Exodus 16:31-36·~1 min

The Jar of Manna

Israel names the bread manna and remembers its appearance and taste. At the Lord's command, Moses tells Aaron to place an omer of it before the Lord so later generations can see the bread that fed Israel in the wilderness.

N³¹ow the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. ³²Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.” ³⁴And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The narrative briefly looks ahead and says Israel eats manna for forty years, until reaching the border of Canaan. A final note explains the size of an omer.

³⁵The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. ³⁶(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

Section summaryThe chapter closes by naming manna and describing it, then commanding that a portion be kept before the Lord for generations to come. What fed Israel day by day in the wilderness is preserved as a witness, and its long duration is set against Israel's journey toward Canaan.

Role in the chapterThis final section turns daily bread into memory. It gathers the strange food, the command to preserve it, and the note of forty years into a lasting testimony that the Lord sustained Israel from wilderness hunger to the edge of settled land.