Quail and Manna Mystery

Ever wonder how Israel can travel to Zin on the 15th of Ziv when the 15th was a Sabbath? Well here is the answer. They travelled at night after the Sabbath day on the 15th reckoned according to the common day. The quail came between the evenings on the next day, and the manna came in the morning (Exodus 16:6-8; 12-13). Between the evenings is the afternoon of the 16th of Ziv. Now it is astronomically established that the 15th of Ziv was a Sabbath day:

1. AVIV (Nisan) THR 3/27/-1632 29 days Jul: 1125421.16

2. ZIV (Iyyar) FRI 4/25/-1632 30 days Jul: 1125450.17

3. Sivan SUN 5/25/-1632 29 days Jul: 1125480.18

4. Shoshana MON 6/23/-1632 30 days Jul: 1125509.19

5. Av WED 7/23/-1632 30 days Jul: 1125539.20

6. Elul FRI 8/22/-1632 29 days Jul: 1125569.19

7. ETHANIM (Tishri) SAB 9/20/-1632 30 days Jul: 1125598.17

8. BUL (Marchesvan) MON 10/20/-1632 30 days Jul: 1125628.14

9. Kislev WED 11/19/-1632 29 days Jul: 1125658.12

10. Tebeth THR 12/18/-1632 30 days Jul: 1125687.11

11. Shebat SAB 1/17/-1631 29 days Jul: 1125717.12

12. Adar SUN 2/15/-1631 29 days Jul: 1125746.14

13. Adar II MON 3/16/-1631 30 days Jul: 1125775.15

* Months begin at sunset on the day listed (not the day before)

Now the 1632 b.c.e. date for the Exodus is established by biblical chronology. Since the 15th of Ziv was the Sabbath, travel would have been forbidden, but the text (Exodus 16:1) says that they did travel, so the 15th of Ziv is being counted according to the common day (see Common Day). Furthermore, if it had been the standard day, then the quail would have come on the afternoon of the Sabbath (between the evenings), but since this would have required gathering and cooking them on the Sabbath, it is evident that the standard day is not meant in Exodus 16:1.