Exodus 16:36

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

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

Exodus 16:36 Now an omer [is] the tenth [part] of an ephah.Ver. 36. Of an ephah.] Or, Of a bushel: a plentiful allowance.

(36) Now an omer.—The “omer” and the “ephah” were both of them Egyptian measures. One—the latter—continued in use among the Hebrews, at any rate, until the captivity (Ezekiel 45, 46); the other—the omer—fell 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 editor—perhaps Ezra.

Verse 36. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.] About six pints, English. See Clarke on Exodus 16:16. The true place of this verse seems to be immediately after Exodus 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.

36. An explanatory note: cf. on v. 16. The manna of the Peninsula of Sinai is the sweet juice of the Ṭ ?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’ (Numbers 11:8). It is not found in all parts of the Peninsula; W. Gharandel, W. Ṭ ?aiyibeh, W. Feiran, W. Sheikh (leading round on the N. from J. Serbβl to J. Mϋsβ: see on Exodus 19:1), and W. Naṣ ?b (8–10 miles SE. of J. Mϋsβ), 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 annually1[156]. [156] See further Knob. ap. Di., and McLean in EB., from whom the above particulars are mostly taken; also Ebers, p. 224 ff. The note in the Speaker’s Comm. p. 321a 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 Markhβ, between Wβdy Ṭ ?aiyibeh and Wβdy Feiran,—if this was really the ‘wilderness of Sin’) of at least its first appearance; in colour, appearance, and taste (vv.

36. An omer — The reason for here specially mentioning the capacity of the omer seems to be that given by Michaelis and Hengstenberg.