Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 16:32
And Moses said, This [is] the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
32. be kept ] Heb. be for a keeping (cf. on v. 26). Comp. esp. Num 17:10.
for your generations ] See on Exo 12:14.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 16:32-36
Put an omer full of manna therein.
An instructive memorial
I. By whom the memorial was enjoined. The Lord. We have need to set up memorials in our lives which shall call upon our souls to remember the benefits of the Lord. It is the will of heaven that its gifts should be held in constant remembrance.
II. In what the memorial consisted. Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations.
1. This memorial was reasonable.
2. Expressive.
3. Instructive.
4. Valuable. Golden pot (Heb 9:2).
And the memorials of the soul should not find expression in valueless things, but in the richest treasures of man. God is worthy our best offerings.
III. Where the memorial was deposited. And lay it up before the Lord. So Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And so this memorial was laid up before the Lord, in the ark of the covenant. Thus we must keep the memorials of the soul in devout spirit, and with a constant trust in the mediatorial work of Christ.
IV. The design the memorial contemplated. That ye may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness. To be kept for your generations. Each generation leaves a moral deposit behind it, for good or evil. Lessons:
1. The soul must have a memorial of the Divine mercy.
2. The memorial of the soul must consist of the best thing it possesses.
3. The memorial of the soul will have respect to the redemptive work of Christ. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
An instructive memorial
One day when George Moore–now a man of wealth–was accompanying his friend, Colonel Henderson, through the Waver wood on a partridge-shooting expedition, a curious ramshackle object appeared before them. It seemed to be a sort of big dhrosky with a long, broad trunk at the back end. What is that? asked the colonel. Why, said George Moore, that is the trap which I have driven into every market town in Great Britain and Ireland! It was the carriage he had used whilst achieving such great success as a commercial traveller. (H. O. Mackey.)
Former mercies remembered
Mr. Kidd, minister of Queensferry, near Edinburgh, was one day very much depressed and discouraged. He sent a note to Mr. L–minister of Culross, a few miles off, informing him of his distress of mind, and desiring a visit as soon as possible. Mr. L–told the servant he was so busy that he could not wait upon his master, but desired him to tell Mr. Kidd to remember Torwood. When the servant returned, he said to his master, Mr. L–could not come, but he desired me to tell you to remember Torwood. This answer immediately struck Mr. Kidd, and he cried out, Yes, Lord! I will remember Thee, from the hill Mizar, and from the Hermonites! All his troubles and darkness vanished upon the recollection of a day which he had formerly spent in prayer along with Mr. L–in Torwood, where he had enjoyed eminent communion with God. (W. Baxendale.)
An expressive memorial
It was during the wars that raged from 1652 to 1660, between Frederick III. of Denmark, and Charles Gustavus, of Sweden, that after a battle in which the victory had remained with the Danes, a stout burgher of Flensburg was about to refresh himself, ere retiring to have his wounds dressed, with a draught of beer from a wooden bottle, when an imploring cry from a wounded Swede lying on the field made him turn, and, with the very words of Sidney–Thy need is greater than mine, he knelt down by the fallen enemy to pour the liquor into his mouth. His requital was a pistol-shot in the shoulder from the treacherous Swede. Rascal! he cried, I would have befriended you, and you would murder me in return! Now will I punish you. I would have given you the whole bottle, but now you shall only have half. And drinking off half himself, he gave the rest to the Swede. The king, hearing the story, sent for the burgher, and asked him how he came to spare the life of such a rascal. Sire, said the honest burgher, I could never kill a wounded enemy. Thou meritest to be a noble, the king said, and created him one immediately, giving him as armorial bearings a wooden bottle pierced with an arrow. The family only lately became extinct in the person of an old maiden lady.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 32. To be kept for your generations] See Clarke on Ex 16:9.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
32-36. Fill an omer of it to be keptfor your generationsThe mere fact of such a multitude beingfed for forty years in the wilderness, where no food of any kind isto be obtained, will show the utter impossibility of their subsistingon a natural production of the kind and quantity as this tarfa-gum[see on Ex 16:13]; and, as iffor the purpose of removing all such groundless speculations, Aaronwas commanded to put a sample of it in a pota golden pot (Heb9:4) to be laid before the Testimony, to be kept for futuregenerations, that they might see the bread on which the Lord fedtheir fathers in the wilderness. But we have the bread of which thatwas merely typical (1Co 10:3;Joh 6:32).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Moses said,…. At another time, though it is here inserted to give the account of the mamma all together:
this is the thing which the Lord commandeth; namely, what follows:
fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; which was the quantity allowed a man every day; this measure was to be laid up, and reserved for posterity in future generations, not to eat, nor so much as taste of, for then it would soon have been gone, but to look at, as follows:
that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt; that they might see what sort of food was provided for them, and what quantity each man had of it every day; and so have an ocular proof of the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, in providing for their support in a wilderness, where no supplies were to be had; and when they were just come out of an enemy’s country: thus Christ is the food of his people, while they are in the wilderness of this world; and is never so until they are brought out of the state of nature’s darkness and bondage, like that of the Egyptians; and who, being the food of the saints in ages past, is presented to the eye of faith, for its encouragement to look to him and believe in him, receive, embrace, and feed upon him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As a constant memorial of this bread of God for succeeding generations, Jehovah commanded Moses to keep a bowl full ( , the filling of a bowl) of the manna. Accordingly Aaron placed a jar of manna (as it is stated in Exo 16:34, Exo 16:35, by way of anticipation, for the purpose of summing up everything of importance relating to the manna) “before Jehovah,” or speaking still more exactly, “before the testimony,” i.e., the tables of the law (see Exo 25:16), or according to Jewish tradition, in the ark of the covenant (Heb 9:4). , from to guard round, to preserve, signifies a jar or bottle, not a basket. According to the Jerusalem Targum, it was an earthenware jar; in the lxx it is called , a golden jar, but there is nothing of this kind in the original text.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| A Pot of Manna Preserved. | B. C. 1491. |
32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. 33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
God having provided manna to be his people’s food in the wilderness, and to be to them a continual feast, we are here told, 1. How the memory of it was preserved. An omer of this manna was laid up in a golden pot, as we are told (Heb. ix. 4), and kept before the testimony, or the ark, when it was afterwards made, v. 32-34. The preservation of this manna from waste and corruption was a standing miracle, and therefore the more proper memorial of this miraculous food. “Posterity shall see the bread,” says God, “wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness,” see what sort of food it was, and how much each man’s daily proportion of it was, that it may appear they were neither kept to hard fare nor to short allowance, and then judge between God and Israel, whether they had any cause given them to murmur and find fault with their provisions, and whether they and their seed after them had not a great deal of reason gratefully to won God’s goodness to them. Note, Eaten bread must not be forgotten. God’s miracles and mercies are to be had in everlasting remembrance, for our encouragement to trust in him at all times. 2. How the mercy of it was continued as long as they had occasion for it. The manna never ceased till they came to the borders of Canaan, where there was bread enough and to spare, v. 35. See how constant the care of Providence is; seedtime and harvest fail not, while the earth remains. Israel was very provoking in the wilderness, yet the manna never failed them: thus still God causes his rain to fall on the just and unjust. The manna is called spiritual meat (1 Cor. x. 3), because it was typical of spiritual blessings in heavenly things. Christ himself is the true manna, the bread of life, of which this was a figure, John vi. 49-51. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Matt. iv. 4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Rev. ii. 17. These come from heaven, as the manna did, and are the support and comfort of the divine life in the soul, while we are in the wilderness of this world. It is food for Israelites, for those only that follow the pillar of cloud and fire. It is to be gathered; Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace are to be used. We must every one of us gather for ourselves, and gather in the morning of our opportunities, which if we let slip, it may be too late to gather. The manna they gathered must not be hoarded up, but eaten; those that have received Christ must by faith live upon him, and not receive his grace in vain. There was manna enough for all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is a complete sufficiency, and no superfluity. But those that did eat manna hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well-pleased; whereas those that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. The Lord evermore give us this bread!
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
32. And Moses said. Moses does not proceed with the history in order, but by interposing these circumstances by anticipation, he the more confirms the fact that this food was then created for the people by God’s special bounty, because He desired an omer of it to be preserved as a memorial, which, undergoing no putrefaction, handed down to posterity the gloriousness of the miracle. And first, he propounds generally God’s command, and then, in the next verse, describes the manner in which it was done, viz., that Aaron put it in a bottle or pot, and laid it up by the Ark of the Covenant. Whence, too, it appears how high importance God would have attached to this His bounty, since he wished its memorial to exist in the sanctuary together with the tables of His covenant. The two expressions, conveying the same meaning, “before the Lord,” and “before the Testimony,” are used in commendation of the worship of the Law, that the people might know God’s power to be near them in the sanctuary, not as if he were shut up in that place, or wished their minds to be fixed upon the visible sign, but, desiring to provide against their weakness, He in a manner descends to them, when he testified to the presence of His power by external images. He descends to them, therefore, not (185) to occupy their minds with a gross superstition, but to raise them up by degrees to spiritual worship.
(185) “Non pas pour plonger leurs pensees en terre, qui eust ete une lourde superstition:” not to plunge their thoughts in earth, which would have been a gross superstition. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 16:32-36
AN INSTRUCTIVE MEMORIAL
I. By whom the memorial was enjoined. This is the thing which the Lord commanded. This memorial was not the outcome of superstitious feeling on the part of the Israelites, nor of their deep devotion of heart. They would not have thought of it of themselves. They were Divinely commanded to it. It does not readily occur to men to make memorials of the mercy of God. And yet there is eminent need of such memorials. Men are liable to forget the Divine goodness. They require something to continually remind them of it. The gifts we bestow upon others are long remembered; those we receive are soon forgotten. We have need to set up memorials in our lives, which shall call upon our souls to remember the benefits of the Lord. It is the will of heaven that its gifts should be held in constant remembrance.
II. In what the memorial consisted. Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations.
1. This memorial was reasonable. Thus the Israelites were required to fill an omer with the manna, and keep it as a memorial of the wondrous providence which had so long supplied their temporal need. What could have been more reasonable than such a memorial, which was eminently adapted to recall the circumstances it was designed to commemorate. The good must lay up a sacred deposit of their everyday experiences and mercies before the Lord. The memorials of the soul must consist of its own inner experiences.
2. This memorial was expressive. It was expressive of the great need of Israel, of the abundant and appropriate mercy of God. An omer of manna was preserved which showed that the heavenly supply was not scanty. The memorials of the soul must set forth the infinitude of the Divine compassion, and the riches of Divine grace.
3. This memorial was instructive. It not merely reminded the Israelites of the goodness of God to them, but it would give an instructive and encouraging view of the Divine character and providence to the generations of the future. The memorials of the parents should be such as to instruct and aid the children in their religious life.
4. This memorial was valuable. The manna was kept in a golden pot(Heb. 9:2). It was not put into a common vessel. And the memorials of the soul should not find expression in valueless things, but in the richest treasures of man. God is worthy our best offerings.
III. Where the memorial was deposited. And lay it up before the Lord. So Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And so this memorial was laid up before the Lord, in the ark of the covenant. Thus we must keep the memorials of the soul in devout spirit, and with a constant trust in the mediatorial work of Christ. In celebrating the Divine providence, we must not be animated by a regard for a religious display, but by a desire to lay up a memorial of our best gratitude before the Lord. As Aaron laid up the pot of manna before the Testimony, so Christ alone can render our memorials acceptable to God.
IV. The design the memorial contemplated. That ye may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness To be kept for your generations. The Israelites would enter Canaan, and then would return to the produce of the field; hence they needed something to remind them of their wilderness condition. The mercy given in adversity must be remembered in prosperity. In heaven the soul will have memorials of the mercy which characterised its life on earth. This pot of manna was also designed to teach the generations to come the goodness and faithfulness of God. Every generation should seek to leave behind it new and encouraging revelations of the Divine character, which shall lead those who follow to see more clearly the merciful providence of God. Each generation leaves a moral deposit behind it, for good or evil. LESSONS:
1. The soul must have a memorial of the Divine mercy.
2. The memorial of the soul must consist of the best things it possesses.
3. The memorial of the soul will have respect to the redemptive work of Christ.
AN INSTRUCTIVE MEMORIAL
Why was this omer of manna to be sacredly preserved from generation to generation? The only reason assigned is, that your generations may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness. Whatever God does or commands to be done is for wise and worthy reasons. Let us reverently seek to ascertain what was the Divine reason in arranging for succeeding generations of the Israelites to see this manna, with which He had fed their fathers in the wilderness. We suggest that it was this, Because the sight of it was calculated to promote their moral improvement by suggesting and impressing important truths. Without mentioning certain suggestions of the manna which have been noticed in the exposition of the previous verses, that which was contained in the pot for preservation would be an impressive memorial of
I. The infinite resources of God. Here are three millions of persons in the desert without food. That which they brought out of Egypt with them they have consumed. And, though they have flocks and herds with them, they are not to be eaten for food but kept for sacrifices. Whence shall they obtain food? The prospect seems to them exceedingly dark, and they utter loud and bitter complaints against their leaders. In this extremity, the Lord appears for them and provides the manna. This provision was undoubtedly miraculous. The writer of the article on Manna, in Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, says, that the natural products of the Arabian deserts and other Oriental regions which bear the name of manna, have not the qualities or uses ascribed to the manna of Scripture. And, after pointing out many points of contrast, he says, The manna of Scripture we therefore regard as wholly miraculous, and not in any respect a product of nature. The resources of the Lord are infinite. No matter how dark and discouraging our circumstances and our prospects may be, if God be for us inexhaustible treasures are ours. He can spread our table in the barren wilderness, so that for forty years we shall lack no good thing. At His command the flinty rock shall pour forth copious streams, so that the dry and thirsty land shall become a land of refreshment and delight. If it were possible to exhaust the resources of the material universe, still the people of God are rich by reason of their interest in Him, whose resources are equal to all the needs of His vast universe,whose resources are indeed infinite. We rejoice in the unsearchable riches of Christ. He is able to do for us exceeding abundantly, &c.
II. The great goodness of God. His goodness is strikingly exemplified in several things of which this manna would be a memorial.
1. The supply of manna was undeserved. These unbelieving, murmuring, rebellious Israelites merited no kindness from God. Had they received their deserts they would have been left to die of famine. He has not dealt with us after our sins, &c.
2. The supply was ample. There was sufficient for every one and for all. If any one lacked provisions it was not because of any deficiency in the supply. So the blessings of redemption and of providence are ample for all the needs of all men, everywhere, and in all ages.
3. The supply was free. All the Israelites might avail themselves of it. Every morning they would go out into the open wilderness and gather it. An illustration of the sufficiency and freeness of the provisions of Divine grace. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, &c.
4. The supply was pleasant. The taste of the manna was like fresh oil, and like wafers made with honey, equally agreeable to all palates. The provisions of Christianity are not only wholesome but pleasant also. The prophet Isaiah represents them as a feast of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees, well refined. Our Lord also compares them to a great feast. A feast of delightful experiences, exalted hopes, blessed fellowships, &c. Thus the manna would remind the generations of the great goodness of God to their ancestors.
III. The unvarying faithfulness of God. The children of Israel did eat manna forty years until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. During the forty years, the supply of manna never failed them. With undeviating regularity, God bestowed it upon them until they came to the borders of Canaan, where there was abundance of provisions. The Divine faithfulness is the more conspicuous when viewed in the light of the peoples conduct. God was invariably faithful to them and to His promise, notwitstanding their
1. Inconstancy.
2. Ingratitude.
3. Oft-repeated rebellion. Notwithstanding the extreme provocation which He received from them, He continued to send them manna from heaven until they needed it no longer. If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself. The manna would remind the generations of this unfailing faithfulness.
IV. The abiding presence of God with them. When the Israelites attempted to keep the manna in their tents from one day to another, it bred worms and stank. But in the manna which was kept by the command of God we have a perpetual miracle by which it was kept pure and sweet. And that perpetual miracle was a proof of the perpetual presence of God with them,a proof that the faithful God was with them even as He was with their fathers.
And thus, the manna being such a memorial of the doings, character, and presence of God, it would be
V. An encouragement to trust in God. Gods miracles and mercies are to be had in everlasting remembrance, for our encouragement to trust in Him at all times.
Conclusion. Ponder well two facts:
1. The history of one generation may benefit all succeeding generations. History furnishes patterns and beacons, encouragements and warnings. Let us heed them.
2. The obligation of every generation to profit by the history of its predecessors. Every fresh generation enters upon its career with greater advantages and responsibilities than those which have gone before. We ought to be wiser, braver, holier than our fathers. But are we?William Jones.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 16:32-36. Mercies of old to His Church God would have known to succeeding generations.
Men may see that the best provision of Gods Church has been in its wilderness condition.
God confutes murmurers by His monuments, that He did not bring Israel out of Egypt to destroy them.
Wilderness mercies are contemporary with wilderness conditions.
God will carry His Israel through all wilderness trials unto their Canaan rest.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Israels Life-Food! Exo. 16:35. The history of Israel is a typical history. The slavery in Egypt represented the bondage in which we are naturally held; while the deliverance by Moses is symbolic of our redemption by Christ. The wanderings in the desert pre-figure the Christian pilgrimage on earth; while the Canaan at which the host arrived over Jordan is emblematic of the rest that remaineth beyond the chill waters of the River of Death. And so with reference to the life-food of Israel. They had it in the wilderness, but no further. The sacraments cease in the Heavenly Canaan. There is no temple thereinno place for sacramentsno need for channels of grace. Christ will be all in all there; for the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple thereof. Not from ordinances shall we then draw our nutriment. The Redeemer will be all in all to our souls, and from Him alone and directly shall we draw the only material of everlasting happiness and ever-increasing goodness. It is under that apprehension of our Life-food here
That, feeding on His bounties, we shall our strengh renew,
And with untiring spirit our desert-way pursue.
Memorial Gratitude! Exo. 16:32. Bishop Hutton was once travelling between Wensleydale and Ingleton, when he suddenly dismounted, delivered his step to the care of one of his attendants, retired to a particular spot at some distance from the highway, and knelt down in prayer for some time. On his return, he was asked his reason for this action? His reply was significant, When I was a poor boy, I travelled over that cold and black mountain without shoes or stockings. In my extremity, I disturbed a cow on the identical spot where I have just prayed, to obtain a little warmth from the spot where the animal was lying. This good man felt grateful to God for all He had done for Him since that moment, and had knelt down by this memorial to praise God. Jehovah orders memorials of mercies to be set upkept in viewheld in remembrance, so that we may always be confident and contented.
To remember, though gloomy the present may be,
That the Master is coming, and coming to me.
Patterson.
Memorial Mercies! Exo. 16:33. The Lords mercies are new every morning. What an assurance this is to carry with us in all our wayfaring through this world! The future is always dark to us; but then there are the memorial-mercies of the past to be recalled. A veil hides the future from our sight, but the past has lights here and therethe mercies of times of adversity shining afar to cheer uswhat is under the shadows in front of uswhat is behind the veil suspended before uswhat is advancing out of the imperious mist towards us, none of us can know, but we may all see the memorials of the past. Like clear, flaming letters on a black velvet background they stand out. The Lords mercies are new every morning. It is as though the Holy Spirit of God went before us and set up these memorial-mercies to cheer us whenever we halt in weaknessto encourage us whenever we hesitate in fearfulness, and to incite us to gratitude whenever we are disposed to unthankfulness.
Thy mercies, Lord, are like the sun
Whose beams undo what sable night hath done!
Or, like those streams, the current of whose course,
Restrained awhile, run with a swifter force.
Quarles.
Memorials! Exo. 16:33. In deepest rocks, which have withstood all the assailing influences of time, geologists find the outlines of ferns of former ages, lined with the most delicate tracery, or distinct impressions of the feet of birds and animals which are now lost to earth. They remove these choice specimens from their rocky beds and place them among collections which the learned pour over with thoughtful and profitable interest. Of all the abundance of living grace, verdure, and activity, which covered the earth through remote ages, only here and there, and that very rarely, some specimens like these speak. Such records of Natures workings are but seldom written in solid rock, but one line written there suggests forests of graceful waving fronds, with their bending shadows in clear waters, or a host of strange and now unknown animals which once animated the world. That line whispers of a great flood, in which this life was submergedof sleepy eyes in which the moist bed where so much is written, changed to stern rock, holding securely a valuable historic record, which at last is given to those who grope for glowing facts among dull stones. Now, as the life, structure, and habits of myriads of plants and animals are suggestively unfolded through means of impressions in stone of comparatively few individual specimens; so history, culling comparatively few lives as representatives of the worlds thought, leaves untold the births, deeds, and deaths of the great mass of the children of the earth; and when death claims them, they go back to her receptive bosom, leaving no lasting record here. And it is from the memorials set up in the Arabian wilds that we not only syllable out the goodness of God in supplying Israels wants, and providing for their necessities, but also infer that many more mercies were their lot than the Bible leaves on record. It is by searching the plains of Holy Scripture that we come upon records of Gods providence designed to encourage us to look hopefully to our own future.
The present is enough for common souls,
Who, never looking forward, are indeed
Mere clay, wherein the footprints of their age
Are petrified for ever.
Lowell.
Sufficiency! Exo. 16:35. In the forests of Guiana grows the towering mora. Its topmost branch, when naked with age or dried by accident, is the favourite resort of the toncar. Many a time, says Waterton, has this singular bird felt the shot faintly strike him from the gun of the fowler below, and owed his life to the distance betwixt them. The wild fig-tree, as large as a common English apple-tree, often rears itself from one of the thick branches at the top of the mora, as when a man stands on the shoulders of another man, When its fruit is ripe, the birds resort to them for nourishment; and it was to an indigested seed passing through the body of a bird which had perched on the mora, that the fig-tree first owed its elevated station there. Thus, unconsciously, did some bird contribute, if not to its own future sustenance, certainly to the after-support and nutriment of its fellow birds or progeny. But how did this seed germinate into a fig-tree? The sap of the mora supplied it with growing powers, and raised it into full bearing; and now in its turn, it is doomed to contribute a portion of its own sap and juices towards the growth of different species of vines, the seeds of which also the birds deposited on its branches. These soon vegetate and bear fruit in great quantities, so that the mora has much to do to supply nourishment for such a profuse and prolific mass of vegetation. what with calls from vines and fig-tree, the mora is unable to support her charge, languishesdies; whereupon, the fig-tree, with its usurping progeny of vines, receiving no more succour from their late foster-parent, droop and perish in their turn. How often is it so with churches of earthly growth. They spread, minds nestle in the branches, and leave behind them seeds which germinate, affording nutriment to succeeding generations of minds, who in turn leave germs of vines; but all this growth at last bows down the mother church, when foster-parents and progeny fall. Not so with Jesus ChristHe is that giant mora whose resources never fail. On Him millions of figs and vines grow, without lack of moisture, for it hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and He is the Fountain of Life.
The Bread,
Given from His hands, feeds thousands and to spare.
Bickersteth.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(32-35) And Moses said . . . Fill an omer.This narrative, which must belong to a later date than any other part of Exodus, since it assumes that the Tabernacle is set up (Exo. 16:34), seems to have been placed here on account of its subject-matter. The writer wishes to conclude the history of the manna, and has two further points to note concerning it: (1) the preservation of an omer of it as a perpetual memorial (Exo. 16:32-34); and (2) the fact of its continuance until the Israelites reached the borders of Canaan. The passage is probably an addition to the original Book, but contains nothing that may not have been written by Moses.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
AN OMER OF MANNA. LAID UP BEFORE JEHOVAH, Exo 16:32-36.
32-36. This passage is valuable as giving us an insight into the manner in which the book was written . It is plain that this account of the manna laid up before the Testimony was composed after the ark of Testimony was made and the tabernacle set up; and the thirty-fifth verse was written after the forty years’ sojourn was ended . While Moses doubtless wrote down the events of the desert life, especially the Divine commands, at the time of their occurrence, he also, at the end of his long career in the plains of Moab, wove these events into a regular treatise, with comments and connecting paragraphs . At the end of this chapter, wherein the manna is first mentioned and fully described, was the appropriate place to finish the account of it, and hence he here adds the command for its preservation and the time of its continuance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Manna Saved for a Memorial
v. 32. And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it, v. 33. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations, v. 34. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be kept. v. 35. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
v. 36. Now, an omer is the tenth part of an ephah,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Exo 16:32. Fill an omer of it, &c. We have here another peculiarity of this manna, which sufficiently distinguishes it from the common sort, and abundantly testifies its extraordinary nature; for though it stank when preserved to the next morning, except on the sabbath-day, yet here, by the Divine Power, it was preserved from putrefaction through successive generations. Had it been ordinary manna, or that kind of liquid honey which is gathered in those deserts, why need an omer of it have been laid up, that future generations might see the bread, WHEREWITH, says GOD, I have fed you in the wilderness? Nothing can more strongly demonstrate that this food was divine and peculiar; and the appellation of bread is alone sufficient to overthrow the hypothesis of those who fancy it to have been either ordinary manna, or a species of honey; which could neither have been wrought up into cakes, nor have proved nutritive to such a great multitude of people. This also is a clear proof of its miraculous nature, namely, its falling daily in quantities sufficient to sustain so many thousands for so many years; to sustain them in such health, and to agree with them so well: add to which, the double portion that fell on the sixth day, and its ceasing to fall at all on the seventh day; that though it melted with the heat of the sun, it was of so hard a consistence as to be beaten in mortars, ground in mills, to endure the fire, and to be baked in cakes; that it continued with the Israelites during their abode in the wilderness, (see Exo 16:35.) and then wholly ceased.
Lay all these particulars together, and you will have no doubt that this manna was peculiar and supernatural.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The apostle takes notice of this, Heb 9:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 16:32 And Moses said, This [is] the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
Ver. 32. Fill an omer. ] Monuments and memorials of God’s great mercies are to be set up, lest, as it fares with children, eaten bread be soon forgotten.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
omer. See App-51.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 103:1, Psa 103:2, Psa 105:5, Psa 111:4, Psa 111:5, Luk 22:19, Heb 2:1
Reciprocal: Exo 16:36 – General Num 17:10 – for a token