Exodus 16:19

Exo 16:19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

Ver. 19. Let no man leave of it, &c.] It was to be gathered in the morning, and not kept till the morrow. "I made haste and delayed not," saith David. {Psa 119:60}

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 16:19. Let no man leave of it till the morning — For the provision of the next day, as distrusting God’s care and goodness in giving him more. Not that every one was bound to eat the whole of what he had gathered; but they were to dissolve or burn it, as they did the remains of some sacrifices, or to consume it some other way. Thus, they were to learn to go to bed quietly, though they had not a bit of bread in their tents, nor in all their camp, trusting God with the following day to bring them their daily bread. Never was there such a market of provisions as this, where so many hundred thousand men were daily furnished without money and without price: never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for forty years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. And the same wisdom, power, and goodness that now brought food daily out of the clouds, doth, in the constant course of nature, bring food yearly out of the earth, and gives us all things richly to enjoy.

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

16:19-20 Regarding these instructions, see study note on 16:4-5.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. Let no man leave of it till the morning.] For God would have them to take no thought for the morrow, and constantly to depend on him for their dally bread. And is not that petition in our Lord's prayer founded on this very circumstance, Give us day by day our daily bread?

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) Let no man leave of it.—Moses must have been divinely instructed to issue this command. It was doubtless given in order that the Israelites might realise their absolute dependence upon God for food from day to day, and might so be habituated to complete trust and confidence in Him.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19, 20. None to be left over till the morning. The manna was to be the daily food of the Israelites in the wilderness, and so to be eaten fresh every day. In the East, it is the custom to bake bread daily, and yesterday’s bread is not eaten.

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.

Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses,.... That is, not all of them, some of them did, and perhaps the far greater part of them:

but some of them left it until the morning; out of distrust, for fear they should have none the next day; being men of little faith, that could not trust God for a supply for the morrow; the Targum of Jonathan says, these were Dathan and Abiram; and so Jarchi:

and it bred worms, and stank; or by an "hysteron proteron", and transposition of the words, the sense may be, that it stank, corrupted, and putrefied, and so produced worms, in which order the words lie, Exo 16:24, and this was not from the nature of the manna to breed worms so soon, but God so ordering and disposing it, that it should do so; for otherwise it would keep to another day, as what was gathered on the sixth day kept to the seventh, and there was a part of it kept for many ages, see Exo 16:24, and since the manna was of the meal kind, perhaps those worms it bred might be of the weevil sort, as Scheuchzer conjectures (s):

and Moses was wroth with them; for breaking the commandment of God.

(s) Physica Sacra, vol. 2. p. 179.

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

viz. For the provision of the next day, as distrusting God’s care and goodness in giving them more. Not that every one was bound to eat all of it, which certainly many of their stomachs could not bear; but that they were to dissolve it, or but it, as they did the remains of some sacrifices, Exo 12:10; 29:34, or consume it some other way.

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

Let no man leave of it till the morning. Moses, divinely instructed, warned the people that they were not to lay up in store any of their manna to be eaten the next day. God would have them trust their future wants to him, and "take no thought for the morrow." Some of them, however, were disobedient, with the result stated in the next verse.

Vers. 19, 20. God"s curse upon ill-gotten gains. In order to try the Israelites, whether they would be obedient to him orno (ver. 4), God gave them, by the mouth of Moses, a positive law no man leave of the manna till the morning." By some the law was disobeyed. Disregarding the Divine command perhaps distrusting the Divine promise (ver. 4), to give them food day by day, a certain number of the Israelites, kept some of the manna till the morning. They wished to have a store laid up, on which they might subsist, should the daily supply fail. But God would not be disobeyed with impunity. His curse was on the ill-gotten gain it bred worms and stank, becoming a source of annoyance both to themselves and their neighbours. So, God"s curse is ever on ill-gotten gainse.g.:

I WHEN MEN SET THEIR HEARTS ON HOARDING ALL THEY CAN. Some provision for the future is required of us. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard," says the wise man, "consider her ways, and be wise." "He that doth not provide for them of his own household," St. Paul declares, "is worse than an infidel." Prudence is a Christian, no less than a heathen virtue. But to hoard everything, to give nothing away, to make the accumulation of wealth our main object, is to fly in the face of a hundred plain precepts, and necessarily brings God"s curse upon us. The wealth rots the concerns wherein it is invested fail it disappears and is brought to nought and all our careful saving advantages us nothing. God vindicates his own honour; and disperses or destroys the hoard accumulated contrary to his will.

II WHEN, TO AUGMENT THEIR HOARDS, MEN BREAK A DIVINE COMMAND. There are some who, in their haste to be rich, disregard the Divine injunction to keep holy one day in seven, and pursue their secular calling without any intermission. Conveyancers draw out their deeds, barristers study their briefs, business men balance their books, authors ply their pens, as busily on the Sunday as on week days. What blessing can be expected on the gains thus made? Is it not likely that they will breed corruption? Still more wholly under a curse are gains made by unlawful trades or dishonest practices by the false weight or the scant measure, or the adulterated article or again by usurious lending, by gaming, by brothel-keeping.

III WHEN THE MOTIVE FOR THE HOARDING IS DISTRUST OF GOD"S PROMISES. God bids us not to be anxious for the morrow, what we shall eat, or what we shall drink, or what we shall put on (Mat_6:31) and promises that, if we will "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things shall be added unto us" (ib. 33). He caused holy David to declare have been young and now am old, yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread." If men hoard in distrust of these gracious words, not believing that God will make them good, and thinking to assure the future of wife or child, or both, by their own accumulations, they provoke God to bring their accumulations to nothing. Riches, however invested, can make themselves wings and disappear, if God"s blessing does not rest on their possessor.

HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART

Vers. 19-36. The law of the manna.

I THERE MUST BE INDIVIDUAL EFFORT FOR INDIVIDUAL NEED.

1. The manna lay around their tents, but it had to be gathered. To feed onChrist each must lay hold of him for his own soul by meditation and prayer and trust.

2. If we do not "taste and see that the Lord is gracious," his nearness to uswill only deepen our condemnation. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

II CHRIST MUST BE LAID HOLD OF DAILY DURING THE WEEK"S TOIL,

1. The sabbath has its provision without labour. This law is sometimes inverted sabbath day"s toil, six days" negligence but in this way Christ will be fed upon neither in labour nor in rest. They who come from daily walking with Christ, find the sabbath feast spread for them.

2. The life of labour in striving to lay hold of and feed upon him, isfollowed by the rest that remaineth and the feast which his own hand will spread.

III GRACE WILL NOT CONSORT WITH DISOBEDIENCE. The manna stored up to save from toiling, when God commands to toil, was unfit for use. We cannot live on the memories of past experiences of Christ"s graciousness. He must be daily sought for.

IV CHRIST THE SOUL"S FOOD DURING THE ENTIRE EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE (ver. 35). During the whole forty years Israel fed upon the manna. We must feed daily upon Christ till we reach the inheritance. They who will be sustained in their journey must determine to know nothing save Christ and him crucified. U.

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

Let no man leave 'till morning - But let them learn to go to bed and sleep quietly, though they had not a bit of bread in their tent, nor in all their camp, trusting God with the following day to bring them their daily bread. Never was there such a market of provisions as this, where so many hundred thousand men were daily furnished without money, and without price: never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for 40 years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. And the same wisdom, power and goodness that now brought food daily out of the clouds, doth in the constant course of nature bring food yearly out of the earth, and gives us all things richly to enjoy.

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

In the second place, Moses commanded them, that no one was to leave any of what had been gathered till the next morning. Some of them disobeyed, but what was left went into worms (תּולעים ירם literally rose into worms) and stank. Israel was to take no care for the morrow (Mat 6:34), but to enjoy the daily bread received from God in obedience to the giver. The gathering was to take place in the morning (Exo 16:21); for when the sun shone brightly, it melted away.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

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unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Let no man leave over. This was in order that they would have to trust in Hashem to send it to them the next day as well. Thus they were not required to finish each day’s portion but only to dispose of the leftovers rather than saving them.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.