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Exodus 16:1-15

Listen to Exodus 16:1-15

Manna and Quail Provided

1 The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin,[a] which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.
2 The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!"
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven[b] for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions.
5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days."[c]
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
7 in the morning you will see the Lord's glory because He has heard your complaints about Him. For who are we that you complain about us?"
8 Moses continued, "The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and abundant bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord."
9 Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.' "
10 As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there, in a cloud, the Lord's glory appeared.[d]
11 The Lord spoke to Moses,
12 "I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God."
13 So at evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp.
14 When the layer of dew evaporated, there on the desert surface were fine flakes, as fine as frost on the ground.
15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, "What is it?" because they didn't know what it was. Moses told them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

Exodus 16:1-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 16

This chapter begins with an account of the journeying of the children of Israel from Elim to the wilderness of Sin, where they murmured for want of bread, Ex 16:1-3, when the Lord told Moses that he would rain bread from heaven for them, which Moses informed them of; and withal, that the Lord took notice of their murmurings, Ex 16:4-12 which promise the Lord fulfilled; and a description of the bread, and the name of it, are given, Ex 16:13-15, and some instructions are delivered out concerning the quantity of it to be gathered, Ex 16:16-18, the time of gathering and keeping it, Ex 16:19-21, the gathering a double quantity on the sixth day for that and the seventh day, with the reason of it, Ex 16:22-30 and a further description of it, Ex 16:31, and an order to preserve an omer of it in a pot, to be kept for generations to come, that it might be seen by them, Ex 16:32-34, and the chapter is concluded with observing, that this bread was ate by the Israelites forty years, even till they came to the borders of the land of Canaan, and the quantity they ate every day is observed what it was, Ex 16:35,36.

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Footnotes 4

  • [a] Ex 17:1; Nm 33:11-12
  • [b] Ps 78:24-25; Jn 6:31
  • [c] Lit as gathering day to day
  • [d] Ex 13:21-22; 24:16; 40:34-35
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

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