Exodus · Chapter 16

V. 1. 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 day of the second month, was all spent.

Verse 1. The wilderness of Sin] This desert lies between Elim and Sinai, and from Elim, Dr. Shaw says, Mount Sinai can be seen distinctly. Mr. Ainsworth supposes that this wilderness had its name from a strong city of Egypt called Sin, near which it lay. See Ezekiel 30:15,16. Before they came to the wilderness of Sin, they had a previous encampment by the Red Sea after they left Elim, of which Moses makes distinct mention Numbers 33:10,11.

The fifteenth day of the second month] This was afterwards called Ijar, and they had now left Egypt one month, during which It is probable they lived on the provisions they brought with them from Rameses, though it is possible they might have had a supply from the seacoast. Concerning Mount Sinai, See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 19:1”.

Verse 1. 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 wilderness between the Red sea and mount Sinai, different and far distant from that Zin mentioned Numbers 20:1, which was near the land of Edom.

Verse 1. The fifteenth day of the second month; that is, Jiar, or the 30th of April. See the table, chap. 12.

THE MURMURING IN THE DESERT OF SIN, 1-3.

1. The wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai — That is, between them by the route which a caravan of this kind would naturally take, not between them as a bird would fly. If Elim be Gharandel, as we think to be certain, there is no other way for such a host as this to have reached Sinai than by the Wady Taiyebeh, which leads to the seashore and the great maritime plain of el Murkha. See Introduction, (1.) The “wilderness of Sin” seems, then, to be this flat seacoast strip of desert, which, further south, broadens into el Ka’a (or el Ga’ah) stretching down to Ras (Cape) Mohammed. This is a vast, flat waste of sand and black flints, without shade, or water, or life, except in the lower ends of the few wadies which lead up from it into the Sinai mountains, and is, perhaps, the most desolate tract in all Arabia. How natural that in this thirsty, featureless wilderness they should remember all the good things of the fat Nile-land whose far-off mountains they had seen so clearly as they descended into the plain, and probably now saw dimly sketched against the western horizon. Probably they brought water upon their cattle and in their wagons from the Wady Taiyebeh, and encamped at the mouths of several wadies which led down into the plain. All the congregation — Implying a rallying of all the scattered parties from the slopes and valleys of Mount Hammam into the plain, in order to make a “new departure,” and turn into the mountains of Sinai. Fifteenth day of the second month of the year of the Exode; just a month after they left Rameses.

V. 2. Then the whole congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron-God’s viceregents among them.

Verse 2. The whole congregation-murmured] This is an additional proof of the degraded state of the minds of this people; See Clarke’s note on “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 persuaded so to do by the most evident and striking miracles. Human nature can never be reduced to a more abject state in this world than that in which the body is enthralled by political slavery, and the soul debased by the influence of sin. These poor Hebrews were both slaves and sinners, and were therefore capable of the meanest and most disgraceful acts.

Verse 2. 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 month was all spent. Against Moses and Aaron — God’s vicegerents among them. How weak and perverse is human nature! They had just seen the bitter waters instantaneously made sweet to assuage their thirst, and a little while before had been miraculously delivered at the Red sea, when there seemed to be no possible way for their escape; and yet so far were they from learning to trust in that divine, almighty Providence, that had so wonderfully and so evidently wrought for them, that on the very first difficulty and distress they break out into the most desponding murmurings!

Ver. 2. Israel murmured. They wantonly said as in Psalm 78:20, Can the Lord give us bread also; can he provide flesh for his people?

2. The whole congregation… murmured — The stores that they had brought from Egypt were now exhausted, although they obtained much sustenance from their herds and flocks; but they saw nothing to eat in this barren waste, and looked forward with terror to the long journey that was yet before them. A month’s experience of the desert had broken the courage of the whole host, and there was a general disaffection and rebellion, though there were doubtless individual instances of patience and of faith. The present suffering blotted out of remembrance the wonderful experiences of the Red Sea and of Marah. So short was their memory of God’s goodness!

V. 3. 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 wilderness. ‘Tis common for people to say of that pain, or sickness, which they see not second causes of, It is what pleaseth God, as if that were not so likewise which comes by the hand of man, or some visible accident. We cannot suppose they had any great plenty in Egypt, how largely soever they now talk of the flesh-pots, nor could they fear dying for want in the wilderness while they had their flocks and herds with them; but discontent magnifies what is past, and vilifies what is present, without regard to truth or reason. None talk more absurdly than murmurers.

Verse 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 this place, and the whole speech only goes to prove that they preferred their bondage in Egypt to their present state in the wilderness; for they could not have been in a state of absolute want, as they had brought an abundance of flocks and herds with them out of Egypt.

Verse 3. 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 wilderness! It is common for people to say of that pain or sickness of which they see not the second causes, It is what pleaseth God, as if that were not so likewise which comes by the hand of man, or some visible accident. We cannot suppose they had any great plenty in Egypt, how largely soever they now talk of the flesh-pots, nor could they fear dying for want in the wilderness while they had their flocks and herds with them; but discontent magnifies what is past, and vilifies what is present, without regard to truth or reason. None talk more absurdly than murmurers.

3. Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord, in the plagues that destroyed the Egyptians. In the infatuation of their impatience and unbelief they envied the lot of their slain oppressors! Such ingratitude and forgetfulness of God’s grace and strength seem incredible till we look within our own hearts. When we sat by the flesh pots — The abundant beef and poultry and fish of Egypt came up in vivid remembrance, and also the juicy cucumbers and luscious melons of the field of Zoan, (Numbers 11:4, 5,) as they hungered and thirsted in the bare, blazing desert.

The opposite cut shows an Egyptian kitchen of the time of Rameses III, and reveals precisely the scenes that rose in the imaginations of the hungry Israelites.

Ye have brought us forth — As if their devoted and self-sacrificing leaders were the cause of all their sufferings! So unreasonable, selfish, and cruel is unbelief.

V. 4. Man being made out of the earth, his Maker has wisely ordered him food out of the earth, Psalm 104:14. But the people of Israel typifying the church of the first-born that are written in heaven, receiving their charters, laws and commissions from heaven, from heaven also they received their food. See what God designed in making this provision for them, that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law or no-Whether they will trust me, and whether they would serve him, and be ever faithful to so good a master.

Verse 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.

Verse 4. Man being made out of the earth, his Maker has wisely ordered him food out of the earth, Psalm 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 food. See what God designed in making this provision for them; that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no — Whether they would trust and serve him, and be ever faithful to so good a master.

THE PROMISE OF MANNA AND QUAILS, 4-12.

4, 5. Bread from heaven — A miraculous provision. See Introduction,

(2.) Without a miracle this great host of two millions could never have subsisted in the desert for forty years. Yet they were not entirely dependent upon the manna. They got milk from their flocks and herds, probably traded the products of their cattle with the desert tribes, and perhaps, in this forty years’ sojourn, some halted long enough in some of the fertile wadies to lay them under cultivation. They shifted their camping grounds with the seasons, as do the Bedouins to-day, in order to find the best pasturage for their cattle. Yet this manna supply was an important part of the national education of Israel for their great mission to mankind. The national history and poetry, as found in the Psalms and Prophets especially, show how deeply this event stamped itself upon the soul of Israel. That I may prove them — Israel was to learn that God gives daily bread, and the sixth day’s provision was especially to test their obedience.

V. 5. They shall prepare-Lay up, grind, bake or boil.

Verses 5, 6. 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.

THE PROMISE OF MANNA AND QUAILS, 4-12.

4, 5. Bread from heaven — A miraculous provision. See Introduction,

(2.) Without a miracle this great host of two millions could never have subsisted in the desert for forty years. Yet they were not entirely dependent upon the manna. They got milk from their flocks and herds, probably traded the products of their cattle with the desert tribes, and perhaps, in this forty years’ sojourn, some halted long enough in some of the fertile wadies to lay them under cultivation. They shifted their camping grounds with the seasons, as do the Bedouins to-day, in order to find the best pasturage for their cattle. Yet this manna supply was an important part of the national education of Israel for their great mission to mankind. The national history and poetry, as found in the Psalms and Prophets especially, show how deeply this event stamped itself upon the soul of Israel. That I may prove them — Israel was to learn that God gives daily bread, and the sixth day’s provision was especially to test their obedience.

V. 6. The Lord-And not we, (as you suggest) by our own counsel.

Verse 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 they had passed by they relapsed into their former infidelity. God therefore saw it necessary to give them a daily miracle in the fall of the manna, that they might have the proof if his Divine interposition constantly before their eyes. Thus they knew that Jehovah had brought them out, and that it was not the act of Moses and Aaron.

Verses 5, 6. 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.

6-8. Moses and Aaron repeat God’s promises to Israel, foretell his providing mercy, and rebuke their faithless and rebellious complaints.

Verse 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 antecedent instead of the relative. This passage may receive some light from Hebrews 1:3: Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, &c. And as St. Paul’s words are spoken of the Lord Jesus, is it not likely that the words of Moses refer to him also? “No man hath seen God at any time;” hence we may infer that Christ was the visible agent in all the extraordinary and miraculous interferences which took place both in the patriarchal times and under the law.

Verses 7-9. 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 verse 10. Come near before the Lord — Before the cloudy pillar, where God was especially present.

6-8. Moses and Aaron repeat God’s promises to Israel, foretell his providing mercy, and rebuke their faithless and rebellious complaints.

Verse 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, who, by his own miraculous power and goodness, has brought you out of your slavery.

Verses 7-9. 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 verse 10. Come near before the Lord — Before the cloudy pillar, where God was especially present.

6-8. Moses and Aaron repeat God’s promises to Israel, foretell his providing mercy, and rebuke their faithless and rebellious complaints.

Verse 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, which, after the sin of the golden calf, was always placed without the camp; see Exodus 33:7: And Moses took the Tabernacle and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it The Tabernacle of the Congregation; and it came to pass that every one that sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation, which was without the camp. This could not be that portable temple which is described Exodus 26:1-37, &c., and which was not set up till the first day of the first month of the second year, after their departure from Egypt, (Exodus 40:1-2,) which was upwards of ten months after the time mentioned in this chapter; and notwithstanding this, the Israelites are commanded (Exodus 16:34) to lay up an omer of the manna before the testimony, which certainly refers to an ark, tabernacle, or some such portable shrine, already in existence. If the great tabernacle be intended, the whole account of laying up the manna must be introduced here by anticipation, Moses finishing the account of what was afterwards done, because the commencement of those circumstances which comprehended the reasons of the fact itself took place now. See Clarke note on “Exodus 16:34”.

But from the reasonings in the preceding verses it appears that much infidelity still reigned in the hearts of the people; and in order to convince them that it was God and not Moses that had brought them out of Egypt, he (Moses) desired them to come near, or pay particular attention to some extraordinary manifestation of the Lord. And we are told in the tenth verse, that “as Aaron spake unto them, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold the glory of the Lord appeared, and the Lord spake unto Moses,” &c. Is not this passage explained by Exodus 19:9, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear, when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever?” May we not conclude that Moses invited them to come near before the Lord, and so witness his glory, that they might be convinced it was God and not he that led them out of Egypt, and that they ought to submit to him, and cease from their murmurings? It is said, Exodus 19:17, that Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God. And in this instance there might have been a similar though less awful manifestation of the Divine presence.

Verses 7-9. 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 verse 10. Come near before the Lord — Before the cloudy pillar, where God was especially present.

9-12. Moses directs Aaron to gather the people before the cloudy pillar from which flashed the Divine glory. Ye shall know that I am the Lord (JEHOVAH) your God — This was the grand and worthy object of this wondrous miracle, as all its successive steps reveal; while at the same time Moses and Aaron, against whom they had murmured, were to be vindicated. First the people were made to deeply feel their want; then the Lord reveals his purpose to Moses, who had himself been so sorely tried by their distrust and rebellion; then Moses communicates it to Aaron, who gathers the people in solemn assembly before the Lord; and then Jehovah reveals himself in the mysterious Shekinah to Moses, and finally fulfils his promise by sending, first, quails in the evening, and then manna in the morning.

V. 10. The glory of the Lord-An extra-ordinary and sudden brightness.

Verse 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.

9-12. Moses directs Aaron to gather the people before the cloudy pillar from which flashed the Divine glory. Ye shall know that I am the Lord (JEHOVAH) your God — This was the grand and worthy object of this wondrous miracle, as all its successive steps reveal; while at the same time Moses and Aaron, against whom they had murmured, were to be vindicated. First the people were made to deeply feel their want; then the Lord reveals his purpose to Moses, who had himself been so sorely tried by their distrust and rebellion; then Moses communicates it to Aaron, who gathers the people in solemn assembly before the Lord; and then Jehovah reveals himself in the mysterious Shekinah to Moses, and finally fulfils his promise by sending, first, quails in the evening, and then manna in the morning.

9-12. Moses directs Aaron to gather the people before the cloudy pillar from which flashed the Divine glory. Ye shall know that I am the Lord (JEHOVAH) your God — This was the grand and worthy object of this wondrous miracle, as all its successive steps reveal; while at the same time Moses and Aaron, against whom they had murmured, were to be vindicated. First the people were made to deeply feel their want; then the Lord reveals his purpose to Moses, who had himself been so sorely tried by their distrust and rebellion; then Moses communicates it to Aaron, who gathers the people in solemn assembly before the Lord; and then Jehovah reveals himself in the mysterious Shekinah to Moses, and finally fulfils his promise by sending, first, quails in the evening, and then manna in the morning.

V. 12. And 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 God.

Verse 12. 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 God.

9-12. Moses directs Aaron to gather the people before the cloudy pillar from which flashed the Divine glory. Ye shall know that I am the Lord (JEHOVAH) your God — This was the grand and worthy object of this wondrous miracle, as all its successive steps reveal; while at the same time Moses and Aaron, against whom they had murmured, were to be vindicated. First the people were made to deeply feel their want; then the Lord reveals his purpose to Moses, who had himself been so sorely tried by their distrust and rebellion; then Moses communicates it to Aaron, who gathers the people in solemn assembly before the Lord; and then Jehovah reveals himself in the mysterious Shekinah to Moses, and finally fulfils his promise by sending, first, quails in the evening, and then manna in the morning.

V. 13. The quails came up, and covered the camp-So tame that they might take up as many of them as they pleased. Next morning he rained manna upon them, which was to be continued to them for their daily bread.

Verse 13. At even the quails came] wlc selav, from hlc 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 time, (March,) for in this month the wheat ripens. They conceal themselves among the corn, but the Egyptians know that they are thieves, and when they imagine the field to be full of them they spread a net over the corn and make a noise, by which the birds, being frightened, and endeavouring to rise, are caught in the net in great numbers, and make a most delicate and agreeable dish.” The Abbé Pluche tells us, in his Histoire du Ciel, that the quail was among the ancient Egyptians the emblem of safety and security.

“Several learned men, particularly the famous Ludolf, Bishop Patrick, and Scheuchzer, have supposed that the µywlc selavim eaten by the Israelites were locusts. But not to insist on other arguments against this interpretation, they are expressly called rav sheer, flesh, Psalm 78:27, which surely locusts are not; and the Hebrew word is constantly rendered by the Septuagint ortugomhtra, a large kind of quail, and by the Vulgate coturnices, quails. Compare Wisdom 16:2, 19:12; Numbers 11:31, 32; Psalm 105:40; and on Numbers xi. observe that כאמתים keamathayim should be rendered, not two cubits high, but as Mr. Bate translates it, ‘two cubits distant, (i.e., one from the other,) for quails do not settle like the locusts one upon another, but at small distances.’ And had the quails lain for a day’s journey round the camp, to the great height of two cubits, upwards of three feet, the people could not have been employed two days and a night in gathering them. The spreading them round the camp was in order to dry them in the burning sands for use, which is still practised in Egypt.” See Parkhurst, sub voce hlc salah. The difficulties which encumber the text, supposing these to be quails, led Bishop Patrick to imagine them to be locusts. The difficulties are three: “1. Their coming by a wind. 2. Their immense quantities, covering a circle of thirty or forty miles, two cubits thick. 3. Their being spread in the sun for drying, which would have been preposterous had they been quails, for it would have made them corrupt the sooner; but this is the principal way of preparing locusts to keep for a month or more, when they are boiled or otherwise dressed.” This difficulty he thinks interpreters pass over, who suppose quails to be intended in the text. Mr. Harmer takes up the subject, removes the bishop’s difficulties, and vindicates the common version. “These difficulties appear pressing, or at least the two last; nevertheless, I have met with several passages in books of travels, which I shall here give an account of, that they may soften them; perhaps my reader may think they do more.

“No interpreters, the bishop complains, supposing they were quails, account for the spreading them out in the sun. Perhaps they have not. Let me then translate a passage of Maillet, which relates to a little island which covers one of the ports of Alexandria: ‘It is on this island, which lies farther into the sea than the main land of Egypt, that the birds annually alight which come hither for refuge in autumn, in order to avoid the severity of the cold of our winters in Europe. There is so large a quantity of all sorts taken there, that after these little birds have been stripped of their feathers, and buried in the burning sands for about half a quarter of an hour, they are worth but two sols the pound. The crews of those vessels which in that season lie in the harbour of Alexandria, have no other meat allowed them.’ Among other refugees of that time, Maillet elsewhere expressly mentions quails, which are, therefore, I suppose, treated after this manner. This passage then does what, according to the bishop, no commentator has done; it explains the design of spreading these creatures, supposing they were quails, round about the camp; it was to dry them in the burning sands in order to preserve them for use. So Maillet tells us of their drying fish in the sun of Egypt, as well as of their preserving others by means of pickle. Other authors speak of the Arabs drying camel’s flesh in the sun and wind, which, though it be not at all salted, will if kept dry remain good a long while, and which oftentimes, to save themselves the trouble of dressing, they will eat raw. This is what St. Jerome may be supposed to refer to, when he calls the food of the Arabs carnes semicrudæ. This drying then of flesh in the sun is not so preposterous as the bishop imagined. On the other hand, none of the authors that speak of their way of preserving locusts in the east, so far as I at present recollect, give any account of drying them in the sun. They are, according to Pellow, first purged with water and salt, boiled in new pickle, and then laid up in dry salt. So, Dr. Russel says, the Arabs eat these insects when fresh, and also salt them up as a delicacy. Their immense quantities also forbid the bishop’s believing they were quails; and in truth he represents this difficulty in all its force, perhaps too forcibly. A circle of forty miles in diameter, all covered with quails to the depth of more than forty-three inches, without doubt is a startling representation of this matter: and I would beg leave to add that the like quantity of locusts would have been very extraordinary: but then this is not the representation of Scripture; it does not even agree with it; for such a quantity of either quails or locusts would have made the clearing of places for spreading them out, and the passing of Israel up and down in the neighbourhood of the camp, very fatiguing, which is not supposed.

“Josephus supposed they were quails, which he says are in greater numbers thereabouts than any other kinds of birds; and that, having crossed the sea to the camp of Israel, they who in common fly nearer the ground than most other birds, flew so low through the fatigue of their passage as to be within reach of the Israelites. This explains what he thought was meant by the two cubits from the face of the earth-their flying within three or four feet of the ground.

“And when I read Dr. Shaw’s account of the way in which the Arabs frequently catch birds that they have tired, that is, by running in upon them and knocking them down with their zerwattys, or bludgeons, as we should call them, I think I almost see the Israelites before me pursuing the poor, fatigued, and languid quails.

“This is indeed a laborious method of catching these birds, and not that which is now used in Egypt; for Egmont and Heyman tell us, that in a walk on the shore of Egypt they saw a sandy plain several leagues in extent, and covered with reeds without the least verdure; between which reeds they saw many nets laid for catching quails, which come over in large flights from Europe during the month of September. If the ancient Egyptians made use of the same method of catching quails that they now practise on those shores, yet Israel in the wilderness, without these conveniences, must of course make use of that more inartificial and laborious way of catching them. The Arabs of Barbary, who have not many conveniences, do the same thing still.

“Bishop Patrick supposes a day’s journey to be sixteen or twenty miles, and thence draws his circle with a radius of that length; but Dr. Shaw, on another occasion, makes a day’s journey but ten miles, which would make a circle but of twenty miles in diameter: and as the text evidently designs to express it very indeterminately, as it were a day’s journey, it might be much less.

“But it does not appear to me at all necessary to suppose the text intended their covering a circular or nearly a circular spot of ground, but only that these creatures appeared on both sides of the camp of Israel, about a day’s journey. The same word is used Exodus 7:24, where round about can mean only on each side of the Nile. And so it may be a little illustrated by what Dr. Shaw tells us of the three flights of storks which he saw, when at anchor under the Mount Carmel, some of which were more scattered, others more compact and close, each of which took up more than three hours in passing, and extended itself more than half a mile in breadth. Had this flight of quails been no greater than these, it might have been thought, like them, to have been accidental; but so unusual a flock as to extend fifteen or twenty miles in breadth, and to be two days and one night in passing, and this, in consequence of the declaration of Moses, plainly determined that the finger of God was there.

“A third thing which was a difficulty with the bishop was their being brought with the wind. A hot southerly wind, it is supposed, brings the locusts; and why quails might not be brought by the instrumentality of a like wind, or what difficulty there is in that supposition, I cannot imagine. As soon as the cold is felt in Europe, Maillet tells us, turtles, quails, and other birds come to Egypt in great numbers; but he observed that their numbers were not so large in those years in which the winters were favourable in Europe; from whence he conjectured that it is rather necessity than habit which causes them to change their climate: if so, it appears that it is the increasing heat that causes their return, and consequently that the hot sultry winds from the south must have a great effect upon them, to direct their flight northwards.

“It is certain that it is about the time that the south wind begins to blow in Egypt, which is in April, that many of these migratory birds return. Maillet, who joins quails and turtles together, and says that they appear in Egypt when the cold begins to be felt in Europe, does not indeed tell us when they return: but Theve-not may be said to do it; for after he had told his reader that they catch snipes in Egypt from January to March, he adds that in May they catch turtles, and that the turtlers return again in September; now as they go together southward in September, we may believe they return again northward much about the same time. Agreeably to which, Russel tells us that quails appear in abundance about Aleppo in spring and autumn.

“If natural history were more perfect we might speak to this point with great distinctness; at present, however, it is so far from being an objection to their being quails that their coming was caused by a wind, that nothing is more natural. The same wind would in course occasion sickness and mortality among the Israelites, at least it does so in Egypt. The miraculousness then in this story does not lie in their dying, but the prophet’s foretelling with exactness the coming of that wind, and in the prodigious numbers of the quails that came with it, together with the unusualness of the place, perhaps, where they alighted.

“Nothing more remains to be considered but the gathering so large a quantity as ten omers by those that gathered fewest. But till that quantity is more precisely ascertained, it is sufficient to remark that this is only affirmed of those expert sportsmen among the people, who pursued the game two whole days and a whole night without intermission; and of them, and of them only, I presume it is to be understood that he that gathered fewest gathered ten omers. Hasselquist, who frequently expresses himself in the most dubious manner in relation to these animals, at other times is very positive that, if they were birds at all, they were a species of the quail different from ours, which he describes as very much resembling the ‘red partridge, but as not being larger than the turtledove.’ To this he adds, that ‘the Arabians carry thousands of them to Jerusalem about Whitsuntide, to sell there,’ p. 442. In another place he tells us ‘It is found in Judea as well as in Arabia Petræa, and that he found it between Jordan and Jericho,’ p.

203. One would imagine that Hasselquist means the scata, which is described by Dr. Russel, vol. ii., p. 194, and which he represents as brought to market at Aleppo in great numbers in May and June, though they are to be met with in all seasons.

“A whole ass-load of them, he informs us, has often been taken at once shutting a clasping net, in the abovementioned months, they are in such plenty.”-Harmer vol. iv., p. 367.

Verse 13. 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 wlc, selav, here used, ought to be rendered locusts; it is certain, from Psalm 78:27, that birds of some kind are meant: He rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the sea. Buxtorf renders the word coturnices, quails. And Parkhurst, deriving the word fromhlc, to be tranquil, or to rest, considers it as signifying a kind of bird that lived remarkably in ease and plenty among the corn. And, it seems, among the Egyptians a quail was an emblem of ease and plenty. It was also esteemed a dainty, and would probably rather be sent at this time than the locusts, which, though used for food, could hardly be termed flesh. According to Josephus, “there are more of this kind of birds about the Arabian gulf than any others. And flying over the sea,” he says, “and being weary, and coming nearer the ground than other birds, they took them with their hands, as food prepared for them of God.” But Josephus’s representation of the matter by no means comes up to the view of it given by Moses, (Numbers 11:31,) who says, that a wind went forth from the Lord and brought them from the sea, and let them fall round about the camp, a day’s journey on each side, and that they lay “two cubits high on the face of the earth.” In the morning the dew lay — Hebrews lch tbkv shick-bath hattal, a layer, or bed of dew. With this, it appears, the manna was covered: to which the expression, hidden manna, (Revelation 2:17,) seems to allude.

Ver. 13. The quails—covered the camp. It was the time when the corn of Egypt began to ripen, and the quails flocked in great abundance. They fell for a day’s journey round the camp, and in some places two cubits thick.

QUAILS AND MANNA GIVEN, 13-21.

13. The quails came up, (from the south, across the Red Sea,) and covered the camp — Fell down among the tents. The bird here mentioned is undoubtedly the common quail, the word wlc being derived from a root signifying “fat,” from the round, plump, fat body of the quail. (Gesen.) The same bird is spoken of in Numbers xi as coming to the camp in vast numbers just a year from this time — an immense flock, which passed over the encampment at a height of two cubits from the ground, and spread a day’s journey on both sides. It was now the last of April, when countless flocks of these birds migrate northward from the Upper Nile country, crossing the Red Sea and the Sinai wilderness, and appearing in immense numbers in the Mediterranean coasts and islands. They begin to return southward in September, when they are caught in great numbers with nets, and even with the hand, at their roosting places, in the neighbourhood of Constantinople and on the AEgean Islands; and they pass over Alexandria in November. Ancient and modern naturalists and travellers give us most marvellous accounts of the numbers of these birds, and of the great quantities that are captured at the migrating seasons. All the Archipelago islands are at these times covered with them. At Capri, near Naples, they were once taken in such numbers as to afford the bishop there a large part of his revenue, who was hence called “bishop of quails.” Varro and Pliny relate that in their time they arrived on the Italian shores in such numbers, and settled by night on the sails and rigging of coasting vessels in such masses, as to overturn them! (Plin., Hist. Nat., 10:33.) They reach the coasts by night, wearied with their long flight, and are then very easily taken, being knocked down with sticks, or even caught in the hand. (See many quotations in Knobel.) One of these vast flocks, on their annual northward migration from Upper Egypt or Nubia, was providentially directed to the Israelitish encampment, and, coming across the sea, arrived exhausted in the evening, and dropped among and around the tents in the desert of Murkha.

Verse 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 might not be dissolved; for we find from Exodus 16:21, that the heat of the sun melted it. The ground therefore being sufficiently cooled by the dew, the manna lay unmelted long enough for the Israelites to collect a sufficient quantity for their dally use.

Verse 14. 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, which went up when the sun rose. So that the manna lay as it were enclosed. This might be designed to keep it pure and clean.

14. A small round thing, as small as the hoar frost — Rather, A thing fine, and in fine scales, fine as the hoar frost. It was in small and white grains. The tamarisk manna is white when it drops upon the clean rocks.

V. 15. 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 pleasant food; the Jews say it was palatable to all, according as their tastes were. It was wholesome food, light of digestion. By this spare and plain diet we are all taught a lesson of temperance, and forbidden to desire dainties and varieties.

Verse 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 הוא מנ man hu, literally signifies, What is this? for, says the text, they wist not what it was, and therefore they could not give it a name. Moses immediately answers the question, and says, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. From Exodus 16:31 we learn that this substance was afterwards called מנ man, probably in commemoration of the question they had asked on its first appearance. Almost all our own ancient versions translate the words, What is this?

What this substance was we know not. It was nothing that was common to the wilderness. It is evident the Israelites never saw it before, for Moses says, Deuteronomy 8:3,16: He fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; and it is very likely that nothing of the kind had ever been seen before; and by a pot of it being laid up in the ark, it is as likely that nothing of the kind ever appeared more, after the miraculous supply in the wilderness had ceased. It seems to have been created for the present occasion, and, like Him whom it typified, to have been the only thing of the kind, the only bread from heaven, which God ever gave to preserve the life of man, as Christ is the true bread that came down from heaven, and was given for the life of the world. See John 6:31-58.

Verse 15. They said one to another, It is manna — The original words, awh ˆm, 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, that although it came down from the clouds, not only with the dew, but in a kind of dew, melted, yet it was of such a consistency, as to serve for strengthening food without any thing else. It was pleasant food: the Jews say it was palatable to all, according as their tastes were. It was wholesome food, light of digestion. By this spare and plain diet we are all taught a lesson of temperance, and forbidden to desire dainties and varieties.

Ver. 15. Manna. Josephus affirms that the Israelites seeing it on the grass said, What is it? which he says is the import of the word. This food was the immediate gift of God to his people; and those are mistaken who have thought it a honey-dew. What has been called a honey-dew falling on certain trees, and on the grass, is nothing more than the bursting of the sweet sap from the leaves of those trees by the excessive heat of the sun; and in such abundance, that sometimes a leaf will suffer a drop to descend on the grass.

15. It is manna: for they wist not what it was — More literally, They said, each to his brother, This is man, (is it not?) For they knew not what it (was). They called it man, because it so exactly resembled the tamarisk or tarpi man with which they were familiar. They are here represented as talking to each other in a conversational, inquiring way, and the author adds, they knew not what it was; that is, they knew not what other name to give it. They used the Egyptian word for the tamarisk manna. Brugsch, in his Hieroglyphic Dictionary, says, “Mannu, identical with the Hebrew man, Arabic mann.” The tamarisk manna is found represented at the Egyptian city of Apollinopolis, presented to a deity in a basket of oblations. The resemblance, however, was only superficial, (see Introduction, 2,) for the manna of Israel was a farinaceous substance that could be made into bread, while the tamarisk manna is wholly saccharine. The Hebrew will not bear the marginal translation, “What is this?” (See Kurtz and Knobel; but Keil and Ewald make ˆm early Shemitic for hm.) This is the bread which the Lord hath given you — The dew was made the natural basis or vehicle of this miracle, as the water was the vehicle of the miracle of Cana, and the five loaves of that of Bethesda. The manna was deposited from the dew according to laws unknown, and probably undiscoverable, by us, yet to the Author of Nature the process was as regular and as orderly as that by which the grain is formed in the ear. We know of only one series of natural processes, one chain of secondary causes, by which the grain can be gathered up from its manifold elements, in earth, and water, and air; but God knows of many others, which are hidden from our sense and reason. To assume that the way which we know is the only way, and to call all other ways unnatural and absurd, is to make our ignorance the measure of God. It is true that we can conceive of no other way, but our power of conception is not the gauge of the universe. The water which, as liquid and vapour circulates through the veins of nature, gathers up the elements, and bears them along the sap vessels to form the farinaceous atom in the seed by processes which we can trace; but the same water could gather up the same elements and deposit this substance in the seed or on the ground by processes which we cannot trace, known only to God. This is a miracle. Of course this will not be admitted by those who do not look through nature, or within nature, and see God to be the only real cause.

V. 16. An omer-The tenth part of an Ephah: Near six pints, wine-measure.

Verse 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, rm[ from the root amar, to press, squeeze, collect, and bind together; hence a sheaf of corn-a multitude of stalks pressed together. It is supposed that the omer, which contained about three quarts English, had its name from this circumstance; that it was the most contracted or the smallest measure of things dry known to the ancient Hebrews; for the bq kab, which was less, was not known till the reign of Jehoram, king of Israel, 2 Kings 6:25. -Parkhurst.

The EPHAH, hpa or hpya eiphah, from hpa aphah, to bake, because this was probably the quantity which was baked at one time. According to Bishop Cumberland the ephah contained seven gallons, two quarts, and about half a pint, wine measure; and as the omer was the tenth part of the ephah, Exodus 16:36, it must have contained about six pints English. The KAB, bq is said to have contained about the sixth part of a seah, or three pints and one third English.

The HOMER, rmj chomer, mentioned Leviticus 27:16, was quite a different measure from that above, and is a different word in the Hebrew. The chomer was the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, being equal to ten baths or ephahs, amounting to about seventy-five gallons, three pints, English. See Ezekiel 45:11, 13, 14. Goodwin supposes that this measure derived its name from rmj chamor, an ass, being the ordinary load of that animal.

The BATH, tb, was the largest measure of capacity next to the homer, of which it was the tenth part. It was the same as the ephah, and consequently contained about seven gallons, two quarts, and half a pint, and is always used in Scripture as a measure of liquids. The SEAH, has, was a measure of capacity for things dry, equal to about two gallons and a half English. See 2 Kings 7:1, 16, 18. The HIN, הינ, according to Bishop Cumberland, was the one-sixth part of an ephah, and contained a little more than one gallon and two pints. See Exodus 29:40.

The LOG, gl, was the smallest measure of capacity for liquids among the Hebrews: it contained about three quarters of a pint. See Leviticus 14:10, 12.

Take ye-for them which are in his tents.] Some might have been confined in their tents through sickness or infirmity, and charity required that those who were in health should gather a portion for them. For though the psalmist says, Psalm 105:37, There was not one feeble person among their tribes, this must refer principally to their healthy state when brought out of Egypt; for it appears that there were many infirm among them when attacked by the Amalekites. See Clarke note on “Exodus 17:8”.

Verse 16. 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 was very light food, and easy of digestion.

16-21. An omer for every man — The amount of the omer at this time is one of the unsettled questions, which may be found fully discussed in Smith’s Dictionary, Art. Weights and Measures. The Rabbins estimate it at three pints and a half, while Josephus, as we judge inconsistently, makes it about twice as much. The Rabbinic estimate is more likely to be correct. See on verse 36.

Each man was to gather for himself and his family at the rate of an omer per head; and not to attempt to lay it up for future use, but to trust to-morrow’s supply to meet to-morrow’s want. We do not understand that any supernatural equalization was promised. Each man gathered according to his eating — That is, when they fulfilled the directions given each gathered according to the number of his family, at the rate of an omer apiece, so that he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; and when, through selfishness or unbelief, any attempted to get more than their share, their purpose was frustrated, for it could not be kept over a day.

Verse 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.

Verse 17. 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.

16-21. An omer for every man — The amount of the omer at this time is one of the unsettled questions, which may be found fully discussed in Smith’s Dictionary, Art. Weights and Measures. The Rabbins estimate it at three pints and a half, while Josephus, as we judge inconsistently, makes it about twice as much. The Rabbinic estimate is more likely to be correct. See on verse 36.

Each man was to gather for himself and his family at the rate of an omer per head; and not to attempt to lay it up for future use, but to trust to-morrow’s supply to meet to-morrow’s want. We do not understand that any supernatural equalization was promised. Each man gathered according to his eating — That is, when they fulfilled the directions given each gathered according to the number of his family, at the rate of an omer apiece, so that he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; and when, through selfishness or unbelief, any attempted to get more than their share, their purpose was frustrated, for it could not be kept over a day.

Verse 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 gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. Probably every man gathered as much as he could; and then when brought home and measured by an omer, if he had a surplus, it went to supply the wants of some other family that had not been able to collect a sufficiency, the family being large, and the time in which the manna might be gathered, before the heat of the day, not being sufficient to collect enough for so numerous a household, several of whom might be so confined as not to be able to collect for themselves. Thus there was an equality, and in this light the words of St. Paul, 2 Corinthians 8:15, lead us to view the passage. Here the 36th verse should come in: Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Verse 18. 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 number of omers he ought to have gathered, and the store of him who had not gathered the due quantity, was miraculously increased. Houbigant, however, supposes that this was only applicable to the first time of gathering, “God admonishing them, by this event, that they should afterward do that which he himself had now perfected by his own immediate agency.” But others suppose, that had this been the case, as it was an equal miracle with any other recorded, it would have been mentioned that the Lord had done it. And they think, therefore, all that is meant is, that he who had not gathered a sufficient quantity to make an omer for every one in his family, had it made up to him out of what others had gathered, who had more than enough, and that they charitably assisted each other. This sense of the passage seems to be countenanced by St. Paul, 2 Corinthians 8:13-15. If understood in the first-mentioned sense, the apostle, in the application of it as an argument to encourage charity, must be considered as signifying that God, in an extraordinary manner, in the course of his providences, will bless and prosper those who in charity assist their brethren.

16-21. An omer for every man — The amount of the omer at this time is one of the unsettled questions, which may be found fully discussed in Smith’s Dictionary, Art. Weights and Measures. The Rabbins estimate it at three pints and a half, while Josephus, as we judge inconsistently, makes it about twice as much. The Rabbinic estimate is more likely to be correct. See on verse 36.

Each man was to gather for himself and his family at the rate of an omer per head; and not to attempt to lay it up for future use, but to trust to-morrow’s supply to meet to-morrow’s want. We do not understand that any supernatural equalization was promised. Each man gathered according to his eating — That is, when they fulfilled the directions given each gathered according to the number of his family, at the rate of an omer apiece, so that he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; and when, through selfishness or unbelief, any attempted to get more than their share, their purpose was frustrated, for it could not be kept over a day.

V. 19. Let no man leave ‘till morning-But let them learn to go to bed and sleep quietly, though they had not a bit of bread in their tent, nor in all their camp, trusting God with the following day to bring them their daily bread. Never was there such a market of provisions as this, where so many hundred thousand men were daily furnished without money, and without price: never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for 40 years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. And the same wisdom, power and goodness that now brought food daily out of the clouds, doth in the constant course of nature bring food yearly out of the earth, and gives us all things richly to enjoy.

Verse 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?

Verse 19. 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 consume it some other way. Thus, they were to learn to go to bed quietly, though they had not a bit of bread in their tents, nor in all their camp, trusting God with the following day to bring them their daily bread. Never was there such a market of provisions as this, where so many hundred thousand men were daily furnished without money and without price: never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for forty years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. And the same wisdom, power, and goodness that now brought food daily out of the clouds, doth, in the constant course of nature, bring food yearly out of the earth, and gives us all things richly to enjoy.

16-21. An omer for every man — The amount of the omer at this time is one of the unsettled questions, which may be found fully discussed in Smith’s Dictionary, Art. Weights and Measures. The Rabbins estimate it at three pints and a half, while Josephus, as we judge inconsistently, makes it about twice as much. The Rabbinic estimate is more likely to be correct. See on verse 36.

Each man was to gather for himself and his family at the rate of an omer per head; and not to attempt to lay it up for future use, but to trust to-morrow’s supply to meet to-morrow’s want. We do not understand that any supernatural equalization was promised. Each man gathered according to his eating — That is, when they fulfilled the directions given each gathered according to the number of his family, at the rate of an omer apiece, so that he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; and when, through selfishness or unbelief, any attempted to get more than their share, their purpose was frustrated, for it could not be kept over a day.

Verse 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 ways to be unprofitable, he may return to his Maker, and trust in God alone.

Verse 20. 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’s judgment. Thus will that be corrupted in which we do not trust in God, and which we do not employ for his glory.

16-21. An omer for every man — The amount of the omer at this time is one of the unsettled questions, which may be found fully discussed in Smith’s Dictionary, Art. Weights and Measures. The Rabbins estimate it at three pints and a half, while Josephus, as we judge inconsistently, makes it about twice as much. The Rabbinic estimate is more likely to be correct. See on verse 36.

Each man was to gather for himself and his family at the rate of an omer per head; and not to attempt to lay it up for future use, but to trust to-morrow’s supply to meet to-morrow’s want. We do not understand that any supernatural equalization was promised. Each man gathered according to his eating — That is, when they fulfilled the directions given each gathered according to the number of his family, at the rate of an omer apiece, so that he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; and when, through selfishness or unbelief, any attempted to get more than their share, their purpose was frustrated, for it could not be kept over a day.

Verse 21. 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.

16-21. An omer for every man — The amount of the omer at this time is one of the unsettled questions, which may be found fully discussed in Smith’s Dictionary, Art. Weights and Measures. The Rabbins estimate it at three pints and a half, while Josephus, as we judge inconsistently, makes it about twice as much. The Rabbinic estimate is more likely to be correct. See on verse 36.

Each man was to gather for himself and his family at the rate of an omer per head; and not to attempt to lay it up for future use, but to trust to-morrow’s supply to meet to-morrow’s want. We do not understand that any supernatural equalization was promised. Each man gathered according to his eating — That is, when they fulfilled the directions given each gathered according to the number of his family, at the rate of an omer apiece, so that he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; and when, through selfishness or unbelief, any attempted to get more than their share, their purpose was frustrated, for it could not be kept over a day.

Verse 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, 27. What a convincing miracle was this! No manna fell on the Sabbath! Had it been a natural production it would have fallen on the Sabbath as at other times; and had there not been a supernatural influence to keep it sweet and pure, it would have been corrupted on the Sabbath as well as on other days. By this series of miracles God showed his own power, presence, and goodness, 1. In sending the manna on each of the six days; 2. In sending none on the seventh, or Sabbath; 3. In preserving it from putrefaction when laid up for the use of that day, though it infallibly corrupted if kept over night on any other day.

Verse 22. 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 to be employed in servile works, such as the gathering of manna was, they rightly concluded that God’s commands (verses 16 and 19) reached only to ordinary days, and must, in all reason, give place to the more ancient and necessary law of the sabbath. The rulers told Moses — Either to acquaint him with this increase of the miracle, or to take his direction for their practice, because they found two commands apparently clashing with each other.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

V. 23. Here is a plain intimation of the observing a seventh day sabbath, not only before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, but before the bringing of Israel out of Egypt and therefore from the beginning. If the sabbath had now been first instituted, how could Moses have understood what God said to him, Exodus 16:4, concerning a double portion to be gathered on the sixth day, without making any express mention of the sabbath? And how could the people so readily take the hint, Exodus 16:22, even to the surprize of the rulers, before Moses had declared that it was done with regard to the sabbath, if they had not had some knowledge of the sabbath before? The setting apart of one day in seven for holy work, and in order to that for holy rest, was a divine appointment ever since God created man upon the earth.

Verse 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 having been generally observed. The commandment, it is true, may be considered as being now renewed; because they might have supposed that in their unsettled state in the wilderness they might have been exempted from the observance of it. Thus we find, 1. That when God finished his creation, he instituted the Sabbath; 2. When he brought the people out of Egypt, he insisted on the strict observance of it; 3. When he gave the LAW, he made it a tenth part of the whole, such importance has this institution in the eyes of the Supreme Being! On the supposed change of the Sabbath from what we call Sunday to Saturday, effected on this occasion, See Clarke’s note on “Deuteronomy 5:15”.

Verse 23. 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 sabbath, not only before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, but before the bringing of Israel out of Egypt, and therefore from the beginning. If the sabbath had now been first instituted, how could Moses have understood what God said to him (verse 5) concerning a double portion to be gathered on the sixth day, without making any express mention of the sabbath? And how could the people have so readily taken the hint, (verse 22,) even to the surprise of the rulers, before Moses had declared that it was done with regard to the sabbath, if they had not had some knowledge of the sabbath before? The setting apart of one day in seven for holy work, and in order to that for holy rest, was a divine appointment ever since God created man upon the earth.

23. To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath — This passage shows that the sabbath was known and observed among the Hebrews before the fourth commandment was given at Sinai. The division of the days into weeks seems to have been known among all the Shemitic nations from the earliest historic period, and this cannot fairly be accounted for except by a wide-spread tradition of the sacredness of the number seven, descending from the very origin of the race. Wilkinson shows that the seven-day division was known to the Egyptians, as proved by the seven days’ fete of Apis, the four times seven years of Osiris, the ten times seven days’ mourning for the dead, and the six times seven days of mortification imposed upon the priests. The Pythagoreans borrowed the week from Egypt, and the Roman world adopted it early in the second century. (Rawlinson’s Herod., 2:282.) It is probable that the week division and the sanctity of the sabbath were known to the Hebrews from their very origin as a people. We find that a week was the period of duration of the wedding feast in the time of Jacob. Genesis 29:27. Here, as in the creative week, God observes the sabbath as an example to man.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

25. To-day is a sabbath — In three ways the sanctity of the sabbath was marked in this miracle. There was a double quantity on the sixth day, there was none on the seventh day, and that gathered on the sixth did not putrefy on the seventh.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

Verse 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 place, i.e., the city, town, or village in which he resides, any farther than one thousand cubits, about an English mile, which also is called a Sabbath day’s journey, Acts 1:12; and so many cubits they consider the space round the city that constitutes its suburbs, which they draw from Numbers 35:3, 4. Some of the Jews have carried the rigorous observance of the letter of this law to such a length, that in whatever posture they find themselves on the Sabbath morning when they awake, they continue in the same during the day; or should they be up and happen to fall, they refuse even to rise till the Sabbath be ended! Mr. Stapleton tells a story of one Rabbi Solomon, who fell into a slough on the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, and refused to be pulled out, giving his reason in the following Leonine couplet:—

Sabbatha sancta colo

Deuteronomy stereore surgere nolo.

“Out of this slough I will not rise

For holy Sabbath day I prize.”

The Christians, finding him thus disposed determined he should honour their Sabbath in the same place, and actually kept the poor man in the slough all Sunday, giving their reasons in nearly the same way:— Sabbatha nostra quidem,

Solomon, celebrabis ibidem.

“In the same slough, thou stubborn Jew,

Our Sabbath day thou shalt spend too.”

This might have served to convince him of his folly, but certainly was not the likeliest way to convert him to Christianity.

FABYAN, in his Chronicles, tells the following story of a case of this kind. “In this yere also (1259) fell that happe of the Iewe of Tewkysbury, which fell into a gonge upon the Satyrday, and wolde not for reverence of his sabbot day be pluckyd out; whereof heryng the Erle of Gloucetyr, that the Iewe dyd so great reverence to his sabbot daye, thought he wolde doo as moche unto his holy day, which was Sonday, and so kepte hym there tyll Monday, at whiche season he was foundyn dede.” Then the earl of Gloucester murdered the poor man.

Verse 29. 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 mentioned. For otherwise, they might and ought to go out of their houses to the public assemblies, Leviticus 23:3; Acts 15:21; and to lead their cattle to watering, or to help them out of a pit, Luke 13:15; and a sabbath day’s journey was permitted, Acts 1:12.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

THE SIXTH DAY’S MANNA, 22-31.

22. They gathered twice as much bread — That is, they found a double supply on the sixth day, which astonished the people, who had not been told to expect this extraordinary provision for the Sabbath. Hence all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, in order to obtain from him an explanation.

Verse 31. Called the name thereof Manna] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 16:15”.

Verse 31. 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 reader ought to be informed, however, that the Hebrew word here used, and rendered coriander-seed, is of rather doubtful interpretation. It may possibly mean some other small seed.

Ver. 31. It was like coriander seed. Not exactly in colour, but in size and form. The colour is here said to be white; and Numbers 11:7, it is said to be like that of bdellium, a gem or gum. Genesis 2:12.

31. Like coriander seed — It lay on the ground in small seed-like, pearl-coloured grains. Though called bread it is not to be imagined as a loaf, but as like a grain or seed.

Verse 32. To be kept for your generations] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 16:9”.

AN OMER OF MANNA. LAID UP BEFORE JEHOVAH, 32-36.

32-36. This passage is valuable as giving us an insight into the manner in which the book was written. It is plain that this account of the manna laid… up before the Testimony was composed after the ark of Testimony was made and the tabernacle set up; and the thirty-fifth verse was written after the forty years’ sojourn was ended. While Moses doubtless wrote down the events of the desert life, especially the Divine commands, at the time of their occurrence, he also, at the end of his long career in the plains of Moab, wove these events into a regular treatise, with comments and connecting paragraphs. At the end of this chapter, wherein the manna is first mentioned and fully described, was the appropriate place to finish the account of it, and hence he here adds the command for its preservation and the time of its continuance.

Verses 33, 34. 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, or the law of God, which was a testimony of God’s authority and will, and of man’s subjection and duty, or of the covenant made between God and man. The preservation of this pot of manna from waste and corruption, was a standing miracle; and, therefore, the more proper memorial of this miraculous food. The manna is called spiritual meat, (1 Corinthians 10:3,) because it was typical of spiritual blessings. Christ himself is the true manna, the bread of life, of which that was a figure, John 6:49, 50, 51. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Matthew 4:4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Revelation 2:17. These comforts come from heaven, as the manna did, and are the support of the divine life in the soul, while we are in the wilderness of this world: it is food for Israelites, for those only that follow the pillar of cloud and fire: it is to be gathered; Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace must be used: we must every one of us gather for ourselves. There was manna enough for all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is a complete sufficiency, and no superfluity. But they that did eat manna hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased: whereas they that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. The Lord evermore give us this bread!

Ver. 33. Take a pot. The LXX, cited by St. Paul, Hebrews 9:4, reads, “a golden pot.”—An omer, about three pints. See Cumberland on the Hebrew Measures.

AN OMER OF MANNA. LAID UP BEFORE JEHOVAH, 32-36.

32-36. This passage is valuable as giving us an insight into the manner in which the book was written. It is plain that this account of the manna laid… up before the Testimony was composed after the ark of Testimony was made and the tabernacle set up; and the thirty-fifth verse was written after the forty years’ sojourn was ended. While Moses doubtless wrote down the events of the desert life, especially the Divine commands, at the time of their occurrence, he also, at the end of his long career in the plains of Moab, wove these events into a regular treatise, with comments and connecting paragraphs. At the end of this chapter, wherein the manna is first mentioned and fully described, was the appropriate place to finish the account of it, and hence he here adds the command for its preservation and the time of its continuance.

V. 34. An omer of this manna was laid up in a golden pot as we are told, Hebrews 9:4, and kept before the testimony, or the ark, when it was afterwards made, The preservation of this manna from waste and corruption, was a standing miracle; and therefore the more proper memorial of this miraculous food. The manna is called spiritual meat, 1 Corinthians 10:3, because it was typical of spiritual blessings. Christ himself is the true manna, the bread of life, of which that was a figure, John 6:49-51. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Matthew 4:4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Revelation 2:17. These comforts from heaven as the manna did, are the support of the divine life in the soul while we are in the wilderness of this world: it is food for Israelites, for those only that follow the pillar of cloud and fire: it is to be gathered; Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace used: we must every one of us gather for ourselves. There was manna enough for all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is a compleat sufficiency, and no superfluity. But they that did eat manna hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased: whereas they that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. The Lord evermore give us this bread!

Verse 34. Laid it up before the testimony] The twd[ 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. See Clarke note on “Exodus 16:9”. The word signifies reference to something beyond itself; thus the tabernacle, the manna, the tables of stone, Aaron’s rod, &c., all bore reference and testimony to that spiritual good which was yet to come, viz., JESUS CHRIST and his salvation.

Verses 33, 34. 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, or the law of God, which was a testimony of God’s authority and will, and of man’s subjection and duty, or of the covenant made between God and man. The preservation of this pot of manna from waste and corruption, was a standing miracle; and, therefore, the more proper memorial of this miraculous food. The manna is called spiritual meat, (1 Corinthians 10:3,) because it was typical of spiritual blessings. Christ himself is the true manna, the bread of life, of which that was a figure, John 6:49, 50, 51. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Matthew 4:4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Revelation 2:17. These comforts come from heaven, as the manna did, and are the support of the divine life in the soul, while we are in the wilderness of this world: it is food for Israelites, for those only that follow the pillar of cloud and fire: it is to be gathered; Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace must be used: we must every one of us gather for ourselves. There was manna enough for all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is a complete sufficiency, and no superfluity. But they that did eat manna hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased: whereas they that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. The Lord evermore give us this bread!

34. Before the Testimony — The two stone tablets of the law, afterwards particularly described, (Exodus 34:1, etc.,) which were kept in the sacred ark, covered by the mercy-seat. This law was called a Testimony against the sins of Israel.

Verse 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 and digested the different inspired books, adding such supplementary, explanatory, and connecting sentences, as were deemed proper to complete and arrange the whole of the sacred canon. For previously to his time, according to the universal testimony of the Jews, all the books of the Old Testament were found in an unconnected and dispersed state.

Verse 35. Israel did eat manna forty years — That is, save one month, as appears from Joshua 5:11, 12. 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 perfectly knew, both from the nature of the thing, and by revelation from God, that the manna would immediately cease upon their entering into Canaan; and therefore might well write in this manner.

35. Until they came to a land inhabited — Till they left the desert with its nomad inhabitants, and reached a country of settled population on the borders of the land of Canaan, in the plains of Moab. Deuteronomy 34:1. It does not necessarily follow that the manna had ceased at the time of writing this, hut the statement is, that this supernatural supply had continued through the desert life. According to Joshua 5:11, 12, it continued after the Israelites had passed the Jordan and encamped in Gilgal, till “the morrow after the passover” of that year. If, as some suppose, a subsequent writer, living after the death of Moses, had written this verse, he would not have left the statement in this shape, conveying, as it does, the implication, though not making the direct statement, that they ate no manna after reaching Canaan. Such subsequent writer must have known of the above quoted account in Joshua. Thus here is a noteworthy touch of genuineness.

Verse 36. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.] About six pints, English. See Clarke note on “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 good deal has already been said in the preceding notes. The sacred historian has given us the most circumstantial proofs that it was a supernatural and miraculous supply; that nothing of the kind had ever been seen before, and probably nothing like it had ever afterwards appeared. That it was a type of our blessed Redeemer, and of the salvation which he has provided for man, there can be no doubt, for in this way it is applied by Christ himself; and from it we may gather this general conclusion, that salvation is of the Lord. The Israelites must have perished in the wilderness, had not God fed them with bread from heaven; and every human soul must have perished, had not Jesus Christ come down from heaven, and given himself for the life of the world.

2. God would have the Israelites continually dependent on himself for all their supplies; but he would make them, in a certain way, workers with him. He provided the manna; they gathered and ate it. The first was God’s work; the latter, their own. They could not produce the manna, and God would not gather it for them. Thus the providence of God appears in such a way as to secure the co-operation of man. Though man should plant and water, yet it is God who giveth the increase. But if man neither plant nor water, God will give no increase. We cannot do God’s work, and he will not do ours. Let us, therefore, both in things spiritual and temporal, be workers together with HIM.

3. This daily supply of the manna probably gave rise to that petition, Give us to-day our daily bread. It is worthy of remark, 1. That what was left over night contrary to the command of God bred worms and stank; 2. That a double portion was gathered on the day preceding the Sabbath; 3. That this alone continued wholesome on the following day; and, 4. That none fell on the Sabbath! Hence we find that the Sabbath was considered a Divine institution previously to the giving of the Mosaic law; and that God continued to honour that day by permitting no manna to fall during its course. Whatever is earned on the Sabbath is a curse in a man’s property. They who WILL be rich, fall into temptation and into a snare, &c.; for, using illicit means to acquire lawful things, they bring God’s curse upon themselves, and are drowned in destruction and perdition. Reader, dost thou work on the Sabbath to increase thy property? See thou do it not! Property acquired in this way will be a curse both to thee and to thy posterity.

4. To show their children and children’s children what God had done for their fathers, a pot of manna was laid up before the testimony. We should remember our providential and gracious deliverances in such a way as to give God the praise of his own grace. An ungrateful heart is always associated with an unbelieving mind and an unholy life. Like Israel, we should consider with what bread God has fed our fathers, and see that we have the same; the same Christ-the bread of life, the same doctrines, the same ordinances, and the same religious experience. How little are we benefited by being Protestants, if we be not partakers of the Protestant faith! And how useless will even that faith be to us, if we hold the truth in unrighteousness. Our fathers had religion enough to enable them to burn gloriously for the truth of God! Reader, hast thou so much of the life of God in thy soul, that thou couldst burn to ashes at the stake rather than lose it? In a word, couldst thou be a martyr? Or hast thou so little grace to lose, that thy life would be more than an equivalent for thy loss? Where is the manna on which thy fathers fed?

EXODUS

36. An omer — The reason for here specially mentioning the capacity of the omer seems to be that given by Michaelis and Hengstenberg. Literally, the word omer signifies a sheaf of wheat, but in this chapter it denotes a measure, and it is never used with this meaning afterwards. When subsequently the same measure is spoken of it is called the tenth part of an ephah, as in Numbers 5:15, and 28:15. According to these commentators the word here really means the little earthen vessel or cup which the Israelites used for drinking purposes in the desert, and the author here means to say that this cup usually held a tenth of an ephah, the ephah being then a well known measure. In arranging the book into regular form for the use of coming generations it was proper and appropriate thus to describe the capacity of the vessel in which the Israelites measured the daily allowance of manna. Afterwards the name of the vessel came naturally to be used to designate the measure of the vessel — as our word “cup” has both meanings, the vessel and the measure. Omer is to be distinguished from homer, which was ten ephahs, or a hundred omers.