Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah

Or HaChaim on Exodus 16:19/אור החיים על שמות ט״ז:י״ט

אוַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה וְגוֹ׳. אוּלַי כִּי מִצְוָה זוֹ מֹשֶׁה מֵעַצְמוֹ דָּן אוֹתָהּ, לֶהֱיוֹת שֶׁרָאָה כִּי ה׳ נוֹתֵן לָהֶם דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ, זֶה יַגִּיד כִּי אֵין יוֹם אֶחָד מֵכִין לַחֲבֵרוֹ, וְהֵבִין דָּבָר מִתּוֹךְ דָּבָר וְאָסַר לָהֶם. וְלָזֶה אָמַר הַכָּתוּב ״וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה״, וְקָשֶׁה, לֹא הָיָה צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר אֶלָּא ״וַיּוֹתִירוּ״ וְגוֹ׳ וַאֲנִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁלֹּא שָׁמְעוּ.
1 ויאמר משה…אל יותר ממנו עד בקר, Moses said…not to leave over from it till the following morning. It is possible that Moses issued this directive on his own. He did so because he knew that G'd would provide daily rations. He interpreted G'd's intention as being that one day's food supply should not serve as preparation for the following day's needs. This may be why the Torah phrases Israel's disobedience as "they did not listen to Moses," instead of simply saying: "they left some over till the morning."
בעוֹד לָמָּה לֹא הִסְפִּיק לוֹמַר ״וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ וַיּוֹתִירוּ״, וַאֲנִי יוֹדֵעַ כִּי לֹא שָׁמְעוּ לַמַּשְׁמִיעַ? וְלִדְבָרֵינוּ יָבֹא עַל נָכוֹן פֵּרוּשׁ וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ – לְמַה שֶׁנִּתְחַכֵּם וְאָסַר לָהֶם מִדַּעְתּוֹ. וּלְדֶרֶךְ זֶה יְדֻיַּק גַּם כֵּן אָמְרוֹ בַּמַּאֲמָר הַקּוֹדֵם לָזֶה ״זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳״, מַה שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר כֵּן בְּמַה שֶׁלְּפָנֵינוּ. וְטַעַם שֶׁהִבְאִישׁ וַיָּרֻם תּוֹלָעִים, שֶׁהִסְכִּים ה׳ עַל יָדוֹ שֶׁהִצְדִּיק בִּסְבָרָתוֹ סְבָרַת חָכָם עָדִיף מִנָּבִיא.
2Furthermore, why was it not sufficient to say: "they did not listen and left some over?" This would have told us that they did not listen to the one who had given the instructions. According to our interpretation the meaning of "and they did not listen" means the reason they ignored Moses' instructions was that they were clever enough to perceive that the instructions originated with Moses and not with G'd. This also explains the fact that Moses had introduced the instructions he gave concerning collecting the manna in verse 16 as being in the name of G'd. He had not done so previously. If the manna turned bad and sprouted worms this shows that G'd agreed with Moses' intiative.
גוְאֶפְשָׁר לוֹמַר כִּי לְעוֹלָם מִפִּי הַגְּבוּרָה נֶאֶמְרָה לוֹ מִצְוָה זוֹ, אֶלָּא לְצַד שֶׁכְּבָר אָמַר ״זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳״, סָמַךְ שֶׁכָּל עִנְיַן פְּרָטֵי דִּינֵי הַמָּן נִמְשָׁךְ לְמַה שֶׁהִקְדִּים לוֹמַר ״זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳״, וְהֵם לֹא הִשְׂכִּילוּ כַּוָּנָתוֹ וְחָשְׁבוּ כִּי הוֹרָאָתוֹ הוֹרָאַת חָכָם לֹא הוֹדָעַת נָבִיא.
3It is also possible that every instruction Moses issued originated with G'd; seeing Moses had already introduced his directives concerning collection of the manna as instructions given to him by G'd, he did not see the need to re-emphasize this at every juncture. The Israelites misunderstood this, thinking Moses had acted on his own. They also did not know that instructions issued by a prophet are to be obeyed even if the prophet did not receive specific instructions concerning them from G'd.