The big picture
Elim, the last camp, lies behind Israel, the people God freed from slavery. They reach the wilderness of Sin, a dry region near Sinai, the mountain ahead. Hunger brings complaints against Moses and Aaron, the brothers leading them. Egypt, the land where they were slaves, now seems like a place of full meals. God promises meat and daily bread. Rules about when to gather it will test whether they follow his words.
In this chapter
- Hunger Turns Memory Toward Egypt Exodus 16:1-8
The whole community complains against Moses and Aaron.
- Quails Arrive and Bread Appears Exodus 16:9-15
Aaron calls the people near because God has heard their complaints.
- Daily Portions Must Not Be Hoarded Exodus 16:16-21
Each person must gather an omer of food, a measured daily portion, for everyone in the household.
- A Double Portion Makes Rest Possible Exodus 16:22-30
On the sixth day, people gather twice the daily amount.
- A Jar Preserves the Wilderness Food Exodus 16:31-36
Israel calls the food Manna.
Central truth
God feeds Israel in the wilderness and uses daily gathering and a weekly rest to test whether the people follow his instructions.
Scripture beside the summary
Exodus · King James Version · 36Exodus 16:1-8
Hunger Turns Memory Toward Egypt
The whole community complains against Moses and Aaron. They remember meat pots and full meals in Egypt and accuse the brothers of bringing them out to starve. God tells Moses he will send bread from heaven. The people must gather a daily portion, with twice as much on the sixth day. Their response will test whether they follow his law. The brothers explain that the complaint is really against the LORD who brought them out. God will provide meat in the evening and bread in the morning, making his care known.
In everyday life
The camp cook hears newly displaced families remember the meals they ate before leaving a dangerous home. Empty bowls make the former place sound safer than it was. He posts the day's supply plan and begins serving what has arrived. Hunger has narrowed their memory. Israel's food comes by God's promised provision, not a relief delivery schedule.
Notice
Exodus 16:4 The daily amount is part of a test, not merely a ration. Gathering food will show whether the people accept God's directions about enough and timing.
Exodus 16:1-8
King James Version1And 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.
2And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3And 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 flesh 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 hunger.
4Then 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.
5And 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.
6And 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:
7And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8And 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 murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
Exodus 16:9-15
Quails Arrive and Bread Appears
Aaron calls the people near because God has heard their complaints. They look toward the wilderness and see God's glory in the cloud. God repeats his promise of evening meat and morning bread, so they will know he is their God. Quails cover the camp that evening. In the morning, dew lifts to reveal small round food on the ground. The people do not recognize it. Moses explains that this is the bread God has given them. The promised provision arrives in a form they first have to be taught to understand.
In everyday life
A food-bank volunteer opens packets of unfamiliar grain at a distribution counter. A mother hesitates until the volunteer shows her how to prepare it and hands her enough for the family. The food has arrived before the family knows how to recognize its use. Manna comes as God's promised bread, not a donated store of grain.
Notice
Exodus 16:15 The people see the food before they know what it is. Moses connects the unfamiliar thing on the ground with the promise they had heard.
Exodus 16:9-15
King James Version9And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.
10And 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 glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
11And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12I have heard the murmurings 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.
13And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
Exodus 16:16-21
Daily Portions Must Not Be Hoarded
Each person must gather an omer of food, a measured daily portion, for everyone in the household. Some gather more and some less, yet measurement shows enough for each person's need. Moses forbids keeping any until morning. Some ignore him, and their stored food breeds worms and stinks. Moses is angry at their refusal to listen. Gathering happens each morning before the sun grows hot and melts the food. The arrangement provides enough while requiring a fresh response to God's instruction each day.
In everyday life
A mountain-hut keeper hands each walker enough fresh food for the day's route. One guest secretly packs extra in a warm bag despite the storage warning. By morning it has spoiled, while the next day's ration is ready downstairs. Hoarding has not made him more secure. Manna's pattern is a divine test, not a hut's food policy.
Notice
Exodus 16:18 The measured result is enough for every eater. The account focuses on need being met, rather than praising the person who gathers the largest pile.
Exodus 16:16-21
King James Version16This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20Notwithstanding they hearkened 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.
21And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
Exodus 16:22-30
A Double Portion Makes Rest Possible
On the sixth day, people gather twice the daily amount. Moses explains that the next day is a holy rest for the LORD. They must cook what they need and keep the rest overnight. This time the stored food does not spoil. No manna will appear on the seventh day. Some still go out looking and find nothing. God challenges their refusal to keep his commands. The double portion was given so they could stay and rest. The people finally rest, learning that provision includes time without gathering.
In everyday life
A station worker receives two prepared meals before a full maintenance shutdown. One meal is for today, the other for the rest day when the kitchen stays closed. A worker arrives at the shutter anyway and finds no service. The extra meal was meant to make stopping possible. A staffing arrangement has no authority to make the rest day holy as God does.
Notice
Exodus 16:24 Food kept on God's instruction does not spoil as the earlier hoarded food did. The difference is obedience to the stated timing, not storage skill.
Exodus 16:22-30
King James Version22And 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 congregation came and told Moses.
23And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25And 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.
26Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29See, 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.
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
Exodus 16:31-36
A Jar Preserves the Wilderness Food
Israel calls the food Manna. It is white, resembles coriander seed, and tastes like wafers made with honey. God tells Moses to keep an omer for later generations to see the bread he supplied after bringing them from Egypt. Aaron stores it before the Testimony, the sacred witness to God's covenant. Exodus then looks ahead and says the people eat manna for forty years, until they reach the inhabited land's border. The measured food becomes both daily sustenance and a kept reminder of how the wilderness years were sustained.
In everyday life
A museum keeper places a sealed sample of emergency flour beside a camp register. Visiting grandchildren can see what fed their relatives instead of hearing only that food arrived. A small object gives substance to a long period of need. The display serves public memory. God commands the manna jar as a witness to his own provision.
Notice
Exodus 16:35 The account briefly looks forward across forty years. The food first found on one morning becomes the continuing support of Israel's wilderness life.
Exodus 16:31-36
King James Version31And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
34As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
36Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Exodus 16:1 begins with “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…”
Where the chapter turns
Exodus 16:20 forms a natural hinge: “Notwithstanding they hearkened 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.”
The final note
Exodus 16:36 leaves the reader with “Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, Moses, Israel, children, morning, bread help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- omer
- A dry measure of roughly two litres, here one person's daily portion.
- wist
- Knew or understood, here used of recognizing the unfamiliar food.
- sabbath
- A weekly seventh day of rest set apart for the LORD.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
