In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.
Parallel translations
- KJV And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
- BSB That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
- NKJV So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
- NASB So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
- NLT That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
That evening quail covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around it. God faithfully delivers exactly what he promised.
Overview
The arrival of quail at evening and dew at morning fulfills God's word precisely, confirming his reliability. The quail supplied meat, while the dew prepared the way for the manna to appear. This concrete fulfillment teaches Israel that God's promises are trustworthy and that he provides for his people's daily needs.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Num 11:9When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
- Ps 78:27–28He rained also meat on them as the dust; winged birds as the sand of the seas.
- Ps 105:40They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
- Num 11:31–33A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 16:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.