Exodus 16:20-36

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers^[a] for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.

23 He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ”

24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.

25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today.

26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.

28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you^[b] refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?

29 Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.”

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the bread manna.^[c] It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

32 Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ ”

33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come.”

34 As the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved.

35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

36 (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)

Read Chapter Compare

Exodus 16:20-36 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 15

1. ver 24
2. Exodus 32:19
3. S ver 5
4. Exodus 34:31
5. S Genesis 2:3; S Exodus 20:8; Exodus 23:12; Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5:13-14
6. ver 23; Exodus 20:9-10
7. Joshua 9:14; 2 Kings 17:14; Psalms 78:10; Psalms 106:13; Psalms 107:11; Psalms 119:1; Jeremiah 32:23
8. S ver 14; Numbers 11:7-9
9. Hebrews 9:4; Revelation 2:17
10. Ex 25:16,21,22; Exodus 27:21; Exodus 31:18; Exodus 40:20; Leviticus 16:13; Numbers 1:50; Numbers 7:89; Numbers 10:11; Numbers 17:4,10; Deuteronomy 10:2; 1 Kings 8:9; 2 Chronicles 5:10
11. John 6:31,49
12. Numbers 14:33; Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 1:3; Deuteronomy 2:7; Deuteronomy 8:2-4; Joshua 5:6; Judges 3:11; Nehemiah 9:21; Psalms 95:10; Amos 5:25
13. Joshua 5:12
14. S ver 16
15. Leviticus 5:11; Leviticus 6:20; Numbers 5:15; Numbers 15:4; Numbers 28:5

Footnotes 3

[a]. That is, possibly about 6 pounds or about 2.8 kilograms
[b]. The Hebrew is plural.
[c]. "Manna" sounds like the Hebrew for "What is it?" (see verse 15).

Exodus 16:20-36

Share

Settings

Exodus 16:20-36 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 16

Cross References 15

Footnotes 3