Exodus 16:16

Context

16:16 “This is what¹ the Lord has commanded:² ‘Each person is to gather³ from it what he can eat, an omer⁴ per person⁵ according to the number⁶ of your people;⁷ each one will pick it up⁸ for whoever lives⁹ in his tent.’”

Exodus 34:24

Context
34:24 For I will drive out¹⁰ the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet¹¹ your land when you go up¹² to appear before the Lord your God three times¹³ in the year.

[16:16] ¹tn Heb “the thing that.”

[16:16] ²tn The perfect tense could be taken as a definite past with Moses now reporting it. In this case a very recent past. But in declaring the word from Yahweh it could be instantaneous, and receive a present tense translation – “here and now he commands you.”

[16:16] ³tn The form is the plural imperative: “Gather [you] each man according to his eating.”

[16:16] ⁴sn The omer is an amount mentioned only in this chapter, and its size is unknown, except by comparison with the ephah (v. 36). A number of recent English versions approximate the omer as “two quarts” (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT); TEV “two litres.”

[16:16] ⁵tn Heb “for a head.”

[16:16] ⁶tn The word “number” is an accusative that defines more precisely how much was to be gathered (see GKC 374 §118.h).

[16:16] ⁷tn Traditionally “souls.”

[16:16] ⁸tn Heb “will take.”

[16:16] ⁹tn “lives” has been supplied.

[34:24] ¹⁰tn The verb is a Hiphil imperfect of יָרַשׁ (yarash), which means “to possess.” In the causative stem it can mean “dispossess” or “drive out.”

[34:24] ¹¹sn The verb “covet” means more than desire; it means that some action will be taken to try to acquire the land that is being coveted. It is one thing to envy someone for their land; it is another to be consumed by the desire that stops at nothing to get it (it, not something like it).

[34:24] ¹²tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffixed subject to form the temporal clause.

[34:24] ¹³tn The expression “three times” is an adverbial accusative of time.