^16:16“This is what⁴³ the Lord has commanded:⁴⁴ ‘Each person is to gather⁴⁵ from it what he can eat, an omer⁴⁶ per person⁴⁷ according to the number⁴⁸ of your people;⁴⁹ each one will pick it up⁵⁰ for whoever lives⁵¹ in his tent.’ ” ^16:17The Israelites did so, and they gathered—some more, some less. ^16:18When⁵² they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

^16:19Moses said to them, “No one⁵³ is to keep any of it⁵⁴ until morning.” ^16:20But they did not listen to Moses; some⁵⁵ kept part of it until morning, and it was full⁵⁶ of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them. ^16:21So they gathered it each morning,⁵⁷ each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt.⁵⁸^16:22And⁵⁹ on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers⁶⁰ per person;⁶¹ and all the leaders⁶² of the community⁶³ came and told⁶⁴ Moses. ^16:23He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work,⁶⁵ a holy Sabbath⁶⁶ to the Lord. Whatever you want to⁶⁷ bake, bake today;⁶⁸ whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’ ”

^16:24So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. ^16:25Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the area.⁶⁹^16:26Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

^16:27On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing. ^16:28So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse⁷⁰ to obey my commandments and my instructions? ^16:29See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why⁷¹ he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are;⁷² let no one⁷³ go out of his place on the seventh day.” ^16:30So the people rested on the seventh day.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

43 Heb “the thing that.”
44 The perfect tense could be taken as a definite past with Moses now reporting it. In this case a very recent past. But in declaring the word from Yahweh it could be instantaneous, and receive a present tense translation—“here and now he commands you.”
45 The form is the plural imperative: “Gather [you] each man according to his eating.”
46 The omer is an amount mentioned only in this chapter, and its size is unknown, except by comparison with the ephah (v. 36). A number of recent English versions approximate the omer as “two quarts” (cf. , , ); “two litres.”
47 Heb “for a head.”
48 The word “number” is an accusative that defines more precisely how much was to be gathered (see §118.h).
49 Traditionally “souls.”
50 Heb “will take.”
51 “lives” has been supplied.
52 The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is subordinated here as a temporal clause.
53 The address now is for “man” (אִישׁ, ’ish), “each one”; here the instruction seems to be focused on the individual heads of the households.
54 Or “some of it,” “from it.”
55 Heb “men”; this usage is designed to mean “some” (see §138.h, n. 1).
56 The verb וַיָּרֻם (vayyarum) is equivalent to a passive—“it was changed”—to which “worms” is added as an accusative of result ( §121.d, n. 2).
57 Heb “morning by morning.” This is an example of the repetition of words to express the distributive sense; here the meaning is “every morning” (see §121.c).
58 The perfect tenses here with vav (ו) consecutives have the frequentative sense; they function in a protasis-apodosis relationship ( §159.g).
59 Heb “and it happened/was.”
60 This construction is an exception to the normal rule for the numbers 2 through 10 taking the object numbered in the plural. Here it is “two of the omer” or “the double of the omer” (see §134.e).
61 Heb “for one.”
62 The word suggests “the ones lifted up” above others, and therefore the rulers or the chiefs of the people.
63 Or “congregation” (, , , ).
64 The meaning here is probably that these leaders, the natural heads of the families in the clans, saw that people were gathering twice as much and they reported this to Moses, perhaps afraid it would stink again (U. Cassuto, Exodus, ).
65 The noun שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) has the abstract ending on it: “resting, ceasing.” The root word means “cease” from something, more than “to rest.” The Law would make it clear that they were to cease from their normal occupations and do no common work.
66 The technical expression is now used: שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ (shabbat-qodesh, “a holy Sabbath”) meaning a “cessation of/for holiness” for Yahweh. The rest was to be characterized by holiness.
67 The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects—“bake whatever you want to bake.”
68 The word “today” is implied from the context.
69 Heb “in the field” (so , , , , ); , , “on the ground.”
70 The verb is plural, and so it is addressed to the nation and not to Moses. The perfect tense in this sentence is the characteristic perfect, denoting action characteristic, or typical, of the past and the present.
71 Noting the rabbinic teaching that the giving of the Sabbath was a sign of God’s love—it was accomplished through the double portion on the sixth day—B. Jacob says, “God made no request unless He provided the means for its execution” (Exodus, 461).
72 Heb “remain, a man where he is.”
73 Or “Let not anyone go” (see §138.d).