Commentaries Dictionaries Concordances

Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary

Exodus 16:15

It is manna; or, What is this ? which best suits with the following reason, for they wist not what it was. Man signifies what in the Egyptian tongue; and it is not strange that the Israelites use one of their words, being newly come out of their land. Hence this is called manna; but it is of a different nature from the ordinary manna, which now we use only as physic for purging; whereas this manna was food, and nourishing, being prepared by the great God for this use.

Continues after advertising

See also Exodus 16:15 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Exodus 16:15. _THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER, IT_ IS _MANNA: FOR THEY WIST_ _NOT WHAT IT_ WAS.] This is a most unfortunate translation, because it not only gives no sense, but it contradicts itself....

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    IT IS MANNA - “Man” or “man-hut,” i. e. white manna, was the name under which the substance was known to the Egyptians, and therefore to the Israelites. The manna of the Peninsula of Sinai is the swee...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    XVI. MANNA AND QUAILS (Exodus 16:1 P, Exodus 16:4 a(b) - Exodus 16:5 J, (Exodus 16:6 f.,...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    "IT IS MANNA". Hebrew. _man-hu. "_ What is that? for they knew not what 'that' was". See on Exodus 16:31. WIST. knew. From Anglo-Saxon, _witan, to_ know. IT. that. THIS. that....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER, IT IS MANNA, &C.— There is a seeming contradiction in our version: we read, They said, _it is manna;_ and yet, in the next clause, it is added, _for they wist not what it was...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 16 And they took their journey from E-lim, and all the congregation of the children of Is-ra-el came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between E-Iim and Si-nai, on th...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _AND WHEN THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SAW IT, THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER, IT IS MANNA: FOR THEY WIST NOT WHAT IT WAS. AND MOSES SAID UNTO THEM, THIS IS THE BREAD WHICH THE LORD HATH GIVEN YOU TO EAT._ They...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    16:15 it? (c-15) 'What is it?' or 'gift' -- the meaning of Manna, ver. 31. Heb. _ man_ ....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THIRD MURMURING. SENDING OF THE MANNA 1. Pursuing their march southward, the Israelites come at the end of the first month after their departure from Egypt to the WILDERNESS OF SIN, forming the SW. bo...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    IT _IS_ MANNA] Heb. 'what is it?' so rightly in RV. What is now known as manna is a sweet gum which exudes from various shrubs and from the tamarisk tree, and is used medicinally. None of its varietie...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    EXODUS: ISRAEL BECOMES A NATION THE *ISRAELITES LEAVE EGYPT EXODUS CHAPTER S 1 TO 18 _HILDA BRIGHT AND KITTY PRIDE_ CHAPTER 16 FOOD FROM HEAVEN – VERSES 1-36 GOD PROMISES FOOD – VERSES 1-12 V...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    IT IS MANNA. — This is certainly a wrong translation. The words of the original, _man hu,_ must either be rendered, as in the LXX. And the Vulg., “What is this ?” Or, as by Kimchi, Knobel, Gesenius, K...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וַ יִּרְא֣וּ בְנֵֽי ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וַ יֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    THE MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS Exodus 16:13 The manna was typical of Christ. See John 6:31. He came down from heaven to bring God's life within the reach of man. It is not enough that God has made so ri...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    From Elim the people moved into the dreariness of the great wilderness and began to be conscious of the scarcity of some of the things which they had had, even in the midst of Egyptian slavery. There...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    And when the children of Israel saw [it], they said one to another, It [is] (f) manna: for they wist not what it [was]. And Moses said unto them, This [is] the bread which the LORD hath given you to e...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    Manhu. St. Jerome adds the explanation, (Du Hamel) which is almost universally adopted, though some pretend that man, even in Chaldean, means who, and not what? Calmet refers them to Psalm lx. 7, for...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    Manna, or as it is, Man-hu; that is, what is it? A nameless, great mercy: sweet and pleasant to the taste, and probably from its qualities medicinal also. Under how many and various ways was it recomm...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    There is hardly a book of the Old Testament that stands out in more decided contrast with the book of Genesis than the one which follows it most closely. And this is the more striking, because God emp...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _BREAD FROM HEAVEN_ ‘The bread which the Lord hath given.’ Exodus 16:15 Six weeks of the desert, part of which was spent beside the wells and under the palm-trees of Elim, were enough to sicken the...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    15._And when the children of Israel saw. _The Israelites manifested some appearance of gratitude in calling the food given them from heaven, _Man_, (178) which name means “something prepared;” but if...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 16 AND 17. But now the difficulties of the way arrive. They travel three days without water-a sad effect, in appearance, of such a deliverance; and then the w...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    AND WHEN THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SAW IT,.... As they could not but observe it, it being spread over the face of the wilderness; and besides, as they were told, that in the morning they should have brea...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    And when the children of Israel saw [it], they said one to another, It [is] manna: for they wist not what it [was]. And Moses said unto them, This [is] the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat....

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _They said one to another, It is manna_ The original words, מן הוא, _man hu_, should certainly have been rendered here, as they literally mean, _what is it?_ or _what is this?_ for it is plain, from w...

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 The Israelites come to Sin. 2 They murmure for want of bread. 4 God promiseth them bread from heauen. 11 Quailes are sent, 14 and Manna. 16 The ordering of Manna. 25 It was not to bee found on...

  • Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures

    FIFTH SECTION The journey through the wilderness to Sinai. Want of water. Marah. Elim. The Wilderness of Sin. Quails. Manna. Rephidim (Massah and Meribah). The Amalekites. Jethro and his advice, a hu...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    BREAD FROM HEAVEN FOR THE WILDERNESS (vs.1-36) Just one month following the Passover in Egypt, Israel, leaving the refreshment of Elim's oasis, came into "the wilderness of sin" (v.1). Sin means "tho...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    IT IS MANNA: Or, what is this? or it is a portion...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    13-21 At evening the quails came up, and the people caught with ease as many as they needed. The manna came down in dew. They called it "Manna, Manhu," which means, "What is this?" "It is a portion;...

  • Notes on the Pentateuch by Charles Henry Mackintosh

    "And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month af...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Exodus 16:15 children H1121 Israel H3478 saw H7200 (H8799) said H559 (H8799) one H376 another H251 it...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    CHAPTER 16 GOD PROVIDES MANNA AND QUAILS FOR HIS PEOPLE - THE SIGN OF THE SEVENTH DAY (EXODUS 16:2). In this chapter God provides both meat and ‘bread' for His people. The passage continues to reveal...

  • Scofield's Bible Commentary

    MANNA (_ See Scofield) - (Exodus 16:35). _...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Exodus 16:1. _And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the se...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Murmuring of the people. Manna and quails given by God. CHARACTERS: God, Moses, Aaron. CONCLUSION: The believer is apt to forget a thousand mercies in the presence of one trifling privatio...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Exodus 16:1. _The fifteenth day of the second month;_ that is, Jiar, or the 30th of April. See the table, chap. 12. Exodus 16:2. _Israel murmured._ They wantonly said as in Psalms 78:20, Can the Lord...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Manna._ THE MANNA I. Its mystic character. “What is this?” Christ was a mystery to His contemporaries. So is the Christian to his. “The world knoweth you not.” II. Its uses. To save from starvatio...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    EXODUS—NOTE ON EXODUS 16:15 The term “manna” (see v. Exodus 16:31) sounds like the Hebrew phrase “WHAT IS IT?” (see esv footnote)....

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL NOTES.— Exodus 16:13. Quails.] Heb. שלו. “so called from its fatness” (Gesenius). According to all accounts, the “quail” abounds in those regions. EXODUS 16:15. MANNA.] It is evidently prema...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION THE PROMISE FULFILLED. Moses had made a double promise to the Israelites in God's name. "The Lord shall give you," he had said," in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    The children of Israel are moving now through the wilderness. And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is betwee...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    it is manna or what is this? or it is a portion Exodus 16:31 Exodus 16:33 Deuteronomy 8:3 Deuteronomy 8:16...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    What is this? Manna descended from the clouds. It came down in dew melted, and yet was itself of such a consistency as to serve for nourishing strengthening food, without any thing else: It was pleasa...

Continues after advertising