The Gathering of the Manna and the Establishing of the Sabbath (Exodus 16:16-36).
Instructions are given with regard to the gathering of the manna and with regard to the Sabbath which is seemingly now instituted for all Israel.
a The command is given that they gather an omer per head (Exodus 16:16).
b The children of Israel do so and gather differing quantities (Exodus 16:17).
c Manna is gathered by the omer, an omer per man, in accordance with the number in their tents, and the use of that measure provided sufficiency (Exodus 16:18).
d None to be left until the morning but they did not listen to Moses (Exodus 16:19-20).
e When the sun came up the manna melted (and none was therefore left) (Exodus 16:21).
f On the sixth day they gathered twice as much (for the Sabbath) (Exodus 16:22).
g The next day was to be a holy Sabbath to Yahweh (Exodus 16:23 a).
h They may lay manna over until the morning (Exodus 16:23 b).
h They laid it up until the morning and it did not smell (Exodus 16:24).
g Moses declares, ‘Today is a Sabbath to Yahweh' (Exodus 16:25).
f They may gather for six days but on the Sabbath there will be none (Exodus 16:26).
e Those who went out on the Sabbath found none (Exodus 16:27)
d Yahweh complains that they will not obey His commandments. They must learn to obey (Exodus 16:28-29).
c It is called Manna and an omer (one man's portion) is to be set aside and laid before the Testimony (Exodus 16:30-32).
b Manna was eaten for forty years in the wilderness until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan (Exodus 16:35)
a An omer is defined as the tenth part of an ephah (Exodus 16:36).
In ‘a' the command is given to gather an omer a head, and in the parallel an omer is defined. In ‘b' they gather the manna as commanded and in the parallel continue to gather and eat it for forty years. In ‘c' they were to gather the manna in portions of an omer, and in the parallel an omer is preserved for the future before the testimony. In ‘d' they did not listen to Moses about leaving none until the morning, while in the parallel Yahweh complains that they will not obey His commandments., and that they must learn to obey. In ‘e' when the sun came up the manna melted (and none was therefore left), while in the parallel those who went out on the sabbath found none. In ‘f' on the sixth day they gathered twice as much (for the sabbath), while in the parallel they may gather for six days but on the sabbath there will be none. In ‘g' the next day was to be a holy sabbath to Yahweh, while in the parallel Moses declares, ‘Today is a sabbath to Yahweh'. In ‘h' they may lay manna over until the morning, and in the parallel they laid it up until the morning and it did not smell.
‘This is what Yahweh has commanded. You gather of it every man according to his eating. An omer a head, according to the number of your persons you will take it, every man for those who are in his tent. And the children of Israel did so, some more, some less. And when they measured it out with an omer he who gathered much had nothing over and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating.'
The people are commanded by Yahweh to gather an omer of manna per head. But the fact that they may take according to their eating may suggest not so much the use of an exact measurement as an indication of the size of vessel to use per person. But ‘according to their eating' may simply mean according to how many there are who will need to eat. For the overall impression is of an omer a head. And as it turned out that provided sufficiency for all with nothing left over.
“An omer.” This is only found here. It was probably a small bowl which contained the tenth part of an ephah (Exodus 16:36).
“An omer a head.” This exact measurement suggests that ‘every man according to his eating' means according to the eating requirements of his whole family at an omer a head. That is, that he collected an omer for each family member, and not that every man gathered according to how much he wanted.
“They measured it out with an omer. He who gathered much had nothing over and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating.” This probably means that those who had large families and those who were only a small entity, both found that they had sufficiency. Some have suggested that it means that those who had gathered too much gave any excess to those who had not gathered enough.