Exodus 16:13

“And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, etc.] From the coasts of Egypt, from the Red sea, over which they flew; and being evening, and weary with flying so long, lighted and settled where the Israelites encamped. Josephus f518 says, about the Arabian gulf there are more of this sort of birds than any other, which flying over the sea, and being weary, and coming nearer the ground than other birds, and lighting among the Hebrews, they took them with their hands as food prepared for them of God. The Targum of Jonathan calls them pheasants; some think they were locusts; but of this ((see Gill on “<041131>Numbers 11:31”)). These here seem to have come up one evening only, whereas,…”

“at even the quails came up, and covered the camp--This bird is of the gallinaceous kind [that is, relating to the order of heavy-bodied, largely terrestrial birds], resembling the red partridge, but not larger than the turtledove. They are found in certain seasons in the places through which the Israelites passed, being migratory birds, and they were probably brought to the camp by "a wind from the Lord" as on another occasion (Num 11:31). and in the morning . . . a small round thing . . . manna--There is a gum of the same name distilled in this desert region from the tamarisk, which is much prized by the natives, and preserved carefully by those who gather it. It is collected early in the…”

“Quails - This bird migrates in immense numbers in spring from the south: it is nowhere more common than in the neighborhood of the Red Sea. In this passage we read of a single flight so dense that it covered the encampment. The miracle consisted in the precise time of the arrival and its coincidence with the announcement. return to 'Top of Page'”

“The quails came up, and covered the camp - So tame that they might take up as many of them as they pleased. Next morning he rained manna upon them, which was to be continued to them for their daily bread. Exodus 16:15”

“the quails: The Hebrew TransHebrew}}selav, Chaldee selaiv, Syriac and Arabic selwa, is without doubt the quail, so the LXX render it ορτυγομητρα, a large kind of quail. Josephus, ορτυξ, Ethopic, ferferat, and Vulgate, coturnices, quails, with which agree Philo and the Rabbins. The quail is a bird of the gallinaceous kind, somewhat less than a pigeon, but larger than a sparrow. Hasselquist describes the quail of the larger kind as very much resembling the red partridge, but not larger than the turtle dove; found in Judea as well as in the deserts of Arabia Petra and Egypt; and affording a most agreeable and delicate dish. Num 11:31-33; Psa 78:27, Psa 78:28, Psa 105:40 the dew: Num 11:9 Exodus…”

“The same evening (according to Exo 16:12, "between the two evenings," vid., Exo 12:6) quails came up and covered the camp. עלה: to advance, applied to great armies. השּׂלו, with the article indicating the generic word, and used in a collective sense, are quails, ὀρτυγομήτρα (lxx); i.e., the quail-king, according to Hesychius ὄρτυξ ὑπερμεγέθης, and Phot. ὄρτυξ μέγας, hence a large species of quails, ὄρτυγες (Josephus), coturnices (Vulg.). Some suppose it to be the Kat or the Arabs, a kind of partridge which is found in great abundance in Arabia, Palestine, and Syria. These fly in such dense masses that the Arab boys often kill two or three at a time, by merely striking at them with…”