Don’t Work Too Hard:
The Zohar Hakadosh writes that the word “shatu” indicates that the people did a “shtus” (something foolish).
Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zy”a, the Rov of Yerushalaim, writes (in his Sefer Chachmas Chaim) that the foolish thing referred to in the pasuk is that some people wandered around and bent down to the ground to gather up the mann. They should have known that Hashem decrees exactly how much each person will receive and, therefore, they were wasting their time and energy.
He uses this lesson to criticize those who work themselves to the bone for parnassah. While one must do the hishtadlus desired of him in order to fulfill his obligation to exert his own efforts to earn a livelihood, one also must trust in Hashem to give him what he needs and one must be satisfied with what he has.
