25 And Moses said, Eat that today; for to-day is a sabbath unto the LORD; to-day ye shall not find it in the field.

26 Six days ye shall gather it;

b ver. 20. c ch 20. 9, 10.

for to-morrow's provision. In like manner, the spirit of the Christian as well as of the Mosaic economy requires that no work shall be done on the sabbath, which can as well be done the day before. 24. And they laid it up, &c. The result was now found to be directly the reverse of what had been experienced in a former case, v. 20, when a portion of it had been kept contrary to the divine precept. That which was laid by in opposition to a command, putrified and stank, while that which was kept in obedience to a command, remained pure and sweet.

26. In it there shall be none. On that day it should not fall. They were, therefore not to expect it, nor go out to gather it. This intermission of the manna on the seventh day was an irrefragable proof that it was not produced by natural causes; and it would be a striking attestation to the sanctity which he had attached to that day. It is scarcely possible to avoid drawing the inference from this, that the attempt to procure for ourselves any advantage by doing on the holy sabbath the appropriate work of the week-time, will prove abortive. Every thing is beautiful, and we may add, prosperous, in its season, and only then.

27. And it came to pass that there went out, &c. There were probably some who were disposed to put Moses' words to the test, and ascertain from experiment whether his prediction would hold good. They were no doubt prompted by the same motives as those who

28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long drefuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? d 2 Kings 17. 14. Ps. 78. 10, 22. & 106. 13. would fain satisfy themselves whether the manna would corrupt by being kept over till the next morning, and accordingly laid by a portion for that purpose There can be no question that this conduct in both cases was highly offensive to God, as it showed a practical distrust of his veracity.

28. And the Lord said unto Moses, &c. Moses himself was not disobedient, but he was the ruler of a disobedient people, and God charges the offence upon him with the rest, that he might the more warmly charge it upon them. The language would naturally have the effect to make him feel himself invested with a greater responsibility as to watching over the spirit and deportment of the people, whose collective person he sustained in his own.—¶ Let no man go out of his place. That is, out of the camp of Israel. It is not an absolute prohibition of all locomotion on the sabbath, as it was lawful to attend their holy convocations and their meetings in the synagogue, Lev. 23. 3. Acts, 15. 21. But they were especially interdicted on that day from going abroad in order to gather manna. The general rule adopted by the Jews in regard to travelling on the sabbath was, that the distance to be considered lawful should not extend beyond the suburbs of a city, which was ordinarily the space of two thousand cubits, or about three quarters of an English mile. Thus Mount Olivet was a sabbath-day's journey from Jerusalem, which is known to have been about a mile.

31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and e it was like coriander-seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 ¶ And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth,

e Numb. 11. 7, 8.

30. So the people rested on the seventh day. Not only on this particular sabbath, after being frustrated in seeking for manna, but also uniformly on the seventh day during the whole course of their sojourning. It is a virtual intimation of the restored regular observance and sanctification of the sabbath, which had previously no doubt, during the bondage, gone into desuetude.

31. It was like coriander seed. It esembled this seed in shape and size, out in color it is expressly said, Num. 11. 6, to have resembled the bdellium, which from this passage it is evident was white. When baked it is said, Num. 11. 8, to have had the taste of 'fresh oil.' But in its native state, when first collected, its taste is here intimated to have resembled that of honeywafers.

32. Fill an omer of it to be kept. That the memory of signal mercies to one generation should be perpetuated for the benefit of another, is doubtless the principle on which this precept is founded. By a method which was in itself miraculous, God purposed that posterity should see the bread on which his people were sustained for forty years, and also how much was allotted for each man's portion. They would then be able to bear witness that their

33 And Moses said unto Aaron, f 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 s before the Testimony, to be kept.

f Hebr. 9. 4. g ch. 25, 16, 21. & 40. 20. Numb. 17. 10. Deut. 10. 5. 1 Kings 8. 9

fathers were neither stinted to hard fare nor to a short allowance, and could thus judge between God and Israel, whether they had most reason to murmur or be grateful.—The idea that the manna was a mere natural production, is amply refuted by this injunction. For where was the necessity or propriety of preserving a specimen of that which nature continued to produce?

33. Take a pot, &c. The original word, which occurs no where else but here, signifying simply a pot or urn, is rendered by the Sept. 'golden pot,' and this rendering is adopted by the apostle, Heb. 9. 4.-¶ Lay it up before the Lord. That is, before the Ark of the Testimony, the symbol of the divine presence, as is clearly evinced in the ensuing verse. This Ark was not indeed yet constructed, but the history was written and perhaps the command given after it was made, and the fact is introduced here out of its natural order, because the sacred writer would now conclude all that he had to say respecting the manna.

34. Aaron laid it before the Testimony. That is, before the Ark of the Testimony, which in this connexion is evidently equivalent to 'before the Lord' in the preceding verse. It is here called the 'testimony,' instead of the ark of

the testimony,' its usual appellation, by the same kind of ellipsis by which covenant' is used Gen. 17. 10, for the 'sign of the covenant.' See Note in. loc.

35. The children of Israel did eat manna forty years. Notwithstanding all their provocations, which were gross and often repeated, yet the manna, the grand staple of their subsistence, never failed. We know not on the whole but the manna is fairly entitled to be considered the greatest of the Old Testament miracles. It was not in fact one miracle, but an astonishing combination of many. It was a regular supply of food, a substitute for corn, during nearly forty years. It fell around the camp of the Israelites regularly, in all places and at all seasons, during all their removals. The supply, which was regularly intermitted once in every week, was compensated by a double supply the preceding day. It became unfit for use if kept to the next day, and yet, once a week, it might be kept for two days. And when the miracle was about to be discontinued, as no longer necessary, a pot full of it was directed to be laid aside, and preserved as a memorial to future generations. All these marvellous circumstances are not mere abstract qualities of the manna, but his torical facts-facts inseparably interwoven with the history of the chosen people. It is surely then an attempt of no common hardihood, though it has been made, to endeavor to bring this sublime set of miracles within the limit of a natural probability. But, in truth, every effort made to explain away the

CHAPTER XVII.

AND a all the congregation of

the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there

a ch. 16. 1. Numb. 33. 12, 14.

miracle as related by Moses, actually requires one as great, or greater, to fill its place, and we are therefore content to take the matter as we find it in the scriptural narrative.

CHAPTER XVII.

1. And all the congregation-journeyed-and pitched in Rephidim. From the station in the wilderness of Sin, where the manna began to fall, the Israelites continued their journey over a sandy and stony region, intersected by the beds of numerous torrents, which are perfectly dry except in the seasons of rain, when some of them are filled with water to the depth of ten or twelve feet. Except at that season water is scarce; and by the usual and nearest route, which is generally supposed to be that taken by the Israelites, water occurs only at two places before reach. ing Wady Feiran. Upon comparing the present narrative with the fuller details given Num. 33, we find that two sta tions, viz. Dophkah and Alush, are entirely omitted here, which are mentioned there as resting-places between the desert of Sin and Rephidim. The first of these is probably the Wady Naszeb, still a favorite station for travellers on account of the combined advantages of a well of good water and the shelter of a large impending rock. 'Shady spots like this,' says Burckhardt, 'are well known to the Arabs; and as the scanty foliage of the acacia, the only tree in which these valleys abound, affords no shade, they take advantage of such rocks, and regulate their journey in such a way as to be