Exodus 16:4

Translations

Modern

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

Traditional

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Literal

And YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, I am raining down for you bread from the heavens, and the people shall go out and gather the portion of a day in its day, so that I may test them whether they will walk in My law or not.

Latin

Dixit autem Dominus ad Moysen: Ecce ego pluam vobis panes de cælo: egrediatur populus, et colligat quæ sufficiunt per singulos dies: ut tentem eum utrum ambulet in lege mea, an non.

Original

Hebrew

English

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

Notes

Exodus 16:4–5

These were the Lord’s instructions for gathering the food he gave in the wilderness. He provided enough for each day. On the sixth day, he gave a double portion. This way, the people did not need to gather food on the Sabbath (see 16:21–30).

The Israelites kept the Sabbath even before it was written in the Ten Commandments.

Many people resist a way of life that requires daily trust in God. We prefer to store up supplies so that we feel independent. But God was teaching his people to live by faith. They had to trust him each day to provide what they needed (compare Matthew 6:11).

Exodus 16:1–36

God demonstrated care for his people by providing manna and quail as food for them.

Exodus 15:22–18:27

On the journey from the sea to Mount Sinai, God continued to care for the people's needs. During the events where he rescued them, he showed his power. Here, he showed that he cares about their basic needs.

Theme notes and profiles

Moses Bread from Heaven Complaints God’s Instructions

Events

Wilderness Wanderings

Related verses

1 Corinthians 10:3
They all ate the same spiritual food
Psalm 105:40
They asked, and He brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
Psalm 78:24–25
He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.
Nehemiah 9:15
In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land that You had sworn to give them.
John 6:31–32
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Deuteronomy 8:16
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
Exodus 15:25
And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,
Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.
Proverbs 30:8
Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.
Luke 11:3
Give us each day our daily bread.
Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”

People

Moses: Prophet who led Israel out of Egypt

Glossary

Aaron Book of Exodus Bread Deuteronomy, Book of Moses Mount, Mountain Tamarisk

Topics

Aaron: Murmured Against, by the People Israel: Provided with Manna and Quail Journey of Israel Through The Desert: Through the Wilderness of Sin: Manna Sent Manna: Called: Bread from Heaven Manna: General Scriptures Concerning Manna: Given: As a Test of Obedience Manna: Miraculously Given to Israel for Food in the Wilderness Miracles: Catalogue of Manna Miracles: Design of Sin: Desert of, a Wilderness Between Elim and Sinai: Manna and Quail Given In The Diet of the Jews in the Wilderness

Exodus 16:4

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