CHAPTER XVI _The Israelites journey from_ Elim, _and come to the wilderness of_ Sin, 1. _They murmur for lack of bread_, 2, 3. _God promises to rain bread from heaven for them_, 4, _of which they were to collect a double portion on the sixth day_, 5. _A miraculous supply of_ flesh _in the_ eve... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:2. _THE WHOLE CONGREGATION - MURMURED_] This is an additional proof of the degraded state of the minds of this people; Exodus 13:17. And this very circumstance affords a convincing argument that a people so stupidly carnal could not have been induced to leave Egypt had they not been... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:3. _THE FLESH POTS_] As the Hebrews were in a state of slavery in Egypt, they were doubtless fed in various companies by their task masters in particular places, where large _pots_ or _boilers_ were fixed for the purpose of cooking their victuals. To these there may be a reference in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:4. _I WILL RAIN BREAD_] Therefore this substance was not a production of the desert: nor was the dew that was the instrument of producing it _common_ there, else they must have had this bread for a month before.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:6. _YE SHALL KNOW THAT THE LORD HATH BROUGHT YOU OUT_] After all the miracles they had seen they appear still to suppose that their being brought out of Egypt was the work of Moses and Aaron; for though the miracles they had already seen were convincing for the time, yet as soon as t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:7. _YE SHALL SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD_] Does it not appear that the _glory of the Lord_ is here spoken of as something distinct from the Lord? for it is said HE (the glory) _heareth your_ _murmurings against the Lord_; though _the Lord_ may be here put for _himself_, the _anteceden... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:8. _IN THE EVENING FLESH TO EAT_] Viz., the _quails; and in_ _the morning bread to the full_, viz., the _manna_. _AND WHAT ARE WE?_] Only his servants, obeying his commands. _YOUR MURMURINGS_ ARE _NOT AGAINST US_] For _we_ have not brought you up from Egypt; _but against the Lord_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:9. _COME NEAR BEFORE THE LORD_] This has been supposed to refer to some particular _place_, where the Lord manifested his presence. The great tabernacle was not yet built, but there appears to have been a small _tabernacle_ or _tent_ called the _Tabernacle of the Congregation_, whic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:10. _AS AARON SPAKE_] So he now became the spokesman or minister of Moses to the Hebrews, as he had been before unto Pharaoh; according to what is written, Exodus 7:1, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:13. _AT EVEN THE QUAILS CAME_] שלו _selav_, from שלה _salah_, to be _quiet, easy_, or _secure_; and hence the _quail_, from their remarkably living at _ease_ and _plenty_ among the corn. "An amazing number of these birds," says Hasselquist, Travels, p. 209, "come to Egypt at this tim... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:14. _BEHOLD, UPON THE FACE OF THE WILDERNESS THERE_ LAY _A_ _SMALL ROUND THING_] It appears that this small round thing fell with the dew, or rather the dew fell first, and this substance fell _on it_. The dew might have been intended to cool the ground, that the manna on its fall mi... [ Continue Reading ]
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. The Hebrew מן הוא _man hu_, literally signifies, _What is this? for_, says the text, _they wist not... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:16. _AN OMER FOR EVERY MAN_] I shall here once for all give a short account of the measures of capacity among the Hebrews. OMER, עמר from the root _amar_, to _press, squeeze, collect_, and _bind together_; hence a _sheaf of corn _- a multitude of stalks _pressed together_. It is sup... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:17. _SOME MORE, SOME LESS._] According to their respective families, an _omer_ for a man; and according to the number of infirm persons whose wants they undertook to supply.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:18. _HE THAT GATHERED MUCH HAD NOTHING OVER_] Because his gathering was in proportion to the number of persons for whom he had to provide. And some having fewer, others more in family, and the gathering being in proportion to the persons who were to eat of it, therefore _he that gat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:19. _LET NO MAN LEAVE OF IT TILL THE MORNING._] For God would have them to take no thought for the morrow, and constantly to depend on him for their dally bread. And is not that petition in our Lord's prayer founded on this very circumstance, _Give us_ _day by day our daily bread_?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:20. _IT BRED WORMS_] Their sinful curiosity and covetousness led them to make the trial; and they had a mass of the most loathsome putrefaction for their pains. How gracious is God! He is continually rendering disobedience and sin irksome to the transgressor; that finding his evil wa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:22. _ON THE SIXTH DAY THEY GATHERED TWICE AS MUCH_] This they did that they might have a provision for the Sabbath, for on that day no manna fell, Exodus 16:26-2. What a convincing miracle was this! No manna fell on the Sabbath! Had it been a _natural_ production it would have fallen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:23. _TO-MORROW_ IS _THE REST OF THE HOLY SABBATH_] There is nothing either in the text or context that seems to intimate that the Sabbath was now _first_ given to the Israelites, as some have supposed: on the contrary, it is here spoken of as being perfectly well known, from its havi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:29. _ABIDE YE EVERY MAN IN HIS PLACE_] Neither go out to seek manna nor for any other purpose; rest at home and devote your time to religious exercises. Several of the Jews understood by _place_ in the text, the _camp_, and have generally supposed that no man should go out of the pl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:31. _CALLED THE NAME THEREOF MANNA_] Exodus 16:15, Exodus 16:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:32. _TO BE KEPT FOR YOUR GENERATIONS_] Exodus 16:9, Exodus 16:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:34. _LAID IT UP BEFORE THE TESTIMONY_] The עדות _eduth_ or _testimony_ belonged properly to the tabernacle, but that was not yet built. Some are of opinion that the tabernacle, built under the direction of Moses, was only a renewal of one that had existed in the patriarchal times. Ex... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:35. _THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID EAT MANNA FORTY YEARS_] From this verse it has been supposed that the book of Exodus was not written till _after_ the miracle of the manna had ceased. But these words might have been added by Ezra, who under the direction of the Divine Spirit collected... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Exodus 16:36. _NOW AN OMER_ IS _THE TENTH_ PART _OF AN EPHAH._] About _six pints_, English. Exodus 16:16. The true place of this verse seems to be immediately after Exodus 16:18, for _here_ it has no connection. 1. ON the miracle of the manna, which is the chief subject in this chapter, a go... [ Continue Reading ]