What Does Exodus 16:16 Mean in the King James?
This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
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
Even inside the tent, provision is counted by each living soul; no person disappears into the household.
THE MEANING
Provision has a human scale: each person’s eating matters, and every living soul in each tent is counted. A household gathers together, but the measure still reaches each person.
THE ROOT
נפשתיכם
nefshotekhem
GROWS FROM
נפש
The word family includes the living soul or self, and the verb sense of taking respite or being refreshed.
“persons” in this verse is nefshotekhem. The count is not an abstract headcount: the verse names each living soul. In this word family, naphash also means to rest or be refreshed, placing the measure of provision alongside the lives it sustains.
ALSO GROWS
nephesh: Living soul, person, or self
נֶפֶשׁ
Each person in the tent is counted as a living soul, rather than disappearing into a household total.
naphash: Rest or be refreshed
נָפַשׁ
This branch links provision with the sustaining and refreshing of living people.
לִקְטוּ
liqṭu
GROWS FROM
לקט
Pick up, gather, or glean.
“gather” in this verse is liqṭu. The root carries the sense of gathering or gleaning. The same root appears in the command to collect manna and in the word for gleaning grain, while this verse measures the gathering by each person’s eating.
ALSO GROWS
lāqaṭ: Gather or glean
לָקַט
This is the verb behind the command to gather the manna.
leqeṭ: Gleanings, what is gathered from a field
לֶקֶט
This related word shows that gathering can mean collecting available provision piece by piece.
THE PATTERN
Provision is apportioned to meet actual need, with the measure returning to the living people who eat.
And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:Give us this day our daily bread.THE THREAD
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.English uses “gather” here and “glean” there, but both carry the Hebrew root לקט. That shared root links manna collected for each person’s eating with grain gleaned from a field.
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