Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 16/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 16

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Overview

This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.

Israelites’ Complaints

Shemot 16:2-4 is one of a series of Israelite complaints in the desert. Other complaints can be found in Shemot 14:10-14, Shemot 15:22-25, Shemot 17:1-7, Bemidbar 11:5-6, Bemidbar 14:2-3, Bemidbar 20:1-6, and Bemidbar 21:4-7.

Tools

• Use Makbilot BaMikra to find links to the many verses which speak of the nation's various complaints, including descriptions of the events in Tehillim.

Articles and Lectures

• Listen to Sefer Bemidbar: From Doubt to Debate, by Atara Snowbell, for an insightful analysis and close reading of the evolution of the Israelites’ complaints from Shemot 15 through Bemidbar 21, reflecting their increasing faith and independence.
• See מסע בעקבות תלונות עם ישראל במדבר, by Dr. Brachi Elitzur, for a nuanced comparison and contrast of the complaints in the desert along six different parameters: the situation that prompted the complaint, the way that the Torah describes the people and their complaint, the content of their request, the way that the nation relates to Egypt, and the consequences of the complaint. 

Manna

The manna is spoken of in several places in Tanakh, at times in the context of the trials and tribulations of the wilderness period and at times as a demonstration of Hashem's benevolence.

Tools

• See Makbilot BaMikra for sources that highlight the Israelites’ eating of manna in the context of a divine test or chastisement (see Shemot 16:4, Devarim 8:5, and Devarim 8:16)  and other texts which focus on its being rained down as a part of a divine gift (see Tehillim 78:23-25, Tehillim 105:40, Nehemiah 9:15, Nehemiah 9:20). Both of these perspectives on the manna are intertwined throughout its presentation in Tanakh.

Articles

• See The Test of the Manna, by R. Zvi Shimon, for an overview of midrashic and exegetical approaches to understanding the test of the manna. Looking at the description of manna both in Shemot and Devarim, R. Shimon concludes that the manna was not just a  gift but also a test to see whether the people would be willing to rely solely on Hashem. They were given only a daily allowance, without the possibility of saving for the next day, to transform the people's dependence on their past Egyptian masters to dependence on God.
• See לדעת את אשר בלבבך: על נסיונות אלקים ולב יודע, by R. Chanoch Wachsman, for analysis of the nature of the test of the manna through comparison with other experiences in Torah that are described as tests.  Ultimately, all of these tests are meant to instill love and fear of God. 

Anger

The Torah explicitly notes Moshe's wrath in three places, and commentators suggest several more instances in which his anger might have expressed itself.  Comparing the stories is useful in understanding Moshe.  What leads him to get angry;  when is it not only warranted but perhaps necessary, and when not?

Tools

• See Makbilot BaMikra for links to verses which describe Moshe's anger, including Shemot 16:20, Vayikra 10:16 and Bemidbar 31:14.

Articles

• See Moshe for an essay about Moshe’s character and leadership, including analysis of those times that the Torah ascribes anger to him either explicitly or implicitly.  The piece presents contrasting evaluations of commentators on each occurrence of anger, with some justifying the emotion and others deploring it.¹

¹ For topics which address specific instances of anger, see Moshe's Killing of the Egyptian, Sin of the Golden Calf (discussing Moshe's throwing of the tablets), Moshe's Misstep and Mei Merivah (for those who claim that Moshe's sin lay in his angry reaction to the nation).