸ, Ἄρτον ἀγγέλων ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμὸς ΖΕ’ Source: Migne PG 23.917c-920a

Man ate the bread of angels. 1 But Aquila translates this as, 'Man ate the bread of the powers,' and Symmachus has 'And He gave to them heavenly wheat, and man ate the bread of the great ones' It should be noted that the Hebrew does not have this 'bread of angels' but according to Aquila it is 'bread of the powers,' and according to Symmachus 'bread of the great ones,' and then Theodotian's translation has 'the bread of powers,' and a fifth version has 'bread of powers.' But no one translates it as 'of angels' because the Hebrew exemplar does not have it, lest someone think that the angelic powers are some sort of sensible nourishment. And in the Gospels our Lord and Saviour disputes with those who thought that the manna that was given in the desert to the people was the bread of angels, when he says: 'Truly, Truly, I say to you, Moses did not give to you true bread from heaven.' 2 And again, 'Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead. Here is the bread which comes down from heaven, which if someone eats of it, he shall not die.' 3 If then, He says, it was the heavenly bread, by which it is much like angels, they would not die who tasted that bread in the desert, but because it was not heavenly, nor was it the bread of angels, therefore they died. Here is the true heavenly bread, of which whoever partakes he shall never die. What this bread is He teaches with these words: 'The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Proclaiming the same He says: 'I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall not thirst.' And again 'I am the living bread who comes down from heaven. If someone shall eat my bread, he shall live forever.' 4 Thus the angelic powers flourish forever because of participation in the life of the Word. For it is the Only Begotten Word alone who is the nourishment of rational substances. So rightly the Hebrew text does not have 'Man ate the bread of angels.' Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 75 1 Ps 9.10-11 2 Jn 6.32 3 Jn 6.49-50 4 Jn 6.33, 35, 51-52