Keluaran 16:5

16:5 On the sixth day ¹  they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.” ² 

Keluaran 18:23

18:23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, ³  then you will be able ⁴  to endure, ⁵  and all these people ⁶  will be able to go ⁷  home ⁸  satisfied.” ⁹ 

[16:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and it will be on the sixth day.”

[16:5]  ² sn There is a question here concerning the legislation – the people were not told why to gather twice as much on the sixth day. In other words, this instruction seems to presume that they knew about the Sabbath law. That law will be included in this chapter in a number of ways, suggesting to some scholars that this chapter is out of chronological order, placed here for a purpose. Some argue that the manna episode comes after the revelation at Sinai. But it is not necessary to take such a view. God had established the Sabbath in the creation, and if Moses has been expounding the Genesis traditions in his teachings then they would have known about that.

[18:23]  ³ tn The form is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the same nuance as the preceding imperfect in the conditional clause.

[18:23]  ⁴ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive now appears in the apodosis of the conditional sentence – “if you do this…then you will be able.”

[18:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “to stand.” B. Jacob (Exodus, 501) suggests that there might be a humorous side to this: “you could even do this standing up.”

[18:23]  ⁶ tn Literally “this people.”

[18:23]  ⁷ tn The verb is the simple imperfect, “will go,” but given the sense of the passage a potential nuance seems in order.

[18:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “his place.”

[18:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “in peace.”

[18:23]  sn See further T. D. Weinshall, “The Organizational Structure Proposed by Jethro to Moses (Ex. 18:17),” Public Administration in Israel and Abroad 12 (1972): 9-13; and H. Reviv, “The Traditions Concerning the Inception of the Legal System in Israel: Significance and Dating,” ZAW 94 (1982): 566-75.