What sort of preparations was Hashem referring to?
Rashbam: To bake or to cook, as they saw fit. 1
Seforno: To prepare on Erev Shabbos nice foods to enjoy on Shabbos.
Targum Yonasan: He was referring a. to preparing the food that it should be ready to eat (to avoid the Isur of Muktzeh), 2 and b. the various types of Eruv that they needed to arrange on Erev Shabbos, to enable them to carry from one house and from one Chatzer to another. 3
Beitzah 2b: It refers to a verbal preparation 4 - and it implies that, whereas one needs to prepare for Yom-Tov and for Shabbos on a weekday, Yom-Tov cannot prepare for Shabbos or vice-versa. 5
Shabbos 117b: It refers to rising early on Erev Shabbos in order to prepare for Shabbos. 6
Parallel to the instructions Moshe gave in 16:28 below.
See Na'ar Yonasan.
Even though all of this is only Asur mid'Rabanan. See Na'ar Yonasan.
See Torah Temimah, note 8.
Consequently, an egg that was completed inside the chicken on Yom-Tov that falls on Friday is Muktzeh on Shabbos, and similarly, an egg that is completed on a Shabbos that falls on Erev Yom-Tov, is Asur on Yom-Tov. Some commentaries explain that it is because of Muktzeh, and they bring a poof from here that Muktzeh is d'Oraisa. See Torah Temimah citing Pesachim 47b, and note 10.
See Torah Temimah, note 9.
What are the ramifications of the statement, "v'Hayah Mishneh ... "?
Rashi: When the people arrived home on Friday with the Manna that they had collected, they discovered that the Omer that they had collected had doubled and had become two Omerim.
Rashbam: When they went to collect the Manna from outside the Camp, they discovered two Omerim for each person in the family, instead of just one, like on every other day.
Seforno: Even after they cooked the Manna, what they cooked for Shabbos had not diminished (as usually happens when one cooks food), but the full amount was still intact.
Ba'al ha'Turim: Everything connected with Shabbos is double - two lambs (the Korban Musaf), two loaves (the Manna), two lamps (Ner Shabbos), 'Zachor' and 'Shamor' (on the two sets of Luchos).
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "It will be Mishneh (double) - for that day and for the next... Double - [of] what they would usually gather on every other day of the week." What is Rashi explaining?
Gur Aryeh: "Mishneh" might simply have meant double the amount that Bnei Yisrael needed. Rashi tells us that it does not mean extra Manna, but rather the amount needed for two days. It is called "double" in comparison to the normal amount. 1
