Exodus 16:16-23
New English Translation
16 “This is what[a] the Lord has commanded:[b] ‘Each person is to gather[c] from it what he can eat, an omer[d] per person[e] according to the number[f] of your people;[g] each one will pick it up[h] for whoever lives[i] in his tent.’” 17 The Israelites did so, and they gathered—some more, some less. 18 When[j] they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.
19 Moses said to them, “No one[k] is to keep any of it[l] until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some[m] kept part of it until morning, and it was full[n] of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it each morning,[o] each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt.[p] 22 And[q] on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers[r] per person;[s] and all the leaders[t] of the community[u] came and told[v] Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work,[w] a holy Sabbath[x] to the Lord. Whatever you want to[y] bake, bake today;[z] whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”
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- Exodus 16:16 tn Heb “the thing that.”
- Exodus 16:16 tn The perfect tense could be taken as a definite past with Moses now reporting it. In this case a very recent past. But in declaring the word from Yahweh it could be instantaneous, and receive a present tense translation—“here and now he commands you.”
- Exodus 16:16 tn The form is the plural imperative: “Gather [you] each man according to his eating.”
- Exodus 16:16 sn The omer is an amount mentioned only in this chapter, and its size is unknown, except by comparison with the ephah (v. 36). A number of recent English versions approximate the omer as “two quarts” (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT); TEV “two litres.”
- Exodus 16:16 tn Heb “for a head.”
- Exodus 16:16 tn The word “number” is an accusative that defines more precisely how much was to be gathered (see GKC 374 §118.h).
- Exodus 16:16 tn Traditionally “souls.”
- Exodus 16:16 tn Heb “will take.”
- Exodus 16:16 tn “lives” has been supplied.
- Exodus 16:18 tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is subordinated here as a temporal clause.
- Exodus 16:19 tn The address now is for “man” (אִישׁ, ʾish), “each one”; here the instruction seems to be focused on the individual heads of the households.
- Exodus 16:19 tn Or “some of it,” “from it.”
- Exodus 16:20 tn Heb “men”; this usage is designed to mean “some” (see GKC 447 §138.h, n. 1).
- Exodus 16:20 tn The verb וַיָּרֻם (vayyarum) is equivalent to a passive—“it was changed”—to which “worms” is added as an accusative of result (GKC 388-89 §121.d, n. 2).
- Exodus 16:21 tn Heb “morning by morning.” This is an example of the repetition of words to express the distributive sense; here the meaning is “every morning” (see GKC 388 §121.c).
- Exodus 16:21 tn The perfect tenses here with vav (ו) consecutives have the frequentative sense; they function in a protasis-apodosis relationship (GKC 494 §159.g).
- Exodus 16:22 tn Heb “and it happened/was.”
- Exodus 16:22 tn This construction is an exception to the normal rule for the numbers 2 through 10 taking the object numbered in the plural. Here it is “two of the omer” or “the double of the omer” (see GKC 433 §134.e).
- Exodus 16:22 tn Heb “for one.”
- Exodus 16:22 tn The word suggests “the ones lifted up” above others, and therefore the rulers or the chiefs of the people.
- Exodus 16:22 tn Or “congregation” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
- Exodus 16:22 sn The meaning here is probably that these leaders, the natural heads of the families in the clans, saw that people were gathering twice as much and they reported this to Moses, perhaps afraid it would stink again (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 197).
- Exodus 16:23 tn The noun שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) has the abstract ending on it: “resting, ceasing.” The root word means “cease” from something, more than “to rest.” The Law would make it clear that they were to cease from their normal occupations and do no common work.
- Exodus 16:23 tn The technical expression is now used: שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ (shabbat qodesh, “a holy Sabbath”) meaning a “cessation of/for holiness” for Yahweh. The rest was to be characterized by holiness.
- Exodus 16:23 tn The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects—“bake whatever you want to bake.”
- Exodus 16:23 tn The word “today” is implied from the context.
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