Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 16:36
Now an omer [is] the tenth [part] of an ephah.
36. An explanatory note: cf. on v. 16.
The manna of the Peninsula of Sinai is the sweet juice of the arfa, a species of Tamarisk. It exudes in summer by night from the trunk and branches, and forms small round white grains, which (as observed by Seetzen in 1809) partly adhere to the twigs of the trees, and partly drop to the ground: in the early morning it is of the consistency of wax, but the sun’s rays soon melt it (cf. v. 21, above), and later in the day it disappears, being absorbed in the earth. A fresh supply appears each night during its season (June and July). The Arabs gather it in the early morning, boil it down, strain it through coarse stuff, and keep it in leather skins: they ‘pour it like honey over their unleavened bread; its taste is agreeable, somewhat aromatic, and as sweet as honey’ (Burckh., p. 600). In a cool place it keeps for long: the monks of the Sinai monastery store samples of it, which they sell or give to travellers and pilgrims (Rob. i. 115; Ebers, p. 225), as their predecessors did, 13 centuries ago, to Antoninus ( Itin. 39). According to Ehrenberg (Rob. i. 590) it is produced by the puncture of an insect (now called Gossyparia mannifera). It softens in the heat of the hand, and consists almost entirely of sugar; so it cannot be ‘ground,’ or made into ‘cakes’ (Num 11:8). It is not found in all parts of the Peninsula; W. Gharandel, W. aiyibeh, W. Feiran, W. Sheikh (leading round on the N. from J. Serbl to J. Ms: see on Exo 19:1), and W. Nab (8 10 miles SE. of J. Ms), are named as parts in which it is abundant. It is found only after a rainy spring, and hence frequently fails altogether. The quantity yielded by the Peninsula in modern times is small according to Burckhardt (in 1816), 500 600 pounds annually 1 [156] .
[156] See further Knob. ap. Di., and M c Lean in EB., from whom the above particulars are mostly taken; also Ebers, p. 224 ff. The note in the Speaker’s Comm. p. 321 a is translated almost verbally from Knob, without acknowledgement.
The manna described in the Pentateuch thus resembles the manna produced naturally in the Peninsula, in, approximately, the place (El Markh, between Wdy aiyibeh and Wdy Feiran, if this was really the ‘wilderness of Sin’) of at least its first appearance; in colour, appearance, and taste ( vv. 14, 31, Num 11:8); in being found and gathered in the early morning; in melting in the sun; and in being called by the same name which is still used in Arabic: it differs from it in being represented as found not under the tamarisk trees, but on the surface of the wilderness generally, after the disappearance of the dew; as falling in sufficient quantity to feed daily an immense multitude of people; as adjusting itself automatically to the household needs of each person who gathered it; as not falling on the sabbath, the needs of that day being supplied by a double amount being provided on the previous day; as being not confined to wet years, or to the districts on the W. of the Peninsula, but as lasting, apparently continuously, for forty years, throughout the whole journeyings of the Israelites to the border of Canaan; as being capable of being ‘ground’ and made into ‘cakes,’ like meal; and as putrefying if kept (except on the 6th day of the week) till the next morning. It is evident that the Biblical manna, while on the one hand (like the Plagues) it has definite points of contact with a natural phaenomenon or product of the country, differs from the natural manna in the many praeternatural or miraculous features attributed to it. According to Dillmann, ‘the intention of the story ( Sage) followed by the writer was to explain how the Hebrews, during their long journey through the wilderness, where there is no corn, obtained their most important means of life. The question was solved by the supposition that God, in His infinite power, had sent them bread from heaven, in the shape of manna, which was of such a nature that it could be used as earthly corn.’
The narrative is to be taken as a signal and beautiful symbolical illustration of the great truth of God’s ever-sustaining providence: He supplies His people with food, He cares for them in their needs, and He makes the food which He gives them the vehicle of spiritual lessons. The writer of Deuteronomy (Exo 8:3; Exo 8:16 f.) points to the manna as illustrating the discipline of the wilderness; Israel was ‘humbled’ by being suffered to feel a want, and then by its being taught how, for its relief, and for its own very existence, it was dependent upon the (creative) word of God; it was further ‘proved,’ by the opportunity thus afforded it of shewing whether or not it would accommodate itself, trustfully and contentedly (contrast Num 11:6; Num 21:5), to this state of continued dependence upon an ordinance of God. In St John (Joh 6:31 ff.), our Lord, after the reference made by the Jews to the manna eaten by the fathers in the wilderness, uses imagery suggested by the manna to denote Himself as the ‘bread of life,’ which ‘cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.’ For other later allusions, see Wis 16:20 (with the last words here, ‘agreeing to every taste,’ of. the Rabb. legend that the manna adapted itself to the taste of every individual, tasting like what he himself desired it to be: set Jewish Encycl. s.v.), Exo 19:21; 1Co 10:3 ( ); and Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, ed. 2, p. 178 f. In Apoc. Bar. xxix. 8, Sib. Orac. vii. 149 (cf. Rev 2:17) it is to be the food of the elect in the future Messianic kingdom.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 36. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.] About six pints, English. See Clarke on Ex 16:16. The true place of this verse seems to be immediately after Ex 16:18, for here it has no connection.
1. ON the miracle of the manna, which is the chief subject in this chapter, a good deal has already been said in the preceding notes. The sacred historian has given us the most circumstantial proofs that it was a supernatural and miraculous supply; that nothing of the kind had ever been seen before, and probably nothing like it had ever afterwards appeared. That it was a type of our blessed Redeemer, and of the salvation which he has provided for man, there can be no doubt, for in this way it is applied by Christ himself; and from it we may gather this general conclusion, that salvation is of the Lord. The Israelites must have perished in the wilderness, had not God fed them with bread from heaven; and every human soul must have perished, had not Jesus Christ come down from heaven, and given himself for the life of the world.
2. God would have the Israelites continually dependent on himself for all their supplies; but he would make them, in a certain way, workers with him. He provided the manna; they gathered and ate it. The first was God’s work; the latter, their own. They could not produce the manna, and God would not gather it for them. Thus the providence of God appears in such a way as to secure the co-operation of man. Though man should plant and water, yet it is God who giveth the increase. But if man neither plant nor water, God will give no increase. We cannot do God’s work, and he will not do ours. Let us, therefore, both in things spiritual and temporal, be workers together with HIM.
3. This daily supply of the manna probably gave rise to that petition, Give us to-day our daily bread. It is worthy of remark, 1. That what was left over night contrary to the command of God bred worms and stank; 2. That a double portion was gathered on the day preceding the Sabbath; 3. That this alone continued wholesome on the following day; and, 4. That none fell on the Sabbath! Hence we find that the Sabbath was considered a Divine institution previously to the giving of the Mosaic law; and that God continued to honour that day by permitting no manna to fall during its course. Whatever is earned on the Sabbath is a curse in a man’s property. They who WILL be rich, fall into temptation and into a snare, c. for, using illicit means to acquire lawful things, they bring God’s curse upon themselves, and are drowned in destruction and perdition. Reader, dost thou work on the Sabbath to increase thy property? See thou do it not! Property acquired in this way will be a curse both to thee and to thy posterity.
4. To show their children and children’s children what God had done for their fathers, a pot of manna was laid up before the testimony. We should remember our providential and gracious deliverances in such a way as to give God the praise of his own grace. An ungrateful heart is always associated with an unbelieving mind and an unholy life. Like Israel, we should consider with what bread God has fed our fathers, and see that we have the same; the same Christ – the bread of life, the same doctrines, the same ordinances, and the same religious experience. How little are we benefited by being Protestants, if we be not partakers of the Protestant faith! And how useless will even that faith be to us, if we hold the truth in unrighteousness. Our fathers had religion enough to enable them to burn gloriously for the truth of God! Reader, hast thou so much of the life of God in thy soul, that thou couldst burn to ashes at the stake rather than lose it? In a word, couldst thou be a martyr? Or hast thou so little grace to lose, that thy life would be more than an equivalent for thy loss? Where is the manna on which thy fathers fed?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. Frequent mention being made of this measure in the above relation, as containing the quantity of each man’s share of the manna daily, during the forty years’ stay in the wilderness; an account is given by the historian how much it contained, by which it may appear what a sufficient provision was made: an ephah, according to Jarchi, contained three seahs (or pecks); a scab, six kabs; a kab, four logs; a log, six egg shells; and the tenth part of an ephah was forty three egg shells, and the fifth part of one: but Dr. Cumberland b has reduced this to our measure, and has given it more clearly and distinctly; an ephah, according to him, contained, in wine measure, seven gallons, two quarts, and about half a pint; in corn measure, six gallons, three pints, and three solid inches; and an omer three quarts; which being made into bread, must be more than any ordinary man could well eat; for, as Ainsworth observes, an omer was twice as much as the choenix, (a measure mentioned in Re 6:6.) which was wont to be a man’s allowance of bread corn for a day; and what a vast quantity must fall every day to supply so large a number of people with such a measure; some have reckoned it at 94,466 bushels every day, and that there must be consumed in forty years 1,379,203,600 bushels c.
b Of Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 3. p. 64, 86, 87. ch. 4. p. 137. c Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Saer. vol. 2. p. 177, 178.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In conclusion, the quantity of the manna collected for the daily supply of each individual, which was preserved in the sanctuary, is given according to the ordinary measurement, viz., the ephah. The common opinion, that was the name for a measure of capacity, which was evidently shared by the Seventy, who have rendered the word , has no foundation so far as the Scriptures are concerned. Not only is it a fact, that the word omer is never used as a measure except in this chapter, but the tenth of an ephah is constantly indicated, even in the Pentateuch, by “the tenth part of an ephah” (Lev 5:11; Lev 6:13; Num 5:15; Num 28:5), or “a tenth deal” (Exo 29:40; Lev 14:10, etc.; in all 30 times). The omer was a small vessel, cup, or bowl, which formed part of the furniture of every house, and being always of the same size, could be used as a measure in case of need.
(Note: Omer proprie nomen poculi fuit, quale secum gestare solent Orientales, per deserta iter facientes, ad hauriendam si quam rivus vel fons offerret aquam…. Hoc in poculo, alia vasa non habentes, et mannam collegerunt Israelitae ( Michaelis, Supplem. ad Lex. hebr., p. 1929). Cf. Hengstenberg, Dissertations on the Pentateuch, vol. ii. p. 172.)
The ephah is given by Bertheau as consisting of 198577 Parisian cubic inches, and holding 739,800 Parisian grains of water; Thenius, however, gives only 101439 Parisian, or 112467 Rhenish inches. (See my Archologie, ii. 141-2.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(36) Now an omer.The omer and the ephah were both of them Egyptian measures. Onethe lattercontinued in use among the Hebrews, at any rate, until the captivity (Ezekiel 45, 46); the otherthe omerfell out of use very early. Hence this parenthetic verse, which is exegetical of the word omer, and may have been added by the completer of Deuteronomy, or by some later editorperhaps Ezra.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36. An omer The reason for here specially mentioning the capacity of the omer seems to be that given by Michaelis and Hengstenberg . Literally, the word omer signifies a sheaf of wheat, but in this chapter it denotes a measure, and it is never used with this meaning afterwards . When subsequently the same measure is spoken of it is called the tenth part of an ephah, as in Num 5:15; Num 28:15. According to these commentators the word here really means the little earthen vessel or cup which the Israelites used for drinking purposes in the desert, and the author here means to say that this cup usually held a tenth of an ephah, the ephah being then a well known measure. In arranging the book into regular form for the use of coming generations it was proper and appropriate thus to describe the capacity of the vessel in which the Israelites measured the daily allowance of manna. Afterwards the name of the vessel came naturally to be used to designate the measure of the vessel as our word “cup” has both meanings, the vessel and the measure. Omer is to be distinguished from homer, which was ten ephahs, or a hundred omers.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 16:36. Now an omer, &c. See note on Exo 16:16.
Reflections on the manna in the wilderness, considered as a type of Christ.
We have seen how the horrors of the wilderness were considerably abated by the miraculous cloud. But soon their provision, which they brought from Egypt, is exhausted; and unless some new miracle be wrought for them, they have nothing before their eyes but the melancholy prospect of perishing with hunger. The faithless multitude, forgetting their late deliverance at the Red-sea, fall to murmuring against Moses, and wish that they had never stirred from their house of bondage. Had they got what they deserved on this occasion, the Lord had sent fire from heaven upon them instead of food; but God, who is rich in mercy, chore to still the fretful murmurs of his firstborn with the breast, rather than the rod. He bids the heaven supply, by its bounty, what the earth denied by its barrenness; and without their toil or sweat gives them plenty of bread, even in a land which was not sown. “He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels’ food; he sent them meat to the full.” (Psa 78:24-25.) How happy are they who are walking after the Lord, though in a wilderness! It was a convincing proof, that man does not live by bread alone. But God intended, by this good gift, not only to supply their present necessity, but also to prefigure that spiritual meat presented in the Gospel. In this interpretation we cannot possibly be wrong, when we have no less an authority for it than Jesus Christ himself, who, speaking to his hearers on this very subject, says, “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is he who cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the Bread of life.” (Joh 6:32-33; Joh 6:35.) Having therefore such infallible testimony to the general meaning of this heavenly food, let us endeavour to find out the principal traces of resemblance between it and Jesus Christ. In order to this, we shall briefly attend to the following things:
1. Its falling. “The manna fell from heaven;” Christ is he that comes down from above. It fell “round about their camp;” Christ is, in an especial sense, to be found in the visible church”With the dew when they slept;” Jesus Christ is purely the gift of God, who descends like dew upon the grass”When they were in the most absolute need, and ready to perish;” when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”When they were grievously sinning, by preferring the flesh-pots of Egypt to the prospects of Canaan;” and Christ laid down his life, when sinners were preferring the pleasures of sin and the vanities of the world to all the things above. Lastly, it fell “in such large quantities” as to “suffice that numerous host;” and in Jesus Christ there is enough to supply our every want.
2. Its being gathered by all the Israelites, may signify the improvement we should all make of the offered Saviour. It was gathered every day; so Christ should be daily improved by faith. It was gathered in the morning; so we must devote the best part of our time to the seeking his face, as it is said, “O God, early will I seek thee.” Psa 63:1. It was gathered without the camp; so must the soul that seeks him retire from the hurry of the world, or, to use the expression of the sacred page, “go out into the fields, and lodge in the villages.” (Son 7:11.) A double portion of it was gathered on the sixth day; but on the seventh, which was the sabbath, they stirred not from their tents, but lived on what they had laid up the day before: so in the season of this mortal life must we labour for that meat which endures to everlasting life, in the believing improvement of the means of grace; and when the eternal sabbath comes, we shall enjoy the hidden manna without means or any painful endeavours.
3. Its being prepared in mills, mortars, and pans, where it was ground, beaten, and baked, to make it fit for digestion and nourishment, may remind us of the various sufferings of Christ’s body and soul. It behoved him, as it were, to be beaten in the mortar of adversity, ground in the mill of vindictive justice, baked as in the oven of the wrath of God, and, at last, to die, that he might prove the bread of life, and that his flesh might be meat indeed.
4. Its tasting so sweet when thus prepared, (for it resembled the fatness of oil, and the sweetness of honey,) and its proving so wholesome and nutritive to all, though of different constitutions;may it not signify, that Jesus Christ is to the soul both sweet and wholesome food, adapted to the taste of all, of children, young men, and fathers? And as the manna is supposed not to have needed any other ingredients to make it palatable, no more does Jesus Christ, or the doctrine of his Gospel, need any foreign recommendation to the spiritual taste. “O taste and see that the Lord is good,” (Psa 34:8.) says the sweet singer of Israel; and in another place, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste; yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psa 119:103.)
5. Its putrefying, if kept contrary to God’s command;might not this denote, that when the wholesome doctrines of Christ’s Gospel are hoarded up in idle speculation, without being received in love, or digested in spiritual nourishment, they are so far from being the savour of life unto life, that they become the savour of death unto death, and breed the worms of various lusts and of a condemning conscience? On which account it may be said, “He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.” (Ecc 1:18.)
6. Its being despised by the multitude as light food, by which their soul was dried away, (Num 11:4; Num 11:35.) in comparison with their rank Egyptian fare, renders it a proper emblem of Jesus Christ, the true bread, who is despised and rejected of men. Though the pure doctrine of Christ is like the manna, angels’ food, (for into these things they desire to pry,) yet are there found those to whom the word of the Lord is a reproach, and they have no delight in it. A romance, a philosophical disquisition, a political harangue, is far more grateful than a sermon, whose theme is a crucified Redeemer. What is this, but to prefer the fish, the cucumbers; the melons, and the garlick of Egypt, to the corn of heaven? For their contempt of this celestial food, the Lord sent fiery serpents to plague the murmurers. Nor do the despisers of Jesus Christ expose themselves to less dreadful strokes, though they should not be of a corporal kind: for “all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1Co 10:11.)
7. The preserving it in a golden pot, where, for a number of ages, it was deposited in the most holy place, and remained without corruption;was it not a representation of Christ’s ascension into heaven, where he appears in the presence of God, death having no more dominion over him, and where he will be contained till the time of the restitution of all things? Why else should communion with Christ in glory be spoken of in terms alluding to this very thing? For thus it is promised, in the words which the Spirit saith unto the churches, “To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the hidden manna.” (Rev 2:17.)
8. The continuance of this heavenly bread for the space of forty years, during their abode in the wilderness; does it not clearly intimate, that Jesus Christ will ever remain with his church, while militant here below? Still shall the bread of God descend in the dispensation of the everlasting Gospel, while the necessities of his people call for it; for so he promises, when about to depart from the earth: “Go,” said he to his apostles, “teach all nations; and lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.” (Mat 28:19-20.)
9. The ceasing of the manna upon their tasting the corn of Canaan;may it not be viewed as a figure of the ceasing of ordinances, when the wandering tribes shall gain their promised rest? Know your mercy, ye distinguished favourites of Heaven! nor envy their happiness who eat the calves out of the stall, and the lambs out of the fold, but are not fed with the heritage of Jacob. Let the sensual voluptuary glut himself with the impure pleasures of sin, which, like the little book that John did eat, are sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly; and to whom we may adapt the significant words in Job, (xx. 14.) “His meat in his bowels is turned: it is the gall of asps within him.” Let the rapacious worldling, who is smitten with the dull charms of gold and silver; who is all hurry, hurry, about the business of this transitory life; let him fill his belly with the hidden treasure, which never yet did satisfy a soul immortal. But let the Christian, who knows the gift of God, and the excellency of the heavenly provision; let him labour, not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. Hungry and starving soul, you ask for bread, and the world gives you a stone; what else are worldly riches? You ask a fish, and the world presents you with a serpent; what else are sinful pleasures? Hearken, therefore, diligently to him who is himself the living bread; “Eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto him; hear, and your soul shall live.” (Isa 55:2-3.) What is a happy old age to a happy eternity? This, O Jesus, is thy unspeakable gift! He that eats thee by faith, shall live for ever. He that cometh to thee, shall never hunger; and what is more, shall never die. O Lord, deny as what else thou wilt, but give us this bread evermore!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
An Ephah being 10 times as much in measure as an Omer, must contain nearly 50 pints English.
REFLECTIONS
My soul! learn in Israel’s history what the Israel of God, more or less, hath been, in all ages. We left them in the former chapter sitting under their palm trees, and blessing God in their fruitful wells of water. But, when brought for a moment only into a wilderness state, a little disappointment soon produceth murmuring, Oh, my God! pardon thy servant in this also. How often have I repined, and dared to think hardly of God, when like Israel he had only been leading me into the wilderness, to speak comfortably to me there; when difficulties have been induced, perhaps with no other view than but to afford the better opportunity to magnify the Lord’s graciousness. Lord! grant that past experiences may afford strength for grace in full exercise, to rely upon thy future assurances. And wherever most straitened, and shut up in creature confidence, may divine faithfulness be then sweetest to my heart. Thou hast promised, and that’s enough: Bread shall be given, water shall be sure: and my defense shall be the munition of rocks.
But chiefly in this chapter, in the view of Israel’s food, and the manna sent them from heaven, Lord give me grace to behold thee, thou heavenly manna, thou true bread of life, which art thy Father’s gift to the famished souls of poor sinners. Lord, in direct defiance of all my murmuring and sinful thoughts, oh! do thou descend, as thou art in thyself pure, holy, and precious, new and renewing me every morning. And while the Holy Spirit is unfolding thee to my view as the Father’s gracious gift, and exciting an increasing appetite after thee to be filled, do thou grant that I may so feed on thy body broken, and thy blood shed, that I may live by thee. Let not my portion be like some of the unbelieving Israelites, who tempted Christ, and with whom he was not pleased: but may it be my happiness to know by an heart-felt experience, that thou art the bread of life which came down from heaven, of which, whosoever eateth shall live forever. Lord, evermore give me this bread!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 16:36 Now an omer [is] the tenth [part] of an ephah.
Ver. 36. Of an ephah. ] Or, Of a bushel: a plentiful allowance. See Trapp on “ Joh 2:7 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. This is not to be confused with Eze 45:11, “an ephah is the tenth part of an homer”. They are two different
words: in Exo 16:36 it is `omen, in Eze 45:11 it is homer. See note on Lev 27:16, and App-51.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Exo 16:16, Exo 16:32, Exo 16:33
Reciprocal: Exo 29:40 – a tenth Lev 5:11 – the tenth part Lev 6:20 – the tenth Num 11:32 – homers Num 28:5 – General Rth 2:17 – ephah
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
16:36 Now an omer [is] the tenth [part] of an {q} ephah.
(q) Which measure contained about five gallons.