Bible Strands
Exodus 16:28
Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Moses concerning the Israelites who went out to gather manna on the seventh day. This occurs immediately after the people attempted to collect food on the Sabbath and found nothing.
The words — The text emphasizes מֵֽאַנְתֶּ֔ם (me.'an.Tem), meaning "have you refused," paired with עַד\־ אָ֙נָה֙ (ad- 'a.nah), meaning "until when?" These terms construct the divine question as a direct challenge to ongoing disobedience.
The thread — The pattern of refusing divine instruction appears in Psalms 78:10 and Psalms 106:13, where the people fail to keep God’s covenant and forget His works. 2 Kings 17:14 similarly records the nation stiffening its neck and refusing to listen to God’s commands.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that persistent neglect of stated commands provokes direct divine confrontation. It requires immediate compliance with established instructions rather than continued disregard for them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Cross-references
- Psalms 78:10 They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
- 2 Kings 17:14 But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
- Psalms 106:13 Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.
- Numbers 14:11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- Psalms 78:22 because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
- Ezekiel 20:13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
- Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
- Numbers 20:12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
- Psalms 81:13 If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Isaiah 7:9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”