Exodus 16:12

Exo 16:12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD your God.

Ver. 12. And in the morning.] Theyhave their flesh at even, and bread in the morning. God will be waited on, and give the consummation of his blessings at his leisure. The cloud empties not itself at a sudden burst, but dissolves upon the earth drop after drop.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 16:12. Ye shall know that I am the Lord your God — This gave proof of his power as the Lord, and his particular favour to them as their God; when God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know that he is the Lord; when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know that he was their God.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, in the twilight.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

12. Between the two evenings] see on Exo_12:6.

and ye shall know, &c.] see on Exo_6:7.

After v. 12, vv. 6–8 should follow: see above.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel,.... This Moses and Aaron had often affirmed, and now the Lord confirms what they had said, and lets them know that he took notice of their murmurings, and disapproved of them, and was displeased with them; though he did not think fit to resent them in an angry way, but dealt kindly and graciously with them; and since he had brought them into a wilderness, which was his own act, he would take care of them, and provide for them; which they might reasonably conclude he would, since he had done so many great and good things for them, in bringing them out of Egypt, and through the Red sea, and had slain all their enemies, and had given them water when in distress, and therefore need not have murmured nor have doubted but that he would give them bread also:

speak unto them, saying, at even ye shall eat flesh; meaning that very evening, when the quails came up, as the following verse shows:

and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; the next morning, when the manna fell around their camp, so that they had bread, and fulness of it:

and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God; good and gracious, kind and merciful, ever mindful of his covenant and promises, able to supply their wants, and provide them with everything necessary and sufficient for them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Say. Similar promises are often repeated, to appease the seditious mob. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

God chooseth the proper time for each kind of provision; the evening for the quails, which being brought from remote parts, by their day’s flight, about evening came thither; and the morning for manna, which usually falls at that time.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

At even. Literally, "between the two evenings." For the meaning of the phrase, see the comment on, Exo_12:6. Ye shall eat flesh. The quails, as appears by the subsequent narrative, were supplied, not regularly, but only on rare occasions; in fact (so far as appears) only here in the wilderness of Sin, and at Kibroth-hattaavah in the wilderness of. (Num_11:31-34) They were not a necessary, but an indulgence. Ye shall know that I am the Lord. The miracle of the manna, and the timely appearance of the quails at the hour announced, will sufficiently show that it is God himself who has you under his charge and watches over you.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And ye shall know that I am the Lord your God - This gave proof of his power as the Lord, and his particular favour to them as their God; when God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know that he is the Lord; when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know that he was their God.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I HAVE HEARD THE MURMURINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. SPEAK UNTO THEM, SAYING: AT DUSK YE SHALL EAT FLESH. This communication [at dusk ye shall eat, etc.], had already been conveyed by Moses to Israel, but it is repeated here only because of that which He said I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. At first, He had said, Behold, I will cause to rain bread from heaven to you;, Verse 4. He would willingly do it for them as an act of kindness or because of their merits. But now He said that [their murmuring] is accounted to them as sin, and yet because of the very nature of the murmuring, He will do such things for them so that they might know thereby that I am the Eternal your G-d. Until now ye do not believe the Eternal your G-d; this is why you murmur against His prophets.It is possible that at first He did not promise them the manna for all the time that they would be in the wilderness. Thus they thought that perhaps it would be for one day or two, as long as they stayed in that place, and that when they would leave it, they would come to a place of food. But now He said to them, “At dusk ye shall eat flesh always, and in every morning ye shall be filled with bread as long as you will be in the wilderness.” And so also is the opinion of our Rabbis, that the quail were with them from that day on, just like the manna. It is logically so, for they expressed discontent about the two things — [flesh and bread]. — and He hearkened to their murmurings on both matters, and He gave them that which they craved. What would He give them, and what more, 120:3. if He supplied them with meat for only one day or two?The reason that the chapter [of the Torah] speaks at length about the matter of the manna is that everything about it was of a wondrous nature, whereas with reference to the matter of the quail, it just writes briefly, And it came to pass at even, that the quail came up, because it came in a natural way. [Although the quail were a daily occurrence], the subject of the second [incident of] quail at Kibroth-hata’avah [is singled out for mention in Scripture] because right now [in the wilderness of Sin], they did not receive of them to the full, just as He always says here, flesh to eat, and bread to the full.. This clearly indicates that bread they had to the full, but not flesh.It is possible that only the adults gathered the quail — or it may be that they were marked by chance for the pious ones — while the young craved and hungered for them, since Scripture does not relate concerning the quail, “and they gathered some more, some less,” as it does concerning the manna. It is for this reason that Scripture says there [in the narrative of the second quail]: And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting, and it further says, and the children of Israel also wept on their part, meaning that some of the children of Israel were also weeping for it, but not all. He then gave them in great quantity, as it says, He that gathered least gathered ten heaps, Verse 32. and out of that abundance, they ate for a month’s time, Verse 20. and then the quail reverted to their first state.In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, the whole affair with the quail happened only at intervals, but since the manna was their staple food, they always had it, for their chief murmuring concerned it, as it is written, for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to put to death this whole assembly by famine.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.