Shemot 16:21

21 And they gathered it every boker, every man according to his eating [need]; and when the shemesh grew hot, it melted.

Shemot 16:21 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 16:21

And they gathered it every morning
From the time the morning began, during four hours, or to the fourth hour, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, till ten o'clock in the morning: this was a very wonderful thing that bread should be provided and rained every morning about the camp of Israel, in such plenty as to be sufficient to feed such a vast body of people; and that for forty years together:

every man according to his eating;
according to the number of persons he had in his family to eat of it, and as much as everyone could eat; there never was any lack or scarcity of it, but every morning there it was for them, and they gathered it, an omer for everyone:

and when the sun waxed hot, it melted;
and so what was left ungathered, being exhaled by the sun and laid up in the clouds, generated and increased, and became a provision to be let down the next morning; it being the will of God that it should not be trampled upon or exposed; and that the Israelites might be diligent, and not neglect the time of gathering it: and the Targum of Jonathan says, from the fourth hour, or ten o'clock and onward, the sun was hot upon it and melted it, which is the time of day when the sun is hottest: and some things, we may observe, are hardened by the sun, and others are softened, as the manna was, even to a liquefaction; though otherwise it was of so hard a nature as to be beaten in a mortar and ground in a mill, ( Numbers 11:8 ) .

Shemot 16:21 In-Context

19 And Moshe said, Let no ish leave of it until boker.
20 Notwithstanding, they paid heed not unto Moshe; but some left part of it until boker, and [the leftovers] bred tola’im (worms), and stank; and Moshe was angry with them.
21 And they gathered it every boker, every man according to his eating [need]; and when the shemesh grew hot, it melted.
22 And it came to pass, that on yom hashishi they gathered twice as much lechem, two omers for one man; and all the nesi’im of the Edah came and told Moshe.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which Hashem hath said, Tomorrow is a Shabbaton (day of rest), Shabbos Kodesh unto Hashem; bake that which ye will bake today, and boil that ye will boil; and that which remaineth over lay up for you for mishmeret (for keeping) until boker.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.