Exodus 16:1-8

1 And they departed from Aelim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Aelim and Sina; and on the fifteenth day, in the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt,

2 all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.

3 And the children of Israel said to them, Would we had died smitten by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and ate bread to satiety! for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to slay all this congregation with hunger.

4 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I rain bread upon you out of heaven: and the people shall go forth, and they shall gather their daily portion for the day, that I may try them whether they will walk in my law or not.

5 And it shall come to pass on the sixth day that they shall prepare whatsoever they have brought in, and it shall be double of what they shall have gathered for the day, daily.

6 And Moses and Aaron said to all the congregation of the children of Israel, At even ye shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt;

7 and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord, inasmuch as he hears your murmuring against God; and who are we, that ye continue to murmur against us?

8 And Moses said, when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety, because the Lord has heard your murmuring, which ye murmur against us: and what are we? for your murmuring is not against us, but against God.

Exodus 16:1-8 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.