^16:32Moses said, “This is what⁷⁷ the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept⁷⁸ for generations to come,⁷⁹ so that they may see⁸⁰ the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’ ” ^16:33Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come.” ^16:34Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony⁸¹ for safekeeping.⁸²

^16:35Now the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ^16:36(Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.)⁸³

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Footnotes

74 The name “house of Israel” is unusual in this context.
75 Hebrew מָן (man).
76 Heb “like seed of coriander, white, its taste was.”
77 Heb “This is the thing that.”
78 Heb “for keeping.”
79 Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).
80 In this construction after the particle expressing purpose or result, the imperfect tense has the nuance of final imperfect, equal to a subjunctive in the classical languages.
81 The “Testimony” is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant; so the pot of manna would be placed before Yahweh in the tabernacle. W. C. Kaiser says that this later instruction came from a time after the tabernacle had been built (see Exod 25:10–22; W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” 2:). This is not a problem since the final part of this chapter had to have been included at the end of the forty years in the desert.
82 “for keeping.”
83 The words “omer” and “ephah” are transliterated Hebrew words. The omer is mentioned only in this passage. (It is different from a “homer” [cf. Ezek 45:11–14].) An ephah was a dry measure whose capacity is uncertain: “Quotations given for the ephah vary from 45 to 20 liters” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 2:340–41). The point of this chapter, with all its instructions and reports included, is God’s miraculous provision of food for his people. This is a display of sovereign power that differs from the display of military power. Once again the story calls for faith, but here it is faith in Yahweh to provide for his people. The provision is also a test to see if they will obey the instructions of God. Deut 8 explains this. The point, then, is that God provides for the needs of his people that they may demonstrate their dependence on him by obeying him. The exposition of this passage must also correlate to John 6. God’s providing manna from heaven to meet the needs of his people takes on new significance in the application that Jesus makes of the subject to himself. There the requirement is the same—will they believe and obey? But at the end of the event John explains that they murmured about Jesus.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ ”

So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

(An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The house of Israel named the substance manna. It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Two quarts of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

Moses told Aaron, “Take a container and put two quarts of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be preserved throughout your generations.” As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the testimony to be preserved.

The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan. (They used a measure called an omer, which held two quarts.)

NLTNew Living Translation

The Israelites called the food manna. It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey wafers.

Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Fill a two-quart container with manna to preserve it for your descendants. Then later generations will be able to see the food I gave you in the wilderness when I set you free from Egypt.”

Moses said to Aaron, “Get a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then put it in a sacred place before the Lord to preserve it for all future generations.” Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. He eventually placed it in the Ark of the Covenant—in front of the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived at the land where they would settle. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

The container used to measure the manna was an omer, which was one tenth of an ephah; it held about two quarts.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And the house of Israel called its name “manna.” And it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like a wafer with honey. And Moses said, “This is the word that Yahweh has commanded. ‘A full omer of it is for safekeeping for your generations so that they will see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you from the land of Egypt.’ ” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take one jar and put there a full omer of manna. Leave it before Yahweh for safekeeping for your generations.” As Yahweh had commanded Moses, so Aaron left it before the testimony for safekeeping. And the Israelites ate the manna forty years, until their coming to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until their coming to the border of the land of Canaan. (And an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

KJV 1900King James Version

And 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. And 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. And 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. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And 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. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

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