Exodus 16:5

On the sixth day — i.e., the sixth day after the first giving of the manna (Kalisch). Although in Babylonia, from a time certainly earlier than the Exodus, a Sabbath was observed on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth day of each month (Sayce: Records of the Past, vol. vii., pp. 157-167), yet we have no evidence that the year was divided into weeks, much less that the several days of the week were known as the first, second, third, fourth, &c. In Egypt, the week of seven days was at this time unknown.

They shall prepare. — On the method of preparation see Numbers 11:8.

It shall be twice as much. — Some suppose this to be a command — “Ye shall gather twice as much;” but it is more natural to take it as an announcement of a fact — “You will find that what you have gathered turns out to be twice as much.” (So Kurtz, Kalisch, and Knobel.) A miraculous doubling of the quantity seems to be intended. (Comp. Exodus 16:22.)