Exodus 13:21-22

13:21 Now the Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, ¹  so that they could ²  travel day or night. ³  13:22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. ⁴ 

Matthew 8:19

8:19 Then ⁵  an expert in the law ⁶  came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁷ 

Matthew 16:24

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁸  he must deny ⁹  himself, take up his cross, ¹⁰  and follow me.

Revelation 14:4

14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves ¹¹  with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

[13:21]  ¹ sn God chose to guide the people with a pillar of cloud in the day and one of fire at night, or, as a pillar of cloud and fire, since they represented his presence. God had already appeared to Moses in the fire of the bush, and so here again is revelation with fire. Whatever the exact nature of these things, they formed direct, visible revelations from God, who was guiding the people in a clear and unambiguous way. Both clouds and fire would again and again represent the presence of God in his power and majesty, guiding and protecting his people, by judging their enemies.

[13:21]  ² tn The infinitive construct here indicates the result of these manifestations – “so that they went” or “could go.”

[13:21]  ³ tn These are adverbial accusatives of time.

[13:22]  ⁴ sn See T. W. Mann, “The Pillar of Cloud in the Reed Sea Narrative,” JBL 90 (1971): 15-30.

[8:19]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then.”

[8:19]  ⁶ tn Or “a scribe.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[8:19]  ⁷ sn The statement I will follow you wherever you go is an offer to follow Jesus as a disciple, no matter what the cost.

[16:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ⁹ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[16:24]  ¹⁰ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[14:4]  ¹¹ tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.