Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin (continued)
HARMONY OF THE LAW · VOLUME 1
15. 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 them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
15. Et videntes filii Israel, dixerunt quisque ad proximum suum, Est Man. Nesciebant enim quid esset. Et dixit Moses ad eos, Hic est panis quem dedit Jehova vobis comedendum.
16. 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.
16. Hoc est edictum quod mandat Jehova, Colligite ex eo quisque in mensuram victus sui homer, pro summa numeri animarum vestrarum: quisque pro iis qui sunt in tabernaculo suo accipite.
17. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
17. Atque ita fecerunt filii Israel et collegerunt, alii multum, alii exiguum.
18. 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.
18. Et quum metirentur per homer, non exeedebat is qui multum collegerat, nec minus habebat qui parum collegerat: quisque ad mensuram victus sui colligebat.
9. And Moses spoke unto Aaron. There is no question but that he here cites them as criminals before the tribunal of God, as if he had said that they were mistaken, if they thought that their murmurings were unobserved. Nevertheless, he alludes also to the cloud, which was the visible symbol of God's presence; and thus reproves their folly in not hesitating to provoke a God, who was so near, and almost; before their very eyes. First, then, we must remark, that they were in a manner drawn from their hiding-places, that their pride might be broken; and, secondly, that their stupidity was rebuked, for not reverencing God though present. And this is made more clear by the context, where it is said, that the glory of the Lord appeared "toward the wilderness," by which word I imagine the less habitable region to be indicated. For, although the country on all sides was barren, and uninhabited, yet on one side the Amalekites were near, and other tribes, as we shall soon see. The glory of God I suppose to mean, not that which they saw daily, but which was now manifested to them in an unusual