Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven.

Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of the heavens,

And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened.

And he gave orders to the clouds on high, and the doors of heaven were open;

But he had commanded the clouds from above. It is a mistake to suppose that this miracle is related merely in the way of history. The prophet rather censures the Israelites the more severely from the consideration, that although fed to the full with manna, they ceased not to lust after the dainties which they knew God had denied them. It was the basest ingratitude to scorn and reject the heavenly food, which, so to speak, associated them with angels. Were a man who dwells in France or Italy to grieve and fret that he has not the bread of Egypt to eat, nor the wine of Asia to drink, would he not make war against God and nature, after the manner of the giants of old? Much less excusable was the inordinate lust of the Israelites, whom God not only furnished with earthly provision in rich abundance, but to whom he also gave the bread of heaven for their support. Had they even endured hunger for a lengthened period, propriety and duty would have required them to ask food with more humility. Had they been supplied with only bran and chaff to eat, it would have been their bounden duty to have acknowledged that in the place where they were -- in the wilderness -- this was no ordinary boon of Heaven. Had only coarse bread been granted them, they would have had sufficient reason for thanksgiving. But how much stronger were their obligations to God, when he created a new kind of food, with which, by stretching out, as it were, his hand from heaven, he supplied them richly and in great abundance? This is the reason why the manna is called corn of heaven, and bread of the mighty Some explain the Hebrew word 'vyrym, abbirim, as denoting the heavens, [1] an opinion which I do not altogether reject. I, however, prefer taking it for angels, as it is understood by the Chaldee interpreter, and some others who have followed him. [2] The miracle is celebrated in high terms, to present the impiety of the people in a more detestable light; for it was a much more striking display of divine power for manna to be rained down from heaven, than if they had been fed either with herbs or fruits, or with other increase of the earth. Paul, in 1-Corinthians 10:3, calls the manna spiritual meat, in a different sense -- because it was a figure and symbol of Christ. But here the design of the prophet is to reprove the twofold ingratitude of the people, who despised not only the common food which was produced from the ground, but also the bread of angels. Some have translated the verbs in the past tense, He commanded the clouds -- he opened the doors of heaven -- he rained down manna, etc But to remove all ambiguity, I have thought it preferable to translate the verbs in the preterpluperfect tense, He had commanded, he had opened, he had rained, to enable my readers the better to understand that the prophet does not here simply relate this history, but recalls it to remembrance for another purpose, as a thing which happened long ago.

Footnotes

1 - Abu Walid and Kimchi read, "the bread of heaven."

2 - The Chaldee paraphrase of the expression, the bread of the mighty, is, "the food that descends from the dwelling of angels;" so that, according to this view, it signifies no more than, "corn of heaven," by which the manna is described in the preceding verse. Dr Geddes and Williams observe, that the Hebrew word 'vyrym, abbirim, never signifies angels, but persons of the higher classes, the rich, the great, the noble; and that the meaning of the Psalmist is, that the Israelites found in the manna a dainty, delicate food, such as might suit the palates of the great; that it was bread fit for princes; the best, the choicest of bread. This agrees with Simonis' rendering of the phrase, "cibus nobilium, scilicet principum; hoc est, cibus exquisitus, delicatus, eximius." Such also is the view taken by Fry, Walford, and others. If by 'vyrym, abbirim, the mighty, angels should be understood, as it is rendered in all the ancient versions, the meaning will be substantially the same; for the manna, by an obvious poetical figure, may be called the bread of angels, to denote food of the most exquisite kind; just as Paul speaks of the tongues of angels, (1-Corinthians 13:1,) to indicate eloquence of the highest order.

Though he had commanded the clouds from above - Though he had showed that he had absolute control over the clouds, and had only to command them and they would furnish rain in abundance. Compare the notes at Isaiah 5:6.
And opened the doors of heaven - As he had done at the deluge, Genesis 7:11. The idea is, that he had rained down manna upon them in such abundance that it might be compared with the waters that had been sent down at the deluge.

Though he had commanded the (o) clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
(o) So that they had that which was necessary and sufficient: but their lust made them cover that which they knew God had denied them.

Though he had commanded the clouds from above,.... Which were round about him, his chariots, and the dust of his feet; and which were at his command to go here and there, and carry and let down provisions for his people, as they did:
and opened the doors of heaven; as a large granary, from whence the manna, afterwards called the corn of heaven, was given out in great abundance, which is signified by opening the doors; see Malachi 3:10.

(Compare Exodus 16:11-15; Numbers 11:4-9).

Heaven - Which he compares to a store - house, whereof God shuts or opens the doors, as he sees fit.