Exodus 13:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 13:21
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:
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
before
לִפְנֵיהֶ֨םlif.nei.Hem
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
day
יוֹמָ֜םyo.Mam
H3119
daily · adverb
pillar
בְּעַמּ֤וּדbe.'a.Mud
H5982
a column (as standing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
cloud
עָנָן֙'a.Nan
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
lead
לַנְחֹתָ֣םlan.cho.Tam
H5148
to guide · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
way
הַדֶּ֔רֶךְha.De.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
night
וְלַ֛יְלָהve.Lay.lah
H3915
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
pillar
בְּעַמּ֥וּדbe.'a.Mud
H5982
a column (as standing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
fire
אֵ֖שׁ'esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
light
לְהָאִ֣ירle.ha.'Ir
H215
to be (causative · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
go
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
day
יוֹמָ֥םyo.Mam
H3119
daily · adverb
night
וָלָֽיְלָהva.La.ye.lah
H3915
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Corinthians 10:1-2 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
Nehemiah 9:12 Moreover 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 s…
Deuteronomy 1:33 Who 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, an…
Psalms 99:7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.
Nehemiah 9:19 Yet 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…
Psalms 105:39 He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
Exodus 33:9-10 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LOR…
Numbers 14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen fac…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 13:17–end
Here is, I. The choice God made of their way, Exo 13:17, Exo 13:18. He was their guide. Moses gave them direction but as he received it from the Lord. Note, The way of man is not in himself, Jer 10:23. He may devise his way, and design it; but, after all, it is God that directs his steps, Pro 16:9. Man proposes, but God disposes, and in his disposal we must acquiesce, and set ourselves to follow providence. There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was a short cut from the north of Egypt to the south of Canaan, perhaps about four or five days' journey; the other was much further about, through the wilderness, and that was the way in which God chose to lead his people Israel, Exo 13:18. 1…
the Lord went before them--by a visible token of His presence, the Shekinah, in a majestic cloud (Psa 78:14; Neh 9:12; Co1 10:1), called "the angel of God" (Exo 14:19; Exo 23:20-23; Psa 99:6-7; Isa 63:8-9).
Next: Exodus Chapter 14
Adam Clarke on Exodus 13:21
The Lord went before them - That by the Lord here is meant the Lord Jesus, we have the authority of St. Paul to believe, Co1 10:9 : it was he whose Spirit they tempted in the wilderness, for it was he who led them through the desert to the promised rest.
Pillar of a cloud - This pillar or column, which appeared as a cloud by day, and a fire by night, was the symbol of the Divine presence. This was the Shechinah or Divine dwelling place, and was the continual proof of the presence and protection of God. It was necessary that they should have a guide to direct them through the wilderness, even had they taken the most direct road; and how much more so when they took a circuitous route not usual…
And the Lord went before them,.... Who is called the Angel of the Lord, Exodus 14:19, not a created but the uncreated Angel, the Angel of Jehovah's presence, in whom his name, nature, and perfections were, even the Word and Son of God, the Lord Christ, see 1 Corinthians 10:9 who went before the armies of Israel, as their King, Leader, and Commander:
by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; through the Red sea, and the wilderness, at the edge of which they now were, which was untrodden, and trackless, and the way through it very difficult to find; and being a sandy desert, as soon as a path was made, it was immediately covered with sand, and to be seen no more: this cloud was not…
The Church Fathers
At one time he appears all aglow in a bush. For you are cold with the perfidy of infidelity, and he wants to enkindle you with the heat of faith. At another time he glows like fire in a pillar extending toward heaven, that the darkness of your ignorance may be removed and that you can follow the way of saving knowledge through the wilderness of this world. At yet another time he is changed for you into a pillar of cloud, in order to restrain the burning ebullience of your passions.
The freeing of the children of Israel and their being brought out into the fatherland once promised them is also linked with the mystery of our redemption. By means of it we make our way to the light of the dwelling place on high with the grace of Christ lighting our way and guiding us. That cloud and column of fire that both protected them throughout the whole of their journey from the darkness of the nights and led them by a sure path to the promised homes of the fatherland also prefigured the light of this grace.
Who can doubt that here too God appeared to the eyes of mortal men by a corporeal creature made subject to him and not by his own substance? But it is also not apparent whether it was the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or the Trinity itself, the one God. Nor, as far as I can judge, has this distinction been made in that place where it is written: "And the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel.' "
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cloud — The Hebrew so rendered means “a covering,” because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Ex. 16:10;…
Cloud, Pillar Of — The pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night that God caused to pass before the camp of the children of Israel when in the wilderness. The cloud, which became a pillar when the host moved, seems…
Frontlets — Occurs only in Ex. 13:16; Deut. 6:8, and 11:18. The meaning of the injunction to the Israelites, with regard to the statues and precepts given them, that they should “bind them for a sign upon their…
Cloud · PILLAR OF — PILLAR OF
Cloud Of Glory · First manifestation of — First manifestation of
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Under God’s guidance — Under God’s guidance
Emblems Of The Holy Spirit, The · Fire: Illuminating — Fire: Illuminating
Fire · Pillar of fire — Pillar of fire
Miracles · .The pillar of cloud and fire — .The pillar of cloud and fire
Pillars · The divine glory appeared to Israel in the form of — The divine glory appeared to Israel in the form of
Symbols And Similitudes · Of the divine presence, the pillar of clou — Of the divine presence, the pillar of clou
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Exodus 13:17-22
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:
17. Factum est autem quum emitteret Pharao populum, ut non duceret eos Deus per viam terrae Philistim, quia propinqua erat. Nam dixit Deus, Ne forte poeniteat populum quum viderint praelium et revertantur in AEgyptum.
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…
From Etham, at the edge of the desert which separates Egypt from Asia, the Israelites were to enter the pathless desert, and leave the inhabited country. Jehovah then undertook to direct the march, and give them a safe-conduct, through a miraculous token of His presence. Whilst it is stated in Exo 13:17, Exo 13:18, that Elohim led them and determined the direction of their road, to show that they did not take the course, which they pursued, upon their own judgment, but by the direction of God; in Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22, it is said that "Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night," i.e.…
The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire were to be the Israelites’ constant companions for the next forty years.
Rashi on Exodus 13:21
לנחתם הדרך TO GUIDE THEM IN THE WAY — It (the ל of לנחתם) is punctuated with Patach, because it (the word) is like לְהַנְחוֹתָם (being a contracted form of this); similar is, (Deuteronomy 1:33) “לַרְאֹתְכֶם the way in which ye shall go”, which is the same as לְהַרְאֹתְכֶם to show you. Thus, too, here: לנחתם means as much as להנחותם to make them be guided i. e. by means of an agent. And who was this agent? The pillar of cloud — and the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory (Himself) led it before them. Nevertheless He Himself did not act as their immediate guide, but He provided the pillar of cloud that they might be guided by means of it, for, as a matter of fact, as the Scriptural account s…
