What Does Exodus 16:17 Mean?
And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some much, some little.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.THE KEY
Shared provision can hold unequal portions without making the smaller one an exclusion.
THE MEANING
Your portion may differ from another person’s without removing you from the same shared provision. The verse names both the one with more and the one with less inside a single gathering.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Belonging does not require everyone to receive an identical portion.
THE ROOT
הַמַּרְבֶּה
hamarbeh
GROWS FROM
רבה
r-b-h
to increase, multiply, or become many
“More” grows from a root of increase, so the word names a measure, not a rank. Beside the root for “less,” it lets unequal amounts stand together without turning either into a judgment of worth.
ALSO GROWS
rabah: to increase or become many
רָבָה
This verb shows the growth already present in the word for “more.”
hirbah: to multiply or make many
הִרְבָּה
The same root describes an increase in amount, keeping the focus on quantity.
הַמַּמְעִיט
hammam'it
GROWS FROM
מעט
m-ʿ-ṭ
to be few or little, or to diminish
“much, little” in this verse is hammam'it. The word for “less” comes from a root that can mean “little” or “diminish.” English gives only a comparison; the Hebrew root also names smallness as its own measure within the gathering.
ALSO GROWS
me'at: a little, few, or a small amount
מְעַט
This form makes the smaller measure explicit without calling it an absence.
him'it: to reduce or make few
הִמְעִיט
This verb shows the root’s movement toward a lesser amount.
me'at-me'at: little by little
מְעַט־מְעַט
The repeated form shows that small measures can accumulate over time.
THE PATTERN
Different measures can belong to one shared provision, with sufficiency measured by need rather than sameness.
And when they measured it with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing over, and the one who gathered little had no lack. Each one gathered according to his eating.As it is written, the one who gathered much had no overflow, and the one who gathered little had no lack.Give us today our bread for the coming day.THE THREAD
And when they measured it with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing over, and the one who gathered little had no lack. Each one gathered according to his eating.The next verse returns to the same gathering root and reveals what the different measures mean: each gathers according to eating. More and less remain real, yet neither becomes excess or lack.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us