Numbers 9:18

9:18 At the commandment ¹  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ²  the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

Numbers 9:20

9:20 When ³  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ⁴  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ⁵  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey.

[9:18]  ¹ tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).

[9:18]  ² 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.”

[9:20]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”