During the 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelite them main food was the Manna. (Ex. 16:35) Jehovah also provide quail for them two different times. (Ex. 16:​12, 13; Num. 11:31) But, the Israelite them was having some other food to eat too.

For example, sometime Jehovah use to carry his people to the place where they was having water to drink and food to eat in the wilderness. (Num. 10:33) One of the place he carry them was Elim. It was having 12 creeks and 70 palm trees. Maybe this palm tree them was date palms. (Ex. 15:27) The book Plants of the Bible say the date palm “that use to grow in plenty different-different area, that the main plant people can use for food in the desert. Plenty people can use it to get food, oil and even place to live.”

Maybe the Israelite them also stop to one big water area in the desert that they can call Feiran today. It part of the river valley they call Wadi Feiran. a The book Discovering the World of the Bible say, this river valley “81 miles [130 km] long and it one of the longest and very fine river valley in Sinai that plenty people know.” This same book say: “If somebody travel 28 miles from where the river and the sea can meet, he will reach to the big water they call Feiran. This big water area about 2,000 feet above sea level and it 3 miles long. It get plenty palm trees and it so beautiful that people can compare it to the garden of Eden. For plenty years, people been going there because of the plenty date palms.”

When the Israelite them was leaving Egypt, they carry flour, pan them to mix the flour in and maybe some grain and oil. That true, this thing them never stay long. The people also carry plenty animals with them. (Ex. 12:​34-39) But maybe plenty of this animal them die because things was really hard in the wilderness. Also, maybe they eat some of them or they use some of them for sacrifice, even to their false god them. b (Acts 7:​39-43) But the Israelites were still having some animal them. We  can see this one from what Jehovah told his people when they disobey him: “Your sons will become shepherds in the wilderness 40 years.” (Num. 14:33) So it possible that they use to get milk from the animals and eat some of them sometime. But it was not enough to continue feeding around three million people for 40 years. c

How the animal them use to get food and water? d Maybe at that time, the rain use to fall plenty in the wilderness and more plants use to grow there. Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1, the article Arabia, say that 3,500 years ago, “plenty water use to be in the area where the Israelite them use to be, more than today. We know this one because plenty deep and dry valleys there that came from rivers that use to be there before.” With all this one, the wilderness that was desert and that was scary place. (Deut. 8:​14-16) If Jehovah was not coming perform miracle for the Israelites and their animals, all of them were coming die.—Ex. 15:​22-25; 17:​1-6; Num. 20:​2, 11.

Moses told the Israelite them that Jehovah gave them the manna to eat so they can know that man can’t live just by bread alone but by everything that Jehovah say.—Deut. 8:3.