Exodus 13:21

When they traveled during the daytime, Yahweh went in front of them in a tall white cloud to show them the way. During the night, he went in front of them in a tall cloud that looked like a fire. By doing that, he enabled them to travel in the daytime and also at nighttime.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And 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:

In Context

20The Israeli people left Succoth and traveled to Etham, at the edge of the desert, and they set up their tents there.

22The tall cloud did not leave them. It was always in front of them, as a bright white cloud in the daytime and like a fire at night.

Read all of Exodus 13

Cross References

Exodus 14:19Then the angel of God, who had been in front of the Israeli people, moved and went behind them. The tall bright cloud that had been in front of them also moved behind them,

Exodus 33:9When Moses/I entered the Sacred Tent, the tall cloud that looked like a fire would come down and stay at the entrance of the Sacred Tent, and then Yahweh would talk with Moses/me.

Exodus 40:38Wherever they traveled, the bright cloud that indicated Yahweh’s presence was above the Sacred Tent during the day, and a bright fire was inside the cloud at night, with the result that all the Israeli people [MTY] could see it at any time.

Numbers 14:14and the people of Egypt will tell that to the descendants of Canaan who live in this land. Yahweh, they have already heard about you. They know that you have ◄been with/helped► these people and that they have seen you face-to-face. They have heard that your cloud is like a huge pillar that stays over them, and by using that cloud you lead them during the day, and the cloud becomes like a fire at night to give them light.

Nehemiah 9:12During each day you led our ancestors with a bright cloud that resembled a huge pillar, and each night you led them by a flaming cloud that gave them light to show them where to walk.

Matthew Henry on Exodus 13:18-22

The Pillar of Fire and Fire. ( b. c. 1491.) 17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Exodus 13:21