Exodus 16:4
in Exodus 16Then 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 will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said Jehovah unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.
KJV
Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 16
Commentary
11 notes on this verseI will rain bread - Therefore this substance was not a production of the desert: nor was the dew that was the instrument of producing it common there, else they must have had this bread for a month before.
This site's exposition
rain down bread from heaven
on Exodus 16:4-5
The phrase bread from heaven occurs here first, and Psalm 78:24 echoes it. John 6:31 puts it in the mouth of a crowd asking Jesus for a sign.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
These incidents are quite well known from our reading of Exodus, for quails rained down like the heaviest shower, and the Jews received manna to get their fill. But to demonstrate that this was a prefiguration, he spoke not of manna but of the bread …
The rain of manna fed the Jewish people for forty years in the desert. It did not by its customary service cause an increase of sprouts from the earth but streamed on the earth like harvested grains. It took away all the toil of human …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Then said the Lord unto Moses,....
Let favour be shown to them, yet will they not learn righteousness, Isa. xxvi. How Moses made known these intentions to Israel, as God ordered him. Here Aaron was his prophet, as he had been to Pharaoh.
God's bounty leaves room for man's duty; it did so even when manna was rained: they must not eat till they have gathered. (2.) Contentment and satisfaction with a sufficiency. They must gather, every man according to his eating; enough is as good as a feast, and more than enough is as bad as a surfeit.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2332: “Lessons From the Manna” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
IT seems to us that it must have been a very difficult thing to supply food for the hundreds of thousands, I shall not be incorrect if I say the millions who were in the wilderness. But, difficult as that was, the commissariat was not so difficult as the education. To train that mob of slaves into a nation under discipline—to lift up those who had been in bondage and make them fit to enjoy national privileges—this was the Herculean task that Moses had to perform.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2332: “Lessons From the Manna” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT seems to us that it must have been a very difficult thing to supply food for the hundreds of thousands, I shall not be incorrect if I say the millions who were in the wilderness. But, difficult as that was, the commissariat was not so difficult as the education. To train that mob of slaves into a nation under discipline—to lift up those who had been in bondage and make them fit to enjoy national privileges—this was the Herculean task that Moses had to perform. And their God, who loved the children of Israel and chose them—and determined to make them a peculiar people unto Himself, undertook to teach them—and He used their food as part of the means of their education. Animals are often taught through their food. When they cannot be reached in any other way, they have been instructed by their hunger, by their thirst and by their feeding. And the Lord, who knew of what a coarse nature Israel was composed, and how the people had degenerated from the old stock during their long bondage, took care to teach them by every means, not only by the higher and the more spiritual, by the typical and symbolical, but He also taught them by their hunger and by their thirst, by the supply of water from the Rock and by the manna which He rained from Heaven. We will try to see, tonight, what the Lord taught them, but we will do more than that—we will try to learn what they learned and somewhat more. May the Holy Spirit, Himself, be our Teacher and as He has often taught us the most Divine lessons by the bread and wine, preaching to our very hearts by what seemed the lowly ministry of food and drink, so may He, tonight, teach us by that angels' bread which with Israel was fed in the wilderness long years ago! First, I invite you to consider how the Lord taught these people by His gift. And next, how He taught them by making this gift a test to them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That I may prove them - The trial consisted in the restriction to the supply of their daily wants.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| מַמְטִ֥יר | mamtir | [am] about to rain down | H4305 → | 17 times |
| לָכֶ֛ם | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| לֶ֖חֶם | lechem | bread | H3899 → | 298 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְיָצָ֨א | veyatza' | and it will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הָעָ֤ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ | velaketu | and they will gather | H3950 → | 37 times |
| דְּבַר־ | devar- | a matter of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | a day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ | beyomo | in day its | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לְמַ֧עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ | ʾanassenu | I should put to [the] test it | H5254 → | 36 times |
| הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ | hayelekh | ¿ will it walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּתוֹרָתִ֖י | betorati | in law my | H8451 → | 219 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹֽא׃ | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
מַמְטִ֥יר[am] about to rain down
mamtirH4305 →17 times
לָכֶ֛םfor <the> you
lakhem
לֶ֖חֶםbread
lechemH3899 →298 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְיָצָ֨אand it will go out
veyatza'H3318 →1067 times
הָעָ֤םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וְלָֽקְטוּ֙and they will gather
velaketuH3950 →37 times
דְּבַר־a matter of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
י֣וֹםa day
yomH3117 →2304 times
בְּיוֹמ֔וֹin day its
beyomoH3117 →2304 times
לְמַ֧עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּI should put to [the] test it
ʾanassenuH5254 →36 times
הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ¿ will it walk
hayelekhH1980 →1546 times
בְּתוֹרָתִ֖יin law my
betoratiH8451 →219 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לֹֽא׃not
lo'H3808 →5168 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
Deuteronomy 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:7
so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 1:3
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
- Deuteronomy 8:16
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- Deuteronomy 2:7
Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these…
- 1 Peter 5:5–6
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 Peter 1:7
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,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
Through
Deuteronomy 8:16He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
it leads to
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Exodus 16:15
When 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…
- James 1:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 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 (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 104.40; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2332: “Lessons From the Manna” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Peter Chrysologus, SERMON 166.