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 

Exodus 14:19-20

14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar ⁵  of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 14:20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud ⁶  and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other ⁷  the whole night. ⁸ 

Exodus 14:24

14:24 In the morning watch ⁹  the Lord looked down ¹⁰  on the Egyptian army ¹¹  through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army ¹²  into a panic. ¹³ 

Exodus 40:34-38

40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 40:35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 40:36 But when the cloud was lifted up ¹⁴  from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out ¹⁵  on all their journeys; 40:37 but if the cloud was not lifted up, then they would not journey further until the day it was lifted up. ¹⁶  40:38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be ¹⁷  on it at night, in plain view ¹⁸  of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Numbers 9:15-22

The Leading of the Lord

9:15 ¹⁹ On ²⁰  the day that the tabernacle was set up, ²¹  the cloud ²²  covered the tabernacle – the tent of the testimony ²³  – and from evening until morning there was ²⁴  a fiery appearance ²⁵  over the tabernacle. 9:16 This is the way it used to be continually: The cloud would cover it by day, ²⁶  and there was a fiery appearance by night. 9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up ²⁷  from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place ²⁸  the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp. 9:18 At the commandment ²⁹  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ³⁰  the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp. 9:19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, then the Israelites obeyed the instructions ³¹  of the Lord and did not journey.

9:20 When ³²  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ³³  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ³⁴  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey. 9:21 And when ³⁵  the cloud remained only ³⁶  from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up ³⁷  the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled. 9:22 Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, ³⁸  that the cloud prolonged its stay ³⁹  over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; ⁴⁰  but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

Nehemiah 9:12

9:12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.

Psalms 78:14

78:14 He led them with a cloud by day,

and with the light of a fire all night long.

Zechariah 2:5-10

2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem ⁴¹  and the source of glory in her midst.’”

2:6 “You there! ⁴²  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ⁴³  I have scattered you,” says the Lord. 2:7 “Escape, Zion, you who live among the Babylonians!” ⁴⁴  2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory ⁴⁵  he has sent me to the nations that plundered you – for anyone who touches you touches the pupil ⁴⁶  of his ⁴⁷  eye. 2:9 “I am about to punish them ⁴⁸  in such a way,” he says, “that they will be looted by their own slaves.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

2:10 “Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! ⁴⁹  For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,” says the Lord.

[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.

[14:19]  ⁵ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 400-401) makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11; 5:22). See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.

[14:20]  ⁶ tn The two nouns “cloud” and “darkness” form a nominal hendiadys: “and it was the cloud and the darkness” means “and it was the dark cloud.” Perhaps this is what the Egyptians saw, preventing them from observing Moses and the Israelites.

[14:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “this to this”; for the use of the pronouns in this reciprocal sense of “the one to the other,” see GKC 448 §139.e, n. 3.

[14:20]  ⁸ tc The LXX reads very differently at the end of this verse: “and there was darkness and blackness and the night passed.” B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 218) summarizes three proposals: (1) One takes the MT as it stands and explains it along the lines of the Targum and Jewish exegesis, that there was one cloud that was dark to one group and light to the other. (2) Another tries to reconstruct a verb from the noun “darkness” or make some use of the Greek verb. (3) A third seeks a different meaning for the verb “lit,” “gave light” by comparative philology, but no consensus has been reached. Given that there is no easy solution apart from reconstructing the text, and given that the MT can be interpreted as it is, the present translation follows the MT.

[14:24]  ⁹ tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.

[14:24]  ¹⁰ tn This particular verb, שָׁקַף (shaqaf) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 120) suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder.

[14:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “camp.” The same Hebrew word is used in Exod 14:20. Unlike the English word “camp,” it can be used of a body of people at rest (encamped) or on the move.

[14:24]  ¹² tn Heb “camp.”

[14:24]  ¹³ tn The verb הָמַם (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).

[40:36]  ¹⁴ tn The construction uses the Niphal infinitive construct to form the temporal clause.

[40:36]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect tense in this context describes a customary action.

[40:37]  ¹⁶ tn The clause uses the Niphal infinitive construct in the temporal clause: “until the day of its being taken up.”

[40:38]  ¹⁷ tn Here is another imperfect tense of the customary nuance.

[40:38]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to the eyes of all”; KJV, ASV, NASB “in the sight of all”; NRSV “before the eyes of all.”

[9:15]  ¹⁹ sn This section (Num 9:15-23) recapitulates the account in Exod 40:34 but also contains some additional detail about the cloud that signaled Israel’s journeys. Here again material from the book of Exodus is used to explain more of the laws for the camp in motion.

[9:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and/now on the day.”

[9:15]  ²¹ tn The construction uses the temporal expression with the Hiphil infinitive construct followed by the object, the tabernacle. “On the day of the setting up of the tabernacle” leaves the subject unstated, and so the entire clause may be expressed in the passive voice.

[9:15]  ²² sn The explanation and identification of this cloud has been a subject of much debate. Some commentators have concluded that it was identical with the cloud that led the Israelites away from Egypt and through the sea, but others have made a more compelling case that this is a different phenomenon (see ZPEB 4:796). A number of modern scholars see the description as a retrojection from later, perhaps Solomonic times (see G. H. Davies, IDB 3:817). Others have tried to connect it with Ugaritic terminology, but unconvincingly (see T. W. Mann, “The Pillar of Cloud in the Reed Sea Narrative,” JBL 90 [1971]: 15-30; G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 32-66, 209-13; and R. Good, “Cloud Messengers?” UF 10 [1978]: 436-37).

[9:15]  ²³ sn The cloud apparently was centered over the tent, over the spot of the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. It thereafter spread over the whole tabernacle.

[9:15]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect tense in this and the next line should be classified as a customary imperfect, stressing incomplete action but in the past time – something that used to happen, or would happen.

[9:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “like the appearance of fire.”

[9:16]  ²⁶ tc The MT lacks the words “by day,” but a number of ancient versions have this reading (e.g., Greek, Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J., Latin Vulgate).

[9:17]  ²⁷ tn The verb in this initial temporal clause is the Niphal infinitive construct.

[9:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the place where it settled there”; the relative clause modifies the noun “place,” and the resumptive adverb completes the related idea – “which it settled there” means “where it settled.”

[9:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).

[9:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all the days of – that the cloud settled over the tabernacle.” “All” is the adverbial accusative of time telling how long they camped in one spot – all. The word is then qualified by the genitive of the thing measured – “all of the days” – and this in turn is qualified by a noun clause functioning as a genitive after “days of.”

[9:19]  ³¹ tn This is the same Hebrew expression that was used earlier for the Levites “keeping their charge” or more clearly, “fulfilling their obligations” to take care of the needs of the people and the sanctuary. It is a general expression using שָׁמַר (shamar) followed by its cognate noun מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret).

[9:20]  ³² tn The sentence uses וְיֵשׁ (vÿyesh) followed by a noun clause introduced with אֲשֶׁר (’asher) to express an existing situation; it is best translated as an adverbial clause of time: “and it was when the cloud was….”

[9:20]  ³³ tn The word “number” is in apposition to the word “days” to indicate that their stay was prolonged for quite a few days.

[9:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[9:21]  ³⁵ tn The construction is the same in the preceding verse.

[9:21]  ³⁶ tn “Only” is supplied to reflect the contrast between the two verses.

[9:21]  ³⁷ tn The construction in this half of the verse uses two vav (ו) consecutive clauses. The first is subordinated to the second as a temporal clause: “when…then….”

[9:22]  ³⁸ tn The MT has אוֹ־יָמִים (’o-yamim). Most translators use “or a year” to interpret this expression in view of the sequence of words leading up to it, as well as in comparison with passages like Judg 17:10 and 1 Sam 1:3 and 27:7. See also the uses in Gen 40:4 and 1 Kgs 17:15. For the view that it means four months, see F. S. North, “Four Month Season of the Hebrew Bible,” VT 11 (1961): 446-48.

[9:22]  ³⁹ tn In the Hebrew text this sentence has a temporal clause using the preposition with the Hiphil infinitive construct of אָרַךְ (’arakh) followed by the subjective genitive, “the cloud.” But this infinitive is followed by the infinitive construct לִשְׁכֹּן (lishkon), the two of them forming a verbal hendiadys: “the cloud made long to stay” becomes “the cloud prolonged its stay.”

[9:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and they would not journey”; the clause can be taken adverbially, explaining the preceding verbal clause.

[2:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:6]  ⁴² sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as the expression four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.

[2:6]  ⁴³ tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[2:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “live in [or “with” (cf. NASB), i.e., “among”] the daughter of Babylon” (so NIV; NAB “dwell in daughter Babylon”).

[2:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “After glory has he sent me” (similar KJV, NASB). What is clearly in view is the role of Zechariah who, by faithful proclamation of the message, will glorify the Lord.

[2:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “gate” (בָּבָה, bavah) of the eye, that is, pupil. The rendering of this term by KJV as “apple” has created a well-known idiom in the English language, “the apple of his eye” (so ASV, NIV). The pupil is one of the most vulnerable and valuable parts of the body, so for Judah to be considered the “pupil” of the Lord’s eye is to raise her value to an incalculable price (cf. NLT “my most precious possession”).

[2:8]  ⁴⁷ tc A scribal emendation (tiqqun sopherim) has apparently altered an original “my eye” to “his eye” in order to allow the prophet to be the speaker throughout vv. 8-9. This alleviates the problem of the Lord saying, in effect, that he has sent himself on the mission to the nations.

[2:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “I will wave my hand over them” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “raise my hand against them.”

[2:10]  ⁴⁹ sn This individualizing of Zion as a daughter draws attention to the corporate nature of the covenant community and also to the tenderness with which the Lord regards his chosen people.