Exodus 16:15
in Exodus 16When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, It is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat.
KJV
And 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.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"This is the bread that God gave" to you "to eat." Hear who this bread is: "The word," Scripture says, "which God has ordained." This then is the ordination of God; this food nourishes the soul of the wise. It illuminates and it sweetens, resplendent with the gleam of truth and soothing, as if with a honeycomb, by the sweetness of different virtues and the word of wisdom. For "good words are sweeter than a honeycomb," as it is written in Proverbs.
This site's exposition
there lay a small round thing
on Exodus 16:14-15
The description comes before the name, a small round thing as small as the hoar frost on the ground. What the people say to one another is a question, and the text says outright that they wist not what it was, so the food is called after the puzzle it caused. The word manna occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and Moses answers with a source rather than a substance, this is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat, which is the answer John 6:32 takes up.
This site's exposition
they asked one another, “What is it?”
The people's question is man hu in Hebrew. Albert Barnes connects man with man-hut, the Egyptian name for the sweet white grains of the tamarisk in the Sinai peninsula. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown class that desert manna as a medicine and set it apart from Israel's bread by its taste, by the sixth-day double and by the Sabbath.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Manna is interpreted as "What is this?" See whether the very power of the name does not provoke you to learn it, so that when you hear the law of God read in church you may always ask and say to the teachers: What is …
That this is heavenly food is demonstrated by the person speaking: "I shall rain upon you bread from heaven." Manna is a cause (aition),because God, who waters minds with the dew of wisdom, uses it as an instrument. And manna is a kind of matter (hyle), because souls that see it and taste it are delighted and ask whence it comes, manna which is more splendid that light and sweeter than honey. They can be answered with a chain of quotations from Scripture: "This is the bread that the Lord gave to you to eat," and "This is the Word of God which God has established" or ordained. By this bread the souls of the prudent are fed and delighted, since it is fair and sweet, illuminating the souls of the hearers with the splendor of truth and drawing them on with the sweetness of the virtues.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when the children of Israel saw it,....
It was pleasant food; the Jews say that it was palatable to all, however varied their tastes. It was wholesome food, light of digestion, and very necessary (Dr. Grew says) to cleanse them from disorders with which he thinks it probable that they were, in the time of their bondage, more or less infected, which disorders a luxurious diet would have made contagious.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
It is manna - “Man” or “man-hut,” i. e. white manna, was the name under which the substance was known to the Egyptians, and therefore to the Israelites. The manna of the Peninsula of Sinai is the sweet juice of the Tarfa, a species of tamarisk. It exudes from the trunk and branches in hot weather, and forms small round white grains. In cold weather it preserves its consistency, in hot weather it melts rapidly. It is either gathered from the twigs of tamarisk, or from the fallen leaves underneath the tree. The color is a greyish yellow.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Though it may be exhaled by the heat and afterwards fall with the dew, it is a medicine, not food--it is well known to the natives of the desert, while the Israelites were strangers to theirs; and in taste as well as in the appearance of double quantity on Friday, none on Sabbath, and in not breeding worms, it is essentially different from the manna furnished to the Israelites.
They said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was - This is a most unfortunate translation, because it not only gives no sense, but it contradicts itself. The Hebrew מן הוא man hu, literally signifies, What is this? for, says the text, they wist not what it was, and therefore they could not give it a name. Moses immediately answers the question, and says, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. From Exo 16:31 we learn that this substance was afterwards called מן man, probably in commemoration of the question they had asked on its first appearance. Almost all our own ancient versions translate the words, What is this? What this substance was we know not. It was nothing that was common to the wilderness. It is evident the Israelites never saw it before, for Moses says, Deu 8:3, Deu 8:16: He fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; and it is very likely that nothing of the kind had ever been seen before; and by a pot of it being laid up in the ark, it is as likely that nothing of the kind ever appeared more, after the miraculous supply in the wilderness had ceased. It seems to have been created for the present occasion, and, like Him whom it typified, to have been the only thing of the kind, the only bread from heaven, which God ever gave to preserve the life of man, as Christ is the true bread that came down from heaven, and was given for the life of the world. See John 6:31-58.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּרְא֣וּ | vaiyiru | and they saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִ֤ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָחִיו֙ | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| מָ֣ן | man | what? | H4478 → | 14 times |
| ה֔וּא | hu' | [is] it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדְע֖וּ | yadeu | they knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| ה֑וּא | hu' | [was] it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֹשֶׁה֙ | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| ה֣וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַלֶּ֔חֶם | halechem | [is] the bread | H3899 → | 298 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָתַ֧ן | natan | he has given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| לְאָכְלָֽה׃ | leokhlah | to food | H402 → |
וַיִּרְא֣וּand they saw
vaiyiruH7200 →1300 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אִ֤ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָחִיו֙brother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
מָ֣ןwhat?
manH4478 →14 times
ה֔וּא[is] it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָדְע֖וּthey knew
yadeuH3045 →945 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
ה֑וּא[was] it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֹשֶׁה֙Moses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
ה֣וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הַלֶּ֔חֶם[is] the bread
halechemH3899 →298 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נָתַ֧ןhe has given
natanH5414 →2011 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לָכֶ֖םto <the> you
lakhem
לְאָכְלָֽה׃to food
leokhlahH402 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 10:3They all ate the same spiritual food
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
- Nehemiah 9:15
In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to…
- Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I…
- Exodus 16:35
The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
- Nehemiah 9:20
You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
Through
John 6:58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
it leads to
- John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- John 6:47–51
Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.
- John 3:36
Through
Exodus 16:4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:3
They all ate the same spiritual food
- 1 Corinthians 10:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 64.2; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 8.7; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 102.3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.