Verses 15-23
Numbers 9:15-Isaiah : . The Movement of the Camp Determined by the Fiery Cloud.— Since according to P the Tabernacle was in the centre of the camp when it was stationary, and in the midst of the column when it was on the march ( Numbers 2:17, Numbers 10:21), the setting or rising of the cloud above it only gave the signal for encamping or for breaking up the camp: the direction of the march was conveyed from Yahweh through Moses ( Numbers 10:13). The view of the writer of Numbers 10:33-Zephaniah : * is quite different. The conception of the cloud as fiery ( Numbers 9:15) maintains the idea of fire as the symbol of Yahweh’ s presence, which occurs in Genesis 15:17, Exodus 3:2-Numbers :. Fire was also associated with the presence of heathen deities: for instance, it was believed to play around a temple of Aphrodite at Aphaca, and around a sacred olive-troe near Tyre ( Exodus 13:21 f.*).
Numbers 9:16 . covered it: add (with LXX) “ by day.”
Numbers 9:22 . a year: literally, “ days,” i.e. an indefinite period.
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