Image Details

Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Wracked by despair and hunger, the children of Israel are saved by heavenly manna in this 1639 painting by Nicolas Poussin. As the manna alleviates their hunger (Numbers 11), so Moses’ burden is eased: Having gathered 70 elders around him, Moses will no longer be forced to bear the burden of command on his shoulders alone. Of these elders, only two are referred to by name. Eldad and Medad are, as Elie Wiesel notes, “two dreamers who make us dream.” Marked by humility and prescience, the two could foresee the future, while their peers could look only as far as the next day.