Keluaran 16:4

16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain ¹  bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out ²  and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. ³  Will they will walk in my law ⁴  or not?

Keluaran 10:15

10:15 They covered ⁵  the surface ⁶  of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, ⁷  and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

[16:4]  ¹ tn The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) before the active participle indicates the imminent future action: “I am about to rain.”

[16:4]  ² tn This verb and the next are the Qal perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives; they follow the sequence of the participle, and so are future in orientation. The force here is instruction – “they will go out” or “they are to go out.”

[16:4]  ³ tn The verb in the purpose/result clause is the Piel imperfect of נָסָה (nasah), אֲנַסֶּנוּ (’anassenu) – “in order that I may prove them [him].” The giving of the manna will be a test of their obedience to the detailed instructions of God as well as being a test of their faith in him (if they believe him they will not gather too much). In chap. 17 the people will test God, showing that they do not trust him.

[16:4]  ⁴ sn The word “law” here properly means “direction” at this point (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 146), but their obedience here would indicate also whether or not they would be willing to obey when the Law was given at Sinai.

[10:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they covered.”

[10:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 5; Num 22:5, 11).

[10:15]  ⁷ tn The verb is וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ (vattekhshakh, “and it became dark”). The idea is that the ground had the color of the swarms of locusts that covered it.