The unexpected cheque was manna from heaven.
manna from heaven
idiomAn unexpected benefit or help that arrives just when it is needed most.
Origin
The phrase comes from Exodus 16. The Israelites, starving in the desert after fleeing Egypt, wake to find the ground covered in a fine, flake-like substance they had never seen before. They ask each other, "What is it?" — in Hebrew, roughly "man hu" — and the name manna stuck to the food that kept them alive for forty years.
The point of the story is timing: the manna appears exactly when the people are on the edge of despair, and it falls fresh each morning, unearned and unexpected.
That is the sense English kept. Manna from heaven is any welcome help or windfall that arrives just when it is needed and from no effort of your own — a grant that saves a failing project, or rain that comes at the last moment to break a drought.
With the rent overdue, her bonus arrived like manna from heaven.
For a charity running on fumes, the anonymous donation was manna from heaven, buying another year of work no one had dared to count on.
Israel's escape from Egypt and the long march to Canaan.
- 01
the promised land (idiom)
A long-awaited goal or destination that promises freedom, reward, or a better life.
- 02
let my people go (idiom)
A demand for the freedom of an oppressed group from those who hold power over them.
- 03
a land flowing with milk and honey (idiom)
A place of great abundance, comfort, and prosperity.
- 04
scapegoat (word)
a person or group that people blame for something bad, even if it is not their fault. You use this when someone else is punished to make a problem go away.
- 05
olive-branch (word)
A sign or offer of peace, reconciliation, or goodwill.