Numbers 9:15-23 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 9:15-23

We have here the history of the cloud; not a natural history: who knows the balancings of the clouds? but a divine history of a cloud that was appointed to be the visible sign and symbol of God's presence with Israel. I. When the tabernacle was finished this cloud, which before had hung on high over their camp, settled upon the tabernacle, and covered it, to show that God manifests his presence with his people in and by his ordinances; there he makes himself known, and to them we must look if... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:15

And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up ,.... Which was the first day of the first month in the second year of the people of Israel's coming out of Egypt, Exodus 40:1 , the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely , the tent of the testimony ; that part of the tabernacle in which the testimony was, that is, where the ark was, in which the law was put, called the testimony; and this was the most holy place; and over the tent or covering of that was this cloud, which settled upon... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:16

So it was alway ,.... Night and day, as long as the people of Israel were in the wilderness, see Exodus 13:21 , the cloud covered it by day : the phrase, "by day", is not in the text, but is easily and necessarily supplied from Exodus 40:38 ; and as it is in the Targum of Jonathan, and in the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and which the following clause requires: and the appearance of fire by night ; when as a cloud it could not be because of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:17

And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle ,.... Or went up from it, higher than it was before, yet not out of sight, but hung as it were hovering in the air over the tabernacle, but at some distance from it; this was done by the Lord himself: then after that the children of Israel journeyed ; as soon as they saw the cloud moving upwards, the Levites took down the tabernacle, and each took their post assigned them in the carriage of it, and the priests blew their trumpets... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:18

At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed ,.... Or "mouth of the Lord"; not that there was any command in form given, or any audible voice heard, directing when to march; but the removal of the cloud was interpretatively the order and command of God for them to move also: and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched ; their tents; when the cloud stopped, they understood that as a signal to them, as a token of the will of God that they should stop likewise; it was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:19

And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days ,.... Or years, for days are sometimes put for years, and in some places the cloud tarried several years; or however, if it stayed but a month or a year in any place, as in Numbers 9:22 , then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not ; they not only kept watching when it would move, or set sentinels for that purpose to observe it, but they kept the charge, order, or commandment, which the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:20

And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle ,.... Or "days of number", which were so few that they might be easily numbered: the Targum of Jonathan interprets them of the seven days of the week, as if the sense was, when the cloud rested a week on the tabernacle: according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents ; during these few days, be they a week, or more, or less: and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed ; when it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:21

And so it was when the cloud abode from even unto the morning ,.... The whole night, during which time they rested in their beds: and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed ; whether it was by day or night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed ; whether at morning or midnight; for sometimes, as Aben Ezra observes, they travelled in the night; whensoever their sentinels gave notice that the cloud was taken up, even though at midnight, they arose... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:22

Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle ,.... Sometimes it tarried but half a day, sometimes a whole day, sometimes two days, at other times a whole month, and even a year; a full year, as the Targum of Jonathan and Aben Ezra; or a longer time, as the Vulgate Latin version, for in one place it tarried eighteen years, as Maimonides says F7 Moreh Nevoch. par. 2. c. 50. p. 512. ; some say F8 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 8. p. 24. ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:23

At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents ,.... Though ever so disagreeable: and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed ; though the circumstances might be such, that they could have liked a continuance; but whether agreeable or disagreeable, they were obedient to the divine will: this, or what is equivalent to it, is frequently observed in this paragraph, to show that the Israelites, though they were an obstinate and perverse people, and must in general be... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 9:15-23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:20

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 9:23

Group of Brands