So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
Parallel translations
- WEB So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.
- BSB It remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire.
- 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 9:12Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
- Deut 1:33Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
- Exod 13:21–22And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
- Num 9:18–22At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
- Rev 21:3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
- 1 Cor 10:1Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
- 2 Cor 5:19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
- Ps 105:39He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
- Ps 78:14In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
- Neh 9:19Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.
- Isa 4:5–6And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
- Exod 40:38For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout 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.