Numbers 9:21
in Numbers 9Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they would set out. Whether it was by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up, they would set out.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they journeyed: or if it continued by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
KJV
And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
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This verse in Numbers 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWhether - by day or by night - As the heat of the day is very severe in that same desert, the night season is sometimes chosen for the performance of a journey; though it is very likely that in the case of the Israelites this was seldom resorted to.
This site's exposition
remained over the tabernacle for only a few days
on Numbers 9:20-21
The halts shorten here to a few days, and verse 21 gives the shortest, the cloud remaining “only from evening until morning”. Adam Clarke observes that marching after dark was seldom attempted there, so the camp order and the Levite loads answered a signal at any hour.
This site's exposition
from evening until morning
Matthew Henry draws a lesson from the one-night halt, since each camp was pitched with no known end. He compares the uncertain hour of a believer's death, which keeps him ready to move at the LORD's command. John Wesley reads the repeated wording as marking a constant miracle.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
When the cloud abode - This is repeated again and again, because it was a constant miracle, and because it is a matter we should take particular notice of, as highly significant and instructive.
And so it was when the cloud abode from even unto the morning,....
And for the same reason we are kept at uncertainty concerning the time of our putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle, that we may be always ready to remove at the commandment of the Lord.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיֵ֞שׁ | veyesh | and there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [was] when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִהְיֶ֤ה | yihyeh | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הֶֽעָנָן֙ | heanan | the cloud | H6051 → | 87 times |
| מֵעֶ֣רֶב | meerev | from evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בֹּ֔קֶר | boker | morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וְנַעֲלָ֧ה | venaalah | and it was taken up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הֶֽעָנָ֛ן | heanan | the cloud | H6051 → | 87 times |
| בַּבֹּ֖קֶר | baboker | in the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וְנָסָ֑עוּ | venasau | and they set out | H5265 → | 146 times |
| א֚וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| יוֹמָ֣ם | yomam | by day | H3119 → | 50 times |
| וָלַ֔יְלָה | valaylah | and night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וְנַעֲלָ֥ה | venaalah | and it was taken up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הֶעָנָ֖ן | heanan | the cloud | H6051 → | 87 times |
| וְנָסָֽעוּ׃ | venasau | and they set out | H5265 → | 146 times |
וְיֵ֞שׁand there
veyeshH3426 →140 times
אֲשֶׁר־[was] when
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִהְיֶ֤הit was
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
הֶֽעָנָן֙the cloud
heananH6051 →87 times
מֵעֶ֣רֶבfrom evening
meerevH6153 →134 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בֹּ֔קֶרmorning
bokerH1242 →214 times
וְנַעֲלָ֧הand it was taken up
venaalahH5927 →890 times
הֶֽעָנָ֛ןthe cloud
heananH6051 →87 times
בַּבֹּ֖קֶרin the morning
babokerH1242 →214 times
וְנָסָ֑עוּand they set out
venasauH5265 →146 times
א֚וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
יוֹמָ֣םby day
yomamH3119 →50 times
וָלַ֔יְלָהand night
valaylahH3915 →233 times
וְנַעֲלָ֥הand it was taken up
venaalahH5927 →890 times
הֶעָנָ֖ןthe cloud
heananH6051 →87 times
וְנָסָֽעוּ׃and they set out
venasauH5265 →146 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 9:19You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of…
it leads to
- Psalms 106:45
And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
- Nehemiah 9:27
So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You…
- Nehemiah 9:12
You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Daniel 9:9
To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him
- Psalms 106:45
Through
Nehemiah 9:12You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.
it leads to
- Exodus 13:21–22
And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel…
- Nehemiah 9:19
You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of…
- Psalms 143:8
Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
- Exodus 13:21–22
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.