It remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.
- KJV So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
- NKJV So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
- NASB That is how it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
- NLT This was the regular pattern—at night the cloud that covered the Tabernacle had the appearance of fire.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The cloud by day and fire by night were continual over the tabernacle. God's guiding presence never left His people.
Overview
Day and night, without interruption, the sign of God's presence remained over the dwelling. This constancy assured Israel that the Lord was always with them in the wilderness, a comfort echoed in Christ's promise never to leave nor forsake His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Neh 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.
- Deut 1:33who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.
- Exod 13:21–22And 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 by day or night.
- Num 9:18–22At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped.
- Rev 21:3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
- 1 Cor 10:1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
- 2 Cor 5:19that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
- Ps 105:39He spread a cloud as a covering and a fire to light up the night.
- Ps 78:14He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
- Neh 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 fire illuminated the way they should go.
- Isa 4:5–6Then 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 will be a canopy,
- Exod 40:38For the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel through all their journeys.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 9:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.