What Does Exodus 16:15 Mean in the King James?
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Their name for the bread is a question, “What is it?”, and Moses answers by naming its giver before its nature.
THE MEANING
You can encounter what sustains you while its identity is still unclear. The question remains audible, but Moses names the bread as what the LORD gives you to eat. Here, provision is already present before it is understood.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that you must understand what sustains you before it can be real or received.
THE ROOT
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נ־ת־ן
To give, put, or set in place.
“given” in this verse is natan. The bread is described by its relation to the giver and its use, even while the people cannot identify it. The root lets giving carry the sense of provision placed within reach.
ALSO GROWS
mattan: Gift, present.
מַתָּן
The bread is given as provision; this related word makes the gift itself visible in the act of giving.
mattanah: Gift, present.
מַתָּנָה
Like the manna, a gift is received before its value has to be explained.
יָדְעוּ
yade'u
GROWS FROM
י־ד־ע
To know, recognize, or perceive.
“wist not” in this verse is yade'u. Sight does not equal knowing here: the people see the bread and still ask what it is. The verse holds recognition open, while the food is already present.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: Knowledge, understanding.
דַּעַת
This related noun gives shape to the gap between seeing the manna and knowing what it is.
nodaʿ: Made known, become known.
נוֹדַע
The bread’s identity can become known after it has already appeared.
THE PATTERN
What sustains life is received as gift, even when it is not yet fully understood.
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.Give us this day our daily bread.Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.THE THREAD
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.Exodus says the people “wist not what it was”; Deuteronomy uses the same root, yadaʿ (יָדַע, to know or perceive), for manna they did not know. The unknown bread becomes part of how knowing itself unfolds.
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