Psalms 105:40
in Psalms 105They asked, and He brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They asked, and he brought quails, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
KJV
The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
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This verse in Psalms 105
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe people asked. But how badly, how wickedly! And yet his grace forgave the sin of their murmuring and heard its meaning: or perhaps we may consider that while the multitude murmured there were a few, who were really gracious people, who prayed, and therefore the blessing came. He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He gave them what they asked amiss as well as what was good for them, mingling judgment with goodness, for their discipline.
This site's exposition
He brought Israel out with silver
on Psalms 105:37-41
The silver and gold come from Exodus 12:35 and 36, where the Egyptians hand it over, and the dread of Israel is what makes Egypt glad to see them go. None of the tribes stumbled on the way out. Then the provisions run together, a cloud, a fire at night, quail, the bread of heaven, and water out of a rock.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"They asked, and the quail came" [Psalm 105:40]. They did not desire quails, but flesh. But since the quail is flesh, and in this Psalm he speaks not of the provocation of those who did not please God, but of the faith of the elect, the true seed of Abraham; they are to be understood to have desired that that might come which might crush the murmurs of those who provoked. Then in the next line, "And He filled them with the bread of heaven," he has not indeed named manna, but it is obscure to none who has read those records.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
): The people asked, and he brought quails; and, when they were not thus feasted, yet they were abundantly satisfied with the bread of heaven. Those are curious and covetous indeed who will not be so satisfied.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Quails - He speaks of the first giving of quails, Exod. xvi, 13, which God gave them as a refreshment, notwithstanding their sin in desiring them, which he graciously pardoned.
The people asked, and he brought quails,....
In singing this we must give to God the glory of his wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness, must look upon ourselves as concerned in the affairs of the Old-Testament church, both because to it were committed the oracles of God, which are our treasure, and because out of it Christ arose, and these things happened to it for ensamples.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The people asked. But how badly, how wickedly! And yet his grace forgave the sin of their murmuring and heard its meaning: or perhaps we may consider that while the multitude murmured there were a few, who were really gracious people, who prayed, and therefore the blessing came. He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He gave them what they asked amiss as well as what was good for them, mingling judgment with goodness, for their discipline. The quails were more a curse than a blessing in the end, because of their greed and lust, but in themselves they were a peculiar indulgence, and favour: it was their own fault, that the dainty meat brought death with it. As for the manna it was unmingled good to them, and really satisfied them, which the quails never did. It was bread from heaven, and the bread of heaven, sent by heaven; it was a pity that they were not led to look up to heaven whence it came, and fear and love the God who out of heaven rained it upon them. Thus they were housed beneath the Lord's canopy and fed with food from his own table; never people were so lodged and boarded. O house of Israel, praise ye the Lord.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The people asked, and he brought quails - See the notes at Psa 78:26-29. And satisfied them with the bread of heaven - manna, sent down, as it were, from heaven. In Psa 78:25, it is called “angels’ food.” See the notes at that verse.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁאַ֣ל | shaal | he asked | H7592 → | 171 times |
| וַיָּבֵ֣א | vaiyave' | and he brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שְׂלָ֑ו | selav | quail | H7958 → | |
| וְלֶ֥חֶם | velechem | and bread of | H3899 → | 298 times |
| שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם | shamayim | heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| יַשְׂבִּיעֵֽם׃ | yasbiem | he satisfied them | H7646 → | 97 times |
שָׁאַ֣לhe asked
shaalH7592 →171 times
וַיָּבֵ֣אand he brought
vaiyave'H935 →2568 times
שְׂלָ֑וquail
selavH7958 →
וְלֶ֥חֶםand bread of
velechemH3899 →298 times
שָׁ֝מַ֗יִםheavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
יַשְׂבִּיעֵֽם׃he satisfied them
yasbiemH7646 →97 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 8:3He 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,…
it leads to
- Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
- Hebrews 13:5–6
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.”
- Psalms 78:23–25
Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
- 1 Corinthians 10:3
They all ate the same spiritual food
- Matthew 4:4
Through
Psalms 78:18They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
it leads to
- Numbers 11:4
Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Deuteronomy 6:16
Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
- 1 Corinthians 10:9
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Numbers 11:4
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 105; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.