Psalms 105:39
in Psalms 105He spread a cloud as a covering and a fire to light up the night.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night.
KJV
He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
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This verse in Psalms 105
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHe spread a cloud for a covering. Never people were so favoured. What would not travellers in the desert now give for such a canopy? The sun could not scorch them with its burning ray; their whole camp was screened like a king in his pavilion. Nothing seemed to be too good for God to give his chosen nation, their comfort was studied in every way. And fire to give light in the night. While cities were swathed in darkness, their town of tents enjoyed a light which modern art with all its appliances cannot equal.
This site's exposition
He brought Israel out with silver
on Psalms 105:37-41
The silver and gold come from Exodus 12:35 and 36, and the dread of Israel makes Egypt glad to see them go. None of the tribes stumbled on the way out. The provisions run together, a cloud, a fire, quail, the bread of heaven, and water out of a rock.
This site's exposition
He spread a cloud as a covering
In Exodus 13:21 the cloud leads the way. Here it is a covering spread over them, as at Numbers 10:34, where the cloud of the LORD is over them by day. Isaiah 4:5 promises the same cloud and fire as a canopy over Zion.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
He now proceeds to the divine blessings which were conferred upon them as they wandered in the desert. "He spread out a cloud to be their covering: and fire to give them light in the night season" [Psalm 105:39]. This is as clear as it is well known.
He now proceeds to the divine blessings which were conferred upon them as they wandered in the desert. "He spread out a cloud to be their covering: and fire to give them light in the night season" [Psalm 105:39]. This is as clear as it is well known.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"And when Moses had gone up, a cloud covered the mountain." Just as the mountain on which Moses received the law designates the height of the perfection that was written down in that law, so does the cloud that covered the mountain suggest the grace …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), which was to them not only a screen and umbrella, but a cloth of state. A cloud was often God's pavilion ( Ps. xviii. 11 ) and now it was Israel's; for they also were his hidden ones.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He spread a cloud for a covering,.... That is, the Lord spread one over their heads as an "umbrella", to protect them from the heat of the sun; this refers to the pillar of cloud, Exo 13:20, though that seems to have been in an erect posture, and to go before the children of Israel to direct them in their journey, and not a covering to them.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
In singing this we must give to God the glory of his wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness, must look upon ourselves as concerned in the affairs of the Old-Testament church, both because to it were committed the oracles of God, which are our treasure, and because out of it Christ arose, and these things happened to it for ensamples.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He spread a cloud for a covering. Never people were so favoured. What would not travellers in the desert now give for such a canopy? The sun could not scorch them with its burning ray; their whole camp was screened like a king in his pavilion. Nothing seemed to be too good for God to give his chosen nation, their comfort was studied in every way. And fire to give light in the night. While cities were swathed in darkness, their town of tents enjoyed a light which modern art with all its appliances cannot equal. God himself was their sun and shield, their glory and their defence. Could they be unbelieving while so graciously shaded, or rebellious while they walked at midnight in such a light? Alas, the tale of their sin is as extraordinary as this story of His love; but this Psalm selects the happier theme and dwells only upon covenant love and faithfulness. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. We, too, have found the Lord all this to us, for he has been our sun and shield, and has preserved us alike from the perils of joys and the evils of grief; So has the promise been fulfilled to us, "the sun shall not hurt thee by day, nor the moon by night."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He spread a cloud for a covering - See the notes at Psa 78:14. In Num 10:34; it is said that “the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day,” and from this seems to have been derived the idea of its “covering” them, as if it were a protection from the heat in the desert.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פָּרַ֣שׂ | paras | he spread out | H6566 → | 67 times |
| עָנָ֣ן | ʾanan | a cloud | H6051 → | 87 times |
| לְמָסָ֑ךְ | lemasakh | to a covering | H4539 → | |
| וְ֝אֵ֗שׁ | veesh | and fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| לְהָאִ֥יר | lehair | to give light | H215 → | 43 times |
| לָֽיְלָה׃ | layelah | night | H3915 → | 233 times |
פָּרַ֣שׂhe spread out
parasH6566 →67 times
עָנָ֣ןa cloud
ʾananH6051 →87 times
לְמָסָ֑ךְto a covering
lemasakhH4539 →
וְ֝אֵ֗שׁand fire
veeshH784 →378 times
לְהָאִ֥ירto give light
lehairH215 →43 times
לָֽיְלָה׃night
layelahH3915 →233 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
Isaiah 4:5Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there…
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…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 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.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 40:34–38
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
- Numbers 9:15–22
On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning.
- Psalms 78:14
He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
- Exodus 13:21–22
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
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 9:19
Through
Exodus 14:24At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
it leads to
- Exodus 14:19–20
And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 14:19–20
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
- 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 9:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 105; Bede, On the Tabernacle 1:1; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.