Deuteronomy 8:3

And he humbled thee, etc.] Better, So He; for the v. proceeds to illustrate the facts by which God's purpose of proving the people was carried out. In the main these were two: first the hunger of the people and then the provision of manna.

suffered thee to hunger Heb. one verb, only here and in Proverbs 10:3.

and fed thee with manna For mannasee the full notes by Driver, Exodus 16:14 f., Exodus 16:31.

which thou knewest not, etc.] See on Deuteronomy 7:9. So J, Exodus 16:15, what is it? for they wist not what it was.

that not upon bread only doth man live but upon every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah] The language in particular every thingis ambiguous. It is usually read as expressing an antithesis between bread, the natural or normal support of man and produced by himself, on the one hand, and on the other, when breadfails, the creative word of God with whatever (every thing) it may produce (so Driver and Bertholet, etc., with differences). But the antithesis is rather between onlyand every thing: man lives not upon bread only, but upon everything (bread included) that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. On the word of God, creative and determining, from time to time changing what man shall live upon, but always the cause of this, man is utterly and always dependent. This is in harmony with the teaching of D throughout, that of all material blessings the God of Israel alone is the author. By translating every wordfor every thingthe LXX sways the meaning in another direction: that man lives not by material food only but by the spiritual guidance of God; and this is the antithesis which Christ appears to present in Matthew 4:4 [127]. Although such a higher spiritual meaning is not expressed in this verse, it underlies the context, which reminds Israel that God's providence of them has been not only physical, but moral as well.

[127] In his Synoptic GospelsMr C. G. Montefiore limits the meaning of Jesus to that of Deut.: -Jesus asserts that the word of God will provide for his physical needs. God can by his creative word fashion material whereby man's life can be sustained, as he did in the case of the manna. More simply, God will provide for the physical needs of his messenger."