Exodus 16:8

16:1-12 The provisions of Israel, brought from Egypt, were spent by the middle of the second month, and they murmured. It is no new thing for the greatest kindness to be basely represented as the greatest injuries. They so far undervalue their deliverance, that they wished they had died in Egypt; and by the hand of the Lord, that is, by the plagues which cut off the Egyptians. We cannot suppose they had plenty in Egypt, nor could they fear dying for want in the wilderness, while they had flocks and herds: none talk more absurdly than murmurers. When we begin to fret, we ought to consider, that God hears all our murmurings. God promises a speedy and constant supply. He tried whether they would trust him, and rest satisfied with the bread of the day in its day. Thus he tried if they would serve him, and it appeared how ungrateful they were. When God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know he was their Lord; when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know he was their God.

And Moses said, this shall be,.... Which supplement may be left out: when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat; cause the quails to come up, and fall about their tents: and in the morning bread to the full; by raining it from heaven all around them: for that, or rather "then" (k): the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him; it will then appear that he has heard them, and taken notice of them, by giving them bread and flesh, they complained of the want of; and yet did not resent in a way of wrath and displeasure their murmurings, but kindly, bountifully, and in a most marvellous manner provided for them, which was acting like himself, a God gracious and merciful: and what are we? that we should be the objects of your resentment, and be murmured at, and complained of, who had done nothing to deserve such treatment: your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord; not only against them, but against the Lord also; or not so much against them as against the Lord, whose messengers and ministers they were, and whom they represented, obeyed, and served; thus whatever is done to the ministers of Christ, he reckons as done to the Father, and to himself, Luke 10:16. (k) "testabitur se audisse", Tigurine version.

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 murmurings are not against us, but against the {e} LORD. (e) He that condemns God's ministers, condemns God himself.

Verse 8. - When the lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat . Moses must have received a distinct intimation of the coming arrival of the quails, trough he has not recorded it, his desire of brevity causing him to retrench all that is not absolutely necessary for the right understanding of the narrative. It is, comparatively, seldom that he records both the Divine message and his delivery of it. In general, he places upon record either the message only, or its delivery only. Bread to the full . Compare above, verse 4; and infra, verses 12 and 18. The Lord heareth your murmurings . The latter part of this verse is, in the main, a repetition of verse 7; but it emphasises the statements of that verse, and prepares the way for what follows. CHAPTER 16:9-21 Exodus 16:8

In J, on the contrary, Moses one (without Aaron) is told to go in before the Pharaoh, and he addresses the Pharaoh himself (in agreement with Exodus 4:10-16 , where Aaron is appointed to be Moses’ spokesman not with Pharaoh, as in P, but with the people ), Exodus 7:14-16 , Exodus 8:1 ; Exodus 8:9-10 ; Exodus 8:20 ; Exodus 8:26 ; Exodus 8:29 , Exodus 9:1 ; Exodus 9:13 ; Exodus 9:29 , Exodus 10:1 ; Exodus 10:9 ; Exodus 10:25 , Exodus 11:4-10 [116]; a formal demand is regularly made, Let my people go, that they may serve me , Exodus 7:16 , Exodus 8:1 ; Exodus 8:20 , Exodus 9:1 ; Exodus 9:13 , Exodus 10:3 (comp. before, Exodus 4:23 ); the interview with the Pharaoh is prolonged, and described in some detail; Jehovah Himself brings the plague, after it has been announced by Moses,—usually on the morrow, Exodus 8:23 , Exodus 9:5 f., 18, Exodus 10:4 ,—without any mention of Aaron or his rod; sometimes the king sends for Moses and Aaron to crave their intercession, Exodus 8:8 ; Exodus 8:25 , Exodus 9:27 , Exodus 10:16 ; the plague is removed, as it is brought, without any human intervention; the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is expressed by kâbçd, hikbîd ( was heavy, made heavy ), Exodus 7:14 , Exodus 8:15 ; Exodus 8:32 , Exodus 9:7 ; Exodus 9:34 , Exodus 10:1 ; and there is no closing formula: J also, unlike both P and E, represents the Israelites as living apart from the Egyptians, in the land of Goshen,

4. Then said the Lord unto Moses—Though the outbreak was immediately against the human leaders, it was indirectly against God: yet mark His patience, and how graciously He promised to redress the grievance. I will rain bread from heaven—Israel, a type of the Church which is from above, and being under the conduct, government, and laws of heaven, received their food from heaven also (Ps 78:24). that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no—The grand object of their being led into the wilderness was that they might receive a religious training directly under the eye of God; and the first lesson taught them was a constant dependence on God for their daily nourishment.

Here, in this arid sandy waste, the whole congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron on account of the want of food. What they brought with them from Egypt had been consumed in the 30 days that had elapsed since they came out ( Exodus 16:1 ). In their vexation the people expressed the wish that they had died in Egypt by the flesh-pot, in the midst of plenty, "by the hand of Jehovah," i.e., by the last plague which Jehovah sent upon Egypt, rather than here in the desert of slow starvation. The form ויּלּינוּ is a Hiphil according to the consonants, and should be pointed ילּינוּ, from הלּין for הלין (see Ges. 72, Anm. 9, and Ewald, 114c.). As the want really existed, Jehovah promised them help ( Exodus 16:4 ). He would rain bread from heaven, which the Israelites should gather every day for their daily need, to try the people, whether they would walk in His law or not.

In what the trial was to consist, is briefly indicated in Exodus 16:5 : "And it will come to pass on the sixth day (of the week), that they will prepare what they have brought, and it will be double what they gather daily." The meaning is, that what they gathered and brought into their tents on the sixth day of the week, and made ready for eating, would be twice as much as what they gathered on every other day; not that Jehovah would miraculously double what was brought home on the sixth day, as Knobel interprets the words in order to make out a discrepancy between Exodus 16:5 and Exodus 16:22 . הכין, to prepare, is to be understood as applying partly to the measuring of what had been gathered ( Exodus 16:18 ), and partly to the pounding and grinding of the grains of manna into meal ( Numbers 11:8 ). In what respect this was a test for the people, is pointed out in Exodus 16:16 . Here, in Exodus 16:4 and Exodus 16:5 , the promise of God is only briefly noticed, and its leading points referred to; it is described in detail afterwards, in the communications which Moses and Aaron make to the people.