Old Testament Commentary - Exodus 16

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 16 Israel murmurs for want of bread, and lusts for the flesh pots of Egypt—The Lord rains bread from heaven, and sends quail for meat—Israel given manna each day, except the Sabbath, for forty years.
1 AND they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel ^amurmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the ^aflesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with ^bhunger.		1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
4 ¶ Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain ^abread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain ^brate every day, that I may ^cprove them, whether they will ^dwalk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.		1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: 7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the ^aglory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and *what are* we, that ye murmur against us?^a** 8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your ^amurmurings are not against us, but ^bagainst the LORD.	7^a what are we, that ye murmur against us? "We are but men like unto yourselves." There are two points to be made. First, he that complains against the Lord's anointed, it is the same as to complain against the Lord. The point that Moses and Aaron makes here is the second point. Even the prophets of God are the same as mere men of the flesh. They are not to be looked to as if they are God, but God is to be looked to dairectly. Moses and Aaron possessed the humility to point out that they were not the source of the power and authority over the people, they were mere servants of God working to serve the people according ot the Lord's directions. Too often those in leadership position do but consider themselves not only apart from the poeple but above the people rather than just one of the people. There is but one God and the rest of us are but his servants serving one another. To so place ourselves apart and/or above the congregation is to falsely elevate ourselves to positions which are not so justified. And while there is a certain reverence for God's prophet and anointed to be maintained, it is not to be maintained by falsely elevating one man above another man. For we are all but wretched men before God. To so pretend that one is so elevated is to make of a person what they are not. Some in Joseph Smith's day had a perception in their mind that a prophet of God was something above a normal man, and they would frown of Joseph's commonness. But when on comes to understand that it is God who makes even the least of these to be his mouth peice, then a man's commonness is not a problem in the perception of a prophet of God.	1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
9 ¶ And Moses ^aspake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the ^aglory of the LORD appeared in the ^bcloud.
11 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 I have heard the ^amurmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.
13 And it came to pass, that at even the ^aquails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the ^bhost. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small ^around ^bthing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, ^aIt is ^bmanna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the ^cbread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
16 ¶ This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man ^aaccording to ^bhis eating, an ^comer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that ^agathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they ^ahearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun ^awaxed hot, it melted.
22 ¶ And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the ^acongregation^a came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy ^asabbath unto the LORD: ^bbake that which ye will bake to day, and ^cseethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. 24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27 ¶ And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to ^akeep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like ^acoriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 ¶ And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your ^agenerations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. 33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a ^apot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the ^aTestimony, to be kept.
35 And the children of Israel did eat ^amanna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an ^aomer is the tenth part of an ephah.