Exodus 13:21

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 

Numbers 10:33

10:33 So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey; ⁴  and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them.

Psalms 77:20

77:20 You led your people like a flock of sheep,

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Ezekiel 20:6

20:6 On that day I swore ⁵  to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out ⁶  for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, ⁷  the most beautiful of all lands.

[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.

[10:33]  ⁴ tn The phrase “a journey of three days” is made up of the adverbial accusative qualified with the genitives.

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand to them.”

[20:6]  ⁶ tn Or “searched out.” The Hebrew word is used to describe the activity of the spies in “spying out” the land of Canaan (Num 13-14); cf. KJV “I had espied for them.”

[20:6]  ⁷ sn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a figure of speech describing the land’s abundant fertility, occurs in v. 15 as well as Exod 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; Deut 6:3; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Josh 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:23 (see also Deut 1:25; 8:7-9).