Exodus 16:4 - Forerunner Commentary

Exodus 16:4

2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel ^acomplained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

3 And the children of Israel said to them, ^a“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^bwhen we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain ^abread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather¹ a certain quota every day, that I may ^btest them, whether they will ^cwalk in My law or not.

5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and ^ait shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, ^a“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt.

7 And in the morning you shall see ^athe glory of the Lord; for He ^bhears your complaints against the Lord. But ^cwhat are we, that you complain against us?”

8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but ^aagainst the Lord.”

9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ^a‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ”

10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord ^aappeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

12 ^a“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ^b‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and ^cin the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it was that ^aquails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning ^bthe dew lay all around the camp.

14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was ^aa small round ^bsubstance, as fine as frost on the ground.

15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^a“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.

16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it ^aaccording to each one’s need, one ^bomer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.

18 So when they measured it by omers, ^ahe who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

19 And Moses said, “Let no one ^aleave any of it till morning.”

20 Notwithstanding they did not¹ heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is ^aa Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ”

24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not ^astink, nor were there any worms in it.

25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.

26 ^aSix days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.

28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long ^ado you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?

29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain 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 its name¹ Manna. And ^ait was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

Verse Comparison: Exodus 16:4

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American Standard Version
Then said Jehovah unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.

Amplified® Bible
Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from the heavens for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

Contemporary English Version
The LORD said to Moses, "I will send bread down from heaven like rain. Each day the people can go out and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me.

Darby English Version
Then said Jehovah to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather the daily need on its day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.

Good News Bible
The LORD said to Moses, "Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions.

King James Version
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

New International Version
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

New King James Version
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

Revised Standard Version
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, I am raining to you bread from the heavens -- and the people have gone out and gathered the matter of a day in its day -- so that I try them whether they walk in My law, or not;

New English Translation
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain¹ bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out² and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them.³ Will they walk in my law⁴ or not?

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