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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:13

At even the quails came - שלו selav , from שלה salah , to be quiet, easy, or secure; and hence the quail, from their remarkably living at ease and plenty among the corn. "An amazing number of these birds," says Hasselquist, Travels, p. 209, "come to Egypt at this time, (March), for in this month the wheat ripens. They conceal themselves among the corn, but the Egyptians know that they are thieves, and when they imagine the field to be full of them they spread a net over the corn and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:14

Behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing - It appears that this small round thing fell with the dew, or rather the dew fell first, and this substance fell on it. The dew might have been intended to cool the ground, that the manna on its fall might not be dissolved; for we find from Exodus 16:21 , that the heat of the sun melted it. The ground therefore being sufficiently cooled by the dew, the manna lay unmelted long enough for the Israelites to collect a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:15

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 הוא מן 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 Exodus 16:31 ; we learn that this substance was... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:16

An omer for every man - I shall here once for all give a short account of the measures of capacity among the Hebrews. Omer, עמר from the root amar , to press, squeeze, collect, and bind together; hence a sheaf of corn - a multitude of stalks pressed together. It is supposed that the omer, which contained about three quarts English, had its name from this circumstance; that it was the most contracted or the smallest measure of things dry known to the ancient Hebrews; for the קב kab ,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:17

Some more, some less - According to their respective families, an omer for a man; and according to the number of infirm persons whose wants they undertook to supply. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:18

He that gathered much had nothing over - Because his gathering was in proportion to the number of persons for whom he had to provide. And some having fewer, others more in family, and the gathering being in proportion to the persons who were to eat of it, therefore he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. Probably every man gathered as much as he could; and then when brought home and measured by an omer, if he had a surplus, it went to supply the wants... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:19

Let no man leave of it till the morning - For God would have them to take no thought for the morrow, and constantly to depend on him for their dally bread. And is not that petition in our Lord's prayer founded on this very circumstance, Give us day by day our daily bread? read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:20

It 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:22

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much - This they did that they might have a provision for the Sabbath, for on that day no manna fell, Exodus 16:26 , Exodus 16:27 . What a convincing miracle was this! No manna fell on the Sabbath! Had it been a natural production it would have fallen on the Sabbath as at other times; and had there not been a supernatural influence to keep it sweet and pure, it would have been corrupted on the Sabbath as well as on other days. By this series of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 16:23

To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath - There is nothing either in the text or context that seems to intimate that the Sabbath was now first given to the Israelites, as some have supposed: on the contrary, it is here spoken of as being perfectly well known, from its having been generally observed. The commandment, it is true, may be considered as being now renewed; because they might have supposed that in their unsettled state in the wilderness they might have been exempted from the... read more

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