What Does Exodus 16:36 Mean in the King James?

Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Exodus 16:36 · KJV

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

The omer is also the Hebrew word for a sheaf, so even manna is measured with a word that carries the image of gathered grain.

THE MEANING

Here, provision has a definite measure: an omer is one tenth of an ephah. The verse gives what is received a name and a scale, making its amount legible.

THE ROOT

עֹמֶר

ʿōmer

GROWS FROM

עמר

ʿ-m-r

To heap up or bind grain into sheaves.

The word ⁨עֹמֶר⁩ names both a sheaf and the dry measure used for manna. English presents “omer” as an unfamiliar unit, but its Hebrew form carries the picture of grain gathered into a bundle.

ALSO GROWS

ʿōmer: A gathered bundle of grain.

עֹמֶר

The same word names Joseph’s sheaves in Genesis 37:7, keeping the image of gathered harvest inside this measure.

ʿōmer: A unit of dry capacity, defined here as one tenth of an ephah.

עֹמֶר

This is the measure’s use in the verse: it gives a definite scale to the gathered manna.

THE PATTERN

What is gathered becomes shareable through a named measure.

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.

Exodus 16:18 · KJVThe shared omer measure lets different amounts gathered resolve into an adequate portion for each person.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

Leviticus 23:10 · KJVThe harvest is made present as a gathered first sheaf, a named portion brought from the whole.

As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

2 Corinthians 8:15 · KJVThe measure of manna becomes a pattern for sharing in which abundance does not become excess and lack does not remain.

THE THREAD

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.

Exodus 16:18 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨עֹמֶר⁩ (ʿōmer), the word for a sheaf and for a dry measure. This verse defines the omer’s capacity; the connected verse shows that measure resolving the gathering according to each person’s need.

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