The Book Of Exodus Chapters 16-17 I. Chapter 16: 16:1 The name “Sin” in this context has nothing to do with “sin” (i.e. evil), but rather is related to the term “Sinai”, and may mean bramble-bush. “Another view is that this name, and the name Sinai were derived from the moon-god Sin, who was worshipped in the Sinai peninsula” (Gispen p. 155). According to Numbers 33:10 the next stopping place on the journey southward was the Red Sea, i.e. Gulf of Suez. They arrived in this wilderness region one month after coming out of bondage (13:3-4). This month was later called Iyyar. “The Desert of Sin is an area in the west-central region of the peninsula. Here the main route moves inland five to ten miles for about the next seventy-five miles until it rejoins the coast….This may be where they camped by the sea (Numbers 30:10-11)” (Walton & Matthews, p. 103). “There are numerous opinions as to the location of this particular desert area. The encampment located in Dophkah (Numbers 33:12) may be of some help in identifying this area. According to G.E. Wright the name means ‘smeltery’ and probably refers to the Egyptian mining center at Serabit el-Khadem. This would place the wilderness of Sin to the south and east of Elim” (Davis p. 188).
16:2 By this time the food supplies that the Israelites had brought with them were exhausted. Once again, instead of praying to God, the Israelites immediately grumble and complain against the leadership being provided by Moses and Aaron. 16:3 Points To Note: 1. Only one month after being liberated from 400 years of slavery, all of a sudden life in Egypt has become “idealized”. “Slaves do not eat much meat, yet here the ‘meat cauldron’ looms large in their memories” (Cole p. 130). Large pots filled with meat, we might say, “meat by the bucketload”. Hardship can often cause us to “idealize” the sinful past or a particular sin
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