Psalms 77:20

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

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 13:18

13:18 So God brought the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea, ¹  and the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt prepared for battle. ² 

Exodus 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ³ Then Moses led Israel to journey ⁴  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ⁵  into the desert, and found no water.

Numbers 9:17-22

9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up ⁶  from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place ⁷  the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp. 9:18 At the commandment ⁸  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ⁹  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 ¹⁰  of the Lord and did not journey.

9:20 When ¹¹  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ¹²  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ¹³  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey. 9:21 And when ¹⁴  the cloud remained only ¹⁵  from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up ¹⁶  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, ¹⁷  that the cloud prolonged its stay ¹⁸  over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; ¹⁹  but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

Deuteronomy 8:2

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ²⁰  has brought you these forty years through the desert ²¹  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 8:15

8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents ²²  and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow ²³  from a flint rock and

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.

Nehemiah 9:19

9:19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, ²⁴  nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel.

Isaiah 49:10

49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;

the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, ²⁵ 

for one who has compassion on them will guide them;

he will lead them to springs of water.

Isaiah 63:11-14

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ²⁶ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ²⁷  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ²⁸ 

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ²⁹ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ³⁰ 

63:13 who led them through the deep water?

Like a horse running on flat land ³¹  they did not stumble.

63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, ³² 

so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.

In this way ³³  you guided your people,

gaining for yourself an honored reputation. ³⁴ 

[13:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf) cannot be a genitive (“wilderness of the Red Sea”) because it follows a noun that is not in construct; instead, it must be an adverbial accusative, unless it is simply joined by apposition to “the wilderness” – the way to the wilderness [and] to the Red Sea (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 217).

[13:18]  ² tn The term חֲמֻשִׁים (khamushim) is placed first for emphasis; it forms a circumstantial clause, explaining how they went up. Unfortunately, it is a rare word with uncertain meaning. Most translations have something to do with “in battle array” or “prepared to fight” if need be (cf. Josh 1:14; 4:12). The Targum took it as “armed with weapons.” The LXX had “in the fifth generation.” Some have opted for “in five divisions.”

[15:22]  ³ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ⁴ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ⁵ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[9:17]  ⁶ tn The verb in this initial temporal clause is the Niphal infinitive construct.

[9:17]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “at the mouth of” (so also in vv. 20, 23).

[9:18]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[9:21]  ¹⁴ tn The construction is the same in the preceding verse.

[9:21]  ¹⁵ tn “Only” is supplied to reflect the contrast between the two verses.

[9:21]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and they would not journey”; the clause can be taken adverbially, explaining the preceding verbal clause.

[8:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ²¹ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[8:15]  ²² tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).

[8:15]  ²³ tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.

[9:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “did not turn from them by day to guide them in the path.”

[49:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”

[63:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ²⁸ sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[63:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”

[63:14]  ³² tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[63:14]  ³³ tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).

[63:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”