Exodus 14:19

14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar ¹  of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

Exodus 18:7-8

18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; ²  they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent. 18:8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel’s sake, and all the hardship ³  that had come on them ⁴  along the way, and how ⁵  the Lord had delivered them.

Exodus 32:11

32:11 But Moses sought the favor ⁶  of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

[14:19]  ¹ 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.

[18:7]  ² sn This is more than polite oriental custom. Jethro was Moses’ benefactor, father-in-law, and a priest. He paid much respect to him. Now he could invite Jethro into his home (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 496).

[18:8]  ³ tn A rare word, “weariness” of the hardships.

[18:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “found them.”

[18:8]  ⁵ tn Here “how” has been supplied.

[32:11]  ⁴ tn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 351) draws on Arabic to show that the meaning of this verb (חָלָה, khalah) was properly “make sweet the face” or “stroke the face”; so here “to entreat, seek to conciliate.” In this prayer, Driver adds, Moses urges four motives for mercy: 1) Israel is Yahweh’s people, 2) Israel’s deliverance has demanded great power, 3) the Egyptians would mock if the people now perished, and 4) the oath God made to the fathers.