Exodus 16:5

Exo 16:5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare [that] which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

Ver. 5. On the sixth dug they shall prepare.] The Jews’ preparation for the Sabbath began at three o’clock in the afternoon. The best and wealthiest of them, even those that had many servants, did with their own hands further the preparation. So that sometimes the masters themselves would chop herbs, sweep the house, cleave wood, kindle the fire, &c. {a}

{a} Buxtorf., Synagog.

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 16:5-6. They shall prepare — Lay up, grind, bake, or boil. The Lord brought you out of Egypt — And not we, as you suggest, by our own counsel.

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

(5) On the sixth day—i.e., the sixth day after the first giving of the manna (Kalisch). Although in Babylonia, from a time certainly earlier than the Exodus, a Sabbath was observed on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth day of each month (Sayce: Records of the Past, vol. vii., pp. 157-167), yet we have no evidence that the year was divided into weeks, much less that the several days of the week were known as the first, second, third, fourth, &c. In Egypt, the week of seven days was at this time unknown.

They shall prepare.—On the method of preparation see Num_11:8.

It shall be twice as much.—Some suppose this to be a command—“Ye shall gather twice as much;” but it is more natural to take it as an announcement of a fact—“You will find that what you have gathered turns out to be twice as much.” (So Kurtz, Kalisch, and Knobel.) A miraculous doubling of the quantity seems to be intended. (Comp. Exo_16:22.)

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

5. prepare] viz. for eating (see Num_11:8); cf. Gen_43:16 (‘make ready’).

twice as much] The meaning seems to be that, as the supply will be more abundant on the 6th day, so every one will naturally gather more; and when they come to prepare it, they will find that it is just twice a much as they gather usually.

Vv. 9–12 should follow here. The verses are accidentally misplaced: as they stand, the message given to the people (vv. 6–8) precedes the command to deliver it (vv. 9–12).

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.

And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day,.... Of the week, and from the raining of the bread, which was on the first day of the week:

they shall prepare that which they bring in; the Targum of Jonathan adds, to eat on the sabbath day; what they did not consume on the sixth day was to be prepared and reserved for the seventh day; that is, it was to be baked or boiled as they thought fit to have it, or eat it as it was, which they pleased, see Exo 16:23 only one part of it was to be kept till the next day:

and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily: on that day should be rained double what fell on other days, and so twice as much should be gathered up; the reason for which is not here mentioned, but afterwards given; though Moses no doubt was now made acquainted with it, or otherwise he could not have informed the princes and people of it, as he afterwards did, Exo 16:23.

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

It shall be twice as much - They should collect and prepare a double quantity.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Provide. Hence, this day was called Parasceve, or the day of preparation.

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).

Prepare; lay up, grind, bake, or seethe. See Exo 16:23. and Num 11:8.

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

On the sixth day. That a period of seven days was known to the Hebrews as a week appears from the story of Jacob and Laban. (Gen_29:27) But there is no distinct evidence that the year was as yet divided into weeks, much less that the several days of the week were as yet distinguished as the first, second, third day, etc. "The sixth day," here probably means (as Kalisch says), "the sixth day after" the first supply of the manna. They shall prepare. The preparation would be, first, by measurement (ver. 18), and then by pounding and grinding. (Num_11:8) It shall be double. Some commentators suppose that in these words is implied an order that on the sixth day they should set themselves to gather a double quantity. But the natural meaning of the words is, that, having gathered the usual quantity, they should find, when they measured it, that, by miracle, the supply sufficient for one day was multiplied, so as to suffice for two. (So Kalisch, Knobel, Kurtz, and others.) This view is in harmony with verse 18, which tells of a miraculous expansion and diminution of the manna after it had been gathered, and with verse 22, which shows us "the rulers" surmised by the miracle of the sixth day.

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

They shall prepare - Lay up, grind, bake or boil.

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

והיה משנה AND IT SHALL BE DOUBLE — for today and for tomorrow.

משנה DOUBLE of what they were accustomed to collect on each day of the other days of the week. I say that the words, אשר יביאו והיה משנה “what they bring shall be double”, imply that after they have brought it home they will find it double in measure of what they had been gathering and measuring each day. This is the force of: “they collected double bread” (v. 22) — when it was collected it was found by them to be double food, and this is the meaning of (v. 29), “therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days”: He gives you a blessing — old French foison, — abundance in the house that you may fill the Omer twice, as bread for two days.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.