16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating: yan omer for every man according to the number of your persons, take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did y ver. 36. so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack they gathered every man according to his eating. z 2 Cor. 8. 15. עמר .Heb מספר .Heb sion of it, and the peculiarity attaching lephi oklo, according to the to the sixth day's supply, it must at all mouth of his eating; i. e. as much as events be admitted, were preternatural would be sufficient for his daily confacts, and facts not less extraordinary sumption. See Note on Ex. 12. 4.than that the substance also should be ¶ An omer for every man. of an unknown and peculiar description.abor Domer laggulgoleth, an omer for The credibility of the sacred narrative an head; the head being put for the cannot receive the slightest addition of whole person, as in Ex. 38. 26. An evidence from any attempt to explain omer was about three quarts English the miracle by natural causes. That measure.¶ According to the num narrative would lead any plain reader ber of your persons. to expect that the manna should no mispar naphshothekem, the longer be found to exist, having ceased number of your souls. See Note on to fall upwards of 3,000 years. As to Gen. 12. 5. the fact that the Arabs give that name 17. Gathered some more, some less. to the juice of the tarfa, the value of Heb. na 3 yilketu their authority may be estimated by the hammarbeh ve-hammamit, they gatherpulpit of Moses and the footstep of Mo-ed, (both) he that multiplied and he that hammed's camel. The cause of Reve- diminished; correctly rendered, as to lation has less to fear from the assaults the sense, in our translation, 6 some of open infidels, than from such ill- more, some less.' Paul, 2 Cor. 8. 13-15, judged attempts of skeptical philoso- thus alludes to this circumstance; 'For phers, to square the sacred narrative by I mean not that other men be eased and their notions of probability. The giv-ye burdened. But by an equality, that ing of the manna was either a miracle or a fable. The proposed explanation makes it a mixture of both. It admits the fact of a divine interposition, yet insinuates that Moses gives an incorrect or embellished account of it. It requires us to believe, that the scripture history is at once true and a complete misrepresentation, and that the golden vase of manna was designed to perpetuate the simple fact, that the Israelites lived for forty years upon gum-arabic! The miracle, as related by Moses, is surely more credible than the explanation.' Modern Traveller. now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their wants, that their abundance also may be a supply for your wants; that there may be equality: As it is written, He that hath gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack ;' from which it is inferred by some that when any one had gathered more than his due share he gave the overplus to those who had gathered less. Others however suppose that the whole quantity gathered by any one family was first put into a common mass and then measured out to the several individuals composing the 16. According to his eating. Heb. household. 19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding, they heark-gregation came and told Moses. ened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the con 21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot it melted. 22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To-morrow is a the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning. a Gen. 2. 3. ch. 20. 8. & 31. 15. & 35. 3. Lev. 23. 3. and not to the people.- Tomorrow 19. Let no man leave of it. It is not implied by this that every man was im- is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the שבתון שבת קדש ליהוה .periously commanded to eat at all events Lord. Heb every particle which he gathered; but, shabbathon shabbath kodesh lahothat if any portion of it was left, in- vah mahar, the sabbatism, the sabbath stead of being reserved for future use, it should be immediately thrown away. 20. It bred worms. Heb. va-yarum tolaim, wormed worms, or bred abundantly, or crawled with worms. 22. And it came to pass, &c. If it be asked why this matter was brought to Moses, we know of no other answer than that the people were taken by surprise at the great quantity which they found that they had gathered. Finding upon measuring it, that upon the sixth day they had collected as much as two omers for a man, they had recourse to Moses to know what do to under the circumstances. His answer immediately follows. There is no reason that their surprise should surprise us, for although this fact of the fall of the double quantity of manna had been announced to Moses, v. 5, it does not appear that it had been previously declared to the people; or if the direction had been given to collect a double quantity on the sixth day, it does not appear that the reason of it had been declared. 23. This is that which the Lord hath said. That is, this double quantity on the sixth day is according to what the Lord hath said, v. 5, though, as before remarked, it had been said to Moses, of holiness to the Lord, is to-morrow. That is, the season of rest or cessation, appointed at the creation to be kept holy to the Lord, as explained on Gen. 2. 3. But as the Heb. na shabbath is retained by the Holy Spirit in the form of the Gr. caßßarov, sabbaton, Mat. 12. 5, 8, so the apostle in Heb. 4. 9, employs the corresponding a shabbathon, here used in the form of the Gr. oaßßarious sabbatismos, which is by interpretation rest. Although the law was not yet given, yet it is clear that the sabbath had been previously observed. He does not say 'To-morrow. shall or will be, but, to-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord.' The institution is recognised as one already existing, but its observance is now in a manner renewed and enjoined with more express particularity, perhaps from its having fallen into much neglect among the Israelites. The present was in fact a very suitable occasion to remind them of its obligation; for they would now have an opportunity to notice the miraculous seal of regard which God was pleased to put upon it. -¶Bake that which ye will bake to day, &c. That is, bake or boil to-day whatever you wish to have so dressed 24 And they laid it up till the | but on the seventh day, which is the morning, as Moses bade: and it did sabbath, in it there shall be none. not b stink, neither was there any 27 And it came to pass, that worm therein. there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 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. 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 disobedi ent, 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 26. In it there shall be none. On that effect to make him feel himself invested day it should not fall. They were, there with a greater responsibility as to fore not to expect it, nor go out to watching over the spirit and deportment gather it. This intermission of the of the people, whose collective person manna on the seventh day was an irre- he sustained in his own.¶ Let no fragable proof that it was not produced man go out of his place. That is, out by natural causes; and it would be a of the camp of Israel. It is not an abstriking attestation to the sanctity which solute prohibition of all locomotion on he had attached to that day. It is the sabbath, as it was lawful to attend scarcely possible to avoid drawing the their holy convocations and their meetinference from this, that the attemptings in the synagogue, Lev. 23. 3. Acts, to procure for ourselves any advantage 15. 21. But they were especially interby 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. dicted 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 27. And it came to pass that there not extend beyond the suburbs of a went out, &c. There were probably city, which was ordinarily the space of some who were disposed to put Moses' two thousand cubits, or about three words to the test, and ascertain from ex- quarters of an English mile. Thus periment whether his prediction would Mount Olivet was a sabbath-day's jourhold good. They were no doubt prompt-ney from Jerusalem, which is known to ed by the same motives as those who have been about a mile. 29 See, for that the LORD hath | Fill an omer of it to be kept for given you the sabbath, therefore your generations; that they may he giveth you on the sixth day the see the bread wherewith I have bread of two days: abide ye every fed you in the wilderness, when I man in his place, let no man go brought you forth from the land of out of his place on the seventh day. Egypt. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and eit 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 resembled this seed in shape and size, but 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 g before the Testimony, to be kept. f Hebr. 9. 4. 8 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 in troduced 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 35 And the children of Israel did eat manna h 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. h Numb. 33. 38. Deut. 8. 2, 3. Neh. 9. 20, 21. John 6. 31, 49. i Josh. 5. 12. Neh. 9. 15. 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 CHAPTER XVII. ND 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-jour all their provocations, which were gross and often repeated, yet the manna, the | neyed—and pitched in Rephidim. From 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 the station in the wilderness of Sin, |