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And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Exodus 16:28 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
  • BSB Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
  • NKJV And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
  • NASB Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
  • NLT The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions?

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

Yahweh rebukes the people through Moses: how long will they refuse to keep his commandments and laws? Persistent disobedience grieves the Lord.

Overview

God's question exposes Israel's ongoing pattern of distrust and disobedience, even amid daily evidence of his faithfulness. The Sabbath-breaking is symptomatic of a deeper reluctance to obey God's word. This divine rebuke underscores the seriousness of unbelief and anticipates Israel's recurring struggle with hardness of heart throughout the wilderness.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Ps 78:10They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
  • 2 Kgs 17:14Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
  • Ps 106:13They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
  • Ezek 20:13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
  • Num 14:11And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
  • Ps 78:22Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
  • Jer 4:14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
  • Ps 81:13–14Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
  • Mark 9:19He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
  • Jer 9:6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
  • Exod 10:3And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
  • Ezek 20:16Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
  • Isa 7:13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
  • Num 20:12And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
  • Isa 7:9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
  • Ezek 5:6And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 16:28YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 16:28 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.