See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, &c.— You see that the Lord giveth you rest, Houbigant; who observes, that "rest is more suitable to the context than sabbath: besides, the sabbath is called by the name of the seventh day, not שׁבת shabat, rest. Add to this, that the phrase to give sabbath, or rest, is not of the same import as to command the observation of the sabbath; so that it cannot be argued from this place, that the precept concerning the sabbath was now first given: one would rather say, that the sabbath is so touched upon here, as an institution well and long since known to the Israelites."
Abide ye every man in his place— Still incredulous, the people could not confide in the word of God: some of them went out to gather manna on the sabbath, but they found none; upon which the Lord expostulates with them, (Exodus 16:28 compared with Exodus 16:24.) and orders every man to abide, on the seventh day, in his place. The Hebrew is, literally, rest every man with himself. The Vulgate is the same: Maneat unusquisque apud semetipsum. Sit every one in your houses, say the Septuagint. So that the meaning evidently is, let every one rest at home: in the due performance of this holy day of rest, let no one depart from his place; his home, that is, his place of abode; or, at the utmost, the camp, on the sabbath day: and accordingly, it is added, in the next verse, that, agreeably to this injunction, the people rested on the sabbath-day.