Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah
Sforno on Exodus 16:8/ספורנו על שמות ט״ז:ח׳
אוַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה בְּתֵת ה' לָכֶם. אָמַר מֹשֶׁה: מַה שֶּׁהִתְפַּלַּלְנוּ שֶׁיִּתֵּן ה' לָכֶם הַמָּזוֹן בָּעֶרֶב, בְּעִנְיָן שֶׁתֵּדְעוּ שֶׁהָאֵל יִתְבָּרַךְ הוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם, רְצוֹנֵנוּ שֶׁיִּתֵּן לָכֶם בָּעֶרֶב בָּשָׂר לֶאֱכֹל, וְלֹא לִשְׂבֹּעַ כְּמִנְהַג הַמִּצְרִים אֲשֶׁר אֵין לִפְנֵיהֶם בִּלְתִּי אִם גְּוִיָּתָם, וְשֶׁבַּבֹּקֶר יִתֵּן לָכֶם לֶחֶם בִּלְבַד לִשְׂבֹּעַ, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה מַסְפִּיק דֵּי שָׂבְעֲכֶם:
1ויאמר משה בתת ה' לכם, Moses said: as far as your prayer to G’d to give you food in the evening in a way which makes it plain that that G’d took you out of Egypt and not we, is that we had in mind בערב בשר לאכול, He will give you meat to eat in the evening; to eat, but not to satiate yourself on; unlike the Egyptians who are only concerned with the cravings of their bodies; therefore only בבקר לשובע only in the morning will G’d give you bread to satiate your body’s requirements. As to our having prayed that G’d would show you His glory, this referred to His answering your complaints.
בבִּשְׁמֹעַ ה' אֶת תְּלוּנוֹתֵיכֶם. וּמַה שֶׁהִתְפַּלַּלְנוּ שֶׁתִּרְאוּ אֶת כְּבוֹד ה', רְצוֹנֵנוּ שֶׁיִּתֵּן לָכֶם אֵלֶּה בְּעִנְיָן שֶׁיֵּרָאֶה לָכֶם שֶׁתְּלוּנוֹתֵיכֶם הֵם עָלָיו, וְשֶׁהוּא שָׁמַע אֶת תְּלוּנוֹתֵיכֶם.
2בשמוע ה' את תלונותיכם, concerning our prayer that you will be able to see the glory of Hashem our intention was that you will realise from His reaction that your complaints were not addressed to us, or should not have been addressed to us, but to Him. Moreover, by providing, He has demonstrated that He has heard your complaints.