Post History

When did the poeple learn of Shabbat and what did they learn (questions)

Not really a dvar Torah but a longer set of questions trying to understand what the people knew about sh'mirat shabbat between (let's say) the 23rd of Nisan and the 6th of Sivan right after Yetziyat Mitzrayim (or possibly until they were commanded to build the Mishkan). I can't pose this as a question because I'm not exactly sure how to whittle it down into a focused point.

We understand the actions that are forbidden on shabbat (melacha) to be traced and connected to 39 activities in the Mishkan https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-textual-source-39-melachot-shabbat but the people were given the Shabbat before they built the mishkan, so what list did Moshe use to forbid actions?

There is some discussion in the meforshim (see Bamidbar 15:32, Sh'mot 15:25 and the mechilta there, and Sanhedrin 56b and other places) of whether the people received all the “laws” of Shabbat at Marah or just positive commandments, or just general rules. The discussion has to do with whether the “first Shabbat” after the people entered the wilderness was called a “Shabbat” or not, and whether breaking it was worthy of the death penalty. [the Mizrachi avoids some questions by saying that the m'koshesh Eitzim situation was in the second year, not on the second Shabbat.]

This also has to do with the man who was condemned to death for collecting wood (and the people’s confusion about the double portion of the mon which landed on Friday). And, yes, one opinion also involves the (lack of) warning issued to someone which would make that person liable for a death penalty.

But the bottom line is that there doesn’t seem to be any textual explanation about what the people would have known within the first month in the desert.

Were they allowed to go to the well and take water and bring it back to their places? Did they have to generalize on their own from the Mon to anything else? Then how did they have water (and why wouldn’t they have received explicit instruction to double the amount of water they took home on Friday)?

Any help in understanding the exact timeline of when the people were told about Shabbat (and to what extent, and with what detail, sourced where) is appreciated.