_A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491._ This chapter gives us an account of the victualling of the camp of Israel. (1,) _ Their complaint for want of bread_, _Exo 16:1-3_ (2,) _ the notice God gave them of the provision he intended to make for them, Exodus 16:4._ (3,) _ The sending of the manna, Exodus 16:13._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Came into the wilderness of Sin_ Not immediately, for there is another stage of their journey by the Red sea, mentioned Numbers 33:10, (in which chapter, it appears, Moses designedly set down all their stations,) but omitted here, because nothing remarkable happened in it. This was a great wildern... [ Continue Reading ]
_The whole congregation murmured_ For want of bread, having consumed all the dough or flour which they had brought out of Egypt. A month's provision, it seems, the host of Israel took with them out of Egypt, when they came thence on the 15th day of the first month, which by the 15th of the second mo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Would to God we had died_ They so undervalue their deliverance, that they wish they had died in Egypt; nay, and died by the _hand of the Lord_ too. That is, by some of the plagues which cut off the Egyptians; as if it were not the hand of the Lord, but of Moses only, that brought them into this wil... [ Continue Reading ]
Man being made _out of the earth_, his Maker has wisely ordered him _food out of the earth_, Psalms 104:14. But the people of Israel typifying the _church of the firstborn_ that are written in heaven, receiving their charters, laws, and commissions from heaven; from heaven also they received their f... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall prepare_ Lay up, grind, bake, or boil. _The Lord brought you out of Egypt_ And not we, as you suggest, by our own counsel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall see the glory of the Lord_ Either this glorious work of God in giving you bread from heaven, or rather the glorious appearance of God in the cloud, as is mentioned in Exodus 16:10. _Come near before the Lord_ Before the cloudy pillar, where God was especially present.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall know that I am the Lord your God_ This gave proof of his power as _the Lord_, and his particular favour to them as _their God;_ when God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know that _he is the Lord;_ when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know that he was _their G... [ Continue Reading ]
_The quails came up_ So tame that they might be taken up, as many as they pleased. Although Ludolph has offered several arguments in his Ethiop. Hist. (l. 1. c. 13) to prove that the Hebrew word שׂלו _, selav_, here used, ought to be rendered _locusts;_ it is certain, from Psalms 78:27, that birds o... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the dew was gone up_ To wit, into the air; or was vanished, _there lay a small round thing_ According to Numbers 11:9, there was a dew which fell before the manna; for it is said, _when the dew fell in the night, the manna fell upon it._ But it appears here, that there was also a dew upon it,... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 what follows, they could not give it a name, for _they wist not what it was_ It is to be observed, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_According to his eating_ As much as is sufficient. An omer is the tenth part of an ephah: about six pints, wine measure. This was certainly a very liberal allowance, and such as might abundantly satisfy a man of the greatest strength and appetite. Indeed, it would seem too much, were it not that it... [ Continue Reading ]
_Some more, some less_ According as their families were more or less numerous; or as the gatherers were more or less strong and active in gathering it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that gathered much had nothing over_ Commentators interpret this in different ways. Some suppose that God wrought a miracle in this case, and so ordered it, that when they came to measure what they had gathered, the store of him that had gathered too much was miraculously diminished to the exact... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let no man leave of it till the morning_ For the provision of the next day, as distrusting God's care and goodness in giving him more. Not that every one was bound to eat the whole of what he had gathered; but they were to dissolve or burn it, as they did the remains of some sacrifices, or to consu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Some of them left of it till the morning_ Either distrusting God's providence, for a future supply, or out of curiosity to learn the nature of this _manna_, and what they might do if occasion required; _it bred worms and stank_ Not so much of its own nature, which was pure and durable, as from God'... [ Continue Reading ]
_It melted_ As much of it as was left upon the ground, not, it seems, from its own nature, which was so solid that it could endure the fire; but that it might not be corrupted, or trodden under foot, or despised, and that they might be compelled, as it were, to the more entire dependance upon God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread_ Considering God's present providence in causing it to fall in double proportion, and remembering that the next day was the sabbath day, which God had blessed and sanctified to his own immediate service, (Genesis 2:3,) and which, therefore, was not... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is that which the Lord hath spoken_ Either to Moses, by inspiration, or to the former patriarchs, on a like occasion. It is agreeable to the former word and law of God concerning the sabbath. _To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath_ Here is a plain intimation of the observing _a seventh-day... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord hath given you the sabbath_ Hath granted to you and to your fathers the great privilege of it, and the command to observe it. _Let no man go out of his place_ Out of his house or tent into the field to gather manna, as appears from the occasion and reason of the precept here before mention... [ Continue Reading ]
_It was like coriander-seed_ In size, not in colour, for that is dark coloured, but this was white, as is here said, or like bdellium or pearl, Numbers 11:7; _and its taste like wafers_ Or little cakes made with honey; that is, when it was raw, for when it was dressed, it was like fresh oil. The rea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take a pot_ A golden pot, Hebrews 9:4. For all the vessels of the sanctuary were of gold. _Lay it up before the Lord_ That is, in the tabernacle, and by the ark, when they should be built: _Before the testimony_ The _ark of the testimony_, or _witness_, because in it were the tables of the covenant... [ Continue Reading ]
_Israel did eat manna forty years_ That is, save one month, as appears from Joshua 5:11. As Moses did not live to see the cessation of the manna, some have supposed that the words of this verse were added by Ezra. But although Moses did not go into Canaan, yet he came to the borders of it, and he pe... [ Continue Reading ]