to guide · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
cloud
בֶּעָנָ֣ןbe.'a.Nan
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
night
הַ֝לַּ֗יְלָהha.Lay.lah
H3915
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
light
בְּא֣וֹרbe.'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
fire
אֵֽשׁ'Esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders 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
Psalms 105:39 He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
Exodus 13:21-22 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…
Exodus 14:24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, a…
Exodus 40:35-38 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tab…
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…
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…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:9-39
In these verses,
I. The psalmist observes the late rebukes of Providence that the people of Israel had been under, which they had brought upon themselves by their dealing treacherously with God, Psa 78:9-11. The children of Ephraim, in which tribe Shiloh was, though they were well armed and shot with bows, yet turned back in the day of battle. This seems to refer to that shameful defeat which the Philistines gave them in Eli's time, when they took the ark prisoner, Sa1 4:10, Sa1 4:11. Of this the psalmist here begins to speak, and, after a long digression, returns to it again, Psa 78:61. Well might that event be thus fresh in mind in David's time, above forty years after, for the ark, which…
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud,.... Which was in the form of a pillar, and went before them, and the Lord in it, and directed their way, and protected them from heat; see Exodus 13:21, Nehemiah 9:12 this was typical of Christ, who is a shadow and security from the heat of a fiery law, the flaming sword of justice, the wrath of God, which is poured forth like fire, the fiery darts of Satan, and from hurt by any enemy whatever; see Isaiah 4:5, and who leads his people through the wilderness of this world by his Spirit, by his word, and by his own example; and who is the best and safest guide to follow:
and all the night with a light of fire; which also was in the form of a pilla…
Psalm 78:12-16
12. He wrought marvellously [or he did wondrous things] in the sight of their fathers; in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. [322] 13. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through, and made the waters to stand as an heap. 14. And he led them by a cloud in the day; and all the night by the light of fire. 15. He clave the rocks in the wilderness: and made them to drink in great deeps. 16. And he brought forth streams from the rock, and made the waters to run down like rivers.
12. He wrought marvellously in the sight of their fathers. The Psalmist is still to be regarded as condemning the posterity of the Israelites for their guilt; but he very properly, at the sam…
The Church Fathers
He that "led them home in the cloud of the day, and in the whole of the night in the illumination of fire" [Psalm 78:14], is able also spiritually to direct goings if faith cries to Him, "Direct my goings after Your word." Of Whom in another place is said, "For Himself shall make your courses right, and shall prolong your goings in peace" through Jesus Christ our Lord, whose Sacrament in this world, as it were in the day, is manifest in the flesh, as if in a cloud; but in the Judgment it will be manifest like as in a terror by night; for then there will be a great tribulation of the world like as it were fire, and it shall shine for the just and shall burn for the unjust.
"And he led them down in a cloud by day." "Behold, the Lord comes into Egypt upon a light cloud." By the light cloud we ought to understand either, properly, the body of the Savior, because it was light and weighed down by no sin; or certainly by the light cloud we ought to understand holy Mary, weighed down by no human seed. Behold, the Lord comes into the Egypt of this world upon a light cloud, the Virgin. "And he led them down in a cloud by day." Beautifully he said "by day": for that cloud was not in darkness, but always in light. "And all night in the illumination of fire." "And the darkness is not hidden from you: as the light is to you, so also is the night to you." "And all night in the illumination of fire." "Our Lord is a consuming fire." A consuming fire. He did not say what it consumes: he left the understanding to us. Those who have built upon the foundation of Christ wood, hay, stubble — to them the Lord is a consuming fire. Fire has a twofold nature: it both gives light and burns. If we are sinners, it burns; if we are righteous, it gives us light.
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 · PILLAR OF — PILLAR OF
Emblems Of The Holy Spirit, The · Fire: Illuminating — Fire: Illuminating
Fire · Characterised as: Enlightening — Characterised as: Enlightening
Light · Divided into: Extraordinary or miraculous — Divided into: Extraordinary or miraculous
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).
It is now related how wonderfully God led the fathers of these Ephraimites, who behaved themselves so badly as the leading tribe of Israel, in the desert; how they again and again ever indulged sinful murmuring, and still He continued to give proofs of His power and of His loving-kindness. The (according to Num 13:22) very ancient Zoan (Tanis), ancient Egyptian Zane, Coptic G'ane, on the east bank of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, so called therefrom - according to the researches to which the Turin Papyrus No. 112 has led, identical with Avaris (vid., on Isa 19:11)
(Note: The identity of Avaris and Tanis is in the meanwhile again become doubtful. Tanis was the Hyksos city, but Pelusium = Avari…
God used a cloud and a pillar of fire to guide and protect Israel in the wilderness (Exod 13:21-22).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:14
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud. He did it all. He alone. He brought them into the wilderness, and he led them through it; it is not the Lord's manner to begin a work, and then cease from it while it is incomplete. The cloud both led and shadowed the tribes. It was by day a vast sun screen, rendering the fierce heat of the sun and the glare of the desert sand bearable. And all the night with a light of fire. So constant was the care of the Great Shepherd that all night and every night the token of his presence was with his people. That cloud which was a shade by day was as a sun by night. Even…
