Exodus 16:20
in Exodus 16But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was wroth with them.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Exodus 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIt bred worms - Their sinful curiosity and covetousness led them to make the trial; and they had a mass of the most loathsome putrefaction for their pains. How gracious is God! He is continually rendering disobedience and sin irksome to the transgressor; that finding his evil ways to be unprofitable, he may return to his Maker, and trust in God alone.
This site's exposition
Let no man leave of it
on Exodus 16:19-20
The one rule attached to the bread is that it cannot be stored, so a people anxious about tomorrow are handed exactly one day at a time. Some keep it back anyway and it breeds worms and stinks, which is the first recorded disobedience after the sea. Moses was wroth with them, and the text records nothing further done about it.
This site's exposition
But they did not listen to Moses
Adam Clarke names curiosity and covetousness as the motive. He reads the maggots and the smell as God making disobedience unpleasant, so that the people turn back and trust Him. They did not listen to Moses echoes 6:9, where the Israelites did not listen to him on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
But if any endure not what I have said, but still cleave to the poverty of worldly things, snatching at the things which endure diminution: even in respect of those again, let him call to mind the food of manna and tremble at the example of that punishment. For what happened in that instance, this same result may one now also see in the case of covetous men. But what then happened? Worms were bred from their covetousness. This also now happens in their case. For the measure of the food is the same for all; we having but one stomach to fill; only thou who feedest luxuriously hast more to get rid of. And as in that case they who in their houses gathered more than the lawful quantity, gathered not manna, but more worms and rottenness; just so both in luxury and in covetousness, the gluttonous and drunken gather not more dainties but more corruption.
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence · Written before 523.
proposed
And thou must in another way understand that it is lust which is reprehensible, for every day, morning after morning, the people gathered the manna which came down, and so long as they gathered it according to the command they were not reprehended or condemned; …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
) it stank; when they kept it in obedience to a command it was sweet and good; for every thing is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. The intermission of the manna on the seventh day.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The glory of the Lord - An extra-ordinary and sudden brightness. And ye shall know that I am the Lord your God - This gave proof of his power as the Lord, and his particular favour to them as their God; when God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know that he is the Lord; when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know that he was their God.
Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses,....
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It bred worms - This result was supernatural: no such tendency to rapid decomposition is recorded of common manna.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמְע֣וּ | shameu | they listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֗ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַיּוֹתִ֨רוּ | vaiyotiru | and they left over | H3498 → | 106 times |
| אֲנָשִׁ֤ים | ʾanashim | people | H582 → | 566 times |
| מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ | mimenu | some of it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בֹּ֔קֶר | boker | morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וַיָּ֥רֻם | vaiyarum | and it became rotten | H7311 → | 190 times |
| תּוֹלָעִ֖ים | tolaim | worms | H8438 → | 43 times |
| וַיִּבְאַ֑שׁ | vaiyivash | and it stank | H887 → | 17 times |
| וַיִּקְצֹ֥ף | vaiyiktzof | and he was angry | H7107 → | |
| עֲלֵהֶ֖ם | ʾalehem | towards them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֹשֶֽׁה׃ | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמְע֣וּthey listened
shameuH8085 →1159 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַיּוֹתִ֨רוּand they left over
vaiyotiruH3498 →106 times
אֲנָשִׁ֤יםpeople
ʾanashimH582 →566 times
מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙some of it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בֹּ֔קֶרmorning
bokerH1242 →214 times
וַיָּ֥רֻםand it became rotten
vaiyarumH7311 →190 times
תּוֹלָעִ֖יםworms
tolaimH8438 →43 times
וַיִּבְאַ֑שׁand it stank
vaiyivashH887 →17 times
וַיִּקְצֹ֥ףand he was angry
vaiyiktzofH7107 →
עֲלֵהֶ֖םtowards them
ʾalehemH5921 →5755 times
מֹשֶֽׁה׃Moses
moshehH4872 →765 times
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
Hebrews 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
- Joshua 1:5
No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
- Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- 1 Samuel 12:22
Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Isaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Deuteronomy 31:8
Through
Matthew 6:19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Luke 12:21
This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”
- Hebrews 13:5
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON 1 CORINTHIANS 40.5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence.