Time after Pentecost · Proper 13 · Year B
Exodus 16:2-15
Manna and Quail
August 1, 2027
Overview & Insights
“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites… in the morning you will be filled with bread.” (Exodus 16:12)
Leadership, Learning, Manna, Meat, and the First Sabbath Rest: In Exodus 16, Israel begins learning to walk in the Lord’s way (vv. 4b, 28b). The survival of the people depended on the transformation of their culture. The text presents a jumble of themes around this purpose, some for the first time in Exodus: the grumbling and lessons of the newly redeemed slaves; the status of Moses and Aaron’s leadership; the Lord’s visible presence with the people; and the Lord’s provision of bread, quail, and rest. The chapter ends with instructions for the first Sabbath rest and a manna memorial for the generations after the manna ceases. The people were successful in learning to follow the Lord’s instructions for their daily bread and weekly rest.
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Commentary
Working Preacher: Commentary on Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15 Working Preacher
Lutheran lectionary commentary on the manna and God's daily provision.
Enduring Word: Exodus 16 Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the whole chapter.
Precept Austin: Exodus 16 Commentary Precept Austin
Detailed study gathering many commentators on the giving of the manna.
BibleHub: Commentaries on Exodus 16:2 BibleHub
Parallel classic commentaries keyed to Israel's grumbling in the wilderness.
StudyLight: Exodus 16 Commentaries StudyLight
Many complete commentaries on Exodus 16 gathered on one passage page.
Background & Word Study
Enter the Bible: Exodus Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's scholarly introduction to Exodus and its context.
BibleProject: Exodus 1-18 Overview BibleProject
Animated overview of the deliverance and wilderness journey in Exodus.
Sefaria: Exodus 16 (Hebrew) Sefaria
Hebrew text with English and classical Jewish commentary on the chapter.
BibleHub: Exodus 16 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew-English interlinear for word-level study of the chapter.
Questions preachers ask
What is the manna?
When Israel grumbles for food in the wilderness, God rains down bread from heaven each morning and quail in the evening (Exodus 16). “Manna” means “What is it?”, the people’s own question. Each gathers just enough for the day, a daily-bread lesson in trust that Jesus later takes up in John 6.
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