Exodus 16:27
ESV
On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
NIV
Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.
NASB
Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
CSB
Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any.
NLT
Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food.
KJV
And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
NKJV
Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
What does Exodus 16:27 mean?
The book of Exodus includes an important lesson: humanity has an unlimited ability to doubt, ignore, and disobey God despite the clearest signs. This generation of Israelites witnessed spectacular miracles (Exodus 12:29–31; 13:21–22; 14:21–28; 15:24–25; 16:14–15). Despite this, they routinely doubted God and ignored His instructions (Exodus 14:10–11; 15:24; 16:1–3, 19–20). This verse contains another example.The people were told that their daily manna portion (Exodus 16:16–18) would be doubled on the sixth morning. This would be the only time when manna could be stored overnight. God's intent was for the people to rest on the seventh day. He made it clear that there would be no manna provided on the seventh morning (Exodus 16:25–26). Yet some go out to gather manna on this "Sabbath" day (Exodus 20:8–11).
Even though God's strongest statements about the Sabbath will come later (Exodus 31:12–17; 35:1–3), this disobedient response rouses His anger (Exodus 16:28).
