Numbers 9 · Verse 16

Numbers 9:16

So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
Numbers 9:16, King James Version

Numbers 9:16 in other translations

BSBIt remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire.
WEBSo it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.
ASVSo it was alway: the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.
YLTso it is continually; the cloud covereth it, also the appearance of fire by night.
DARBYSo it was continually: the cloud covered it, and at night it was as the appearance of fire.
BBEAnd so it was at all times: it was covered by the cloud, and by a light as of fire by night.
WebsterSo it was always; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

What does Numbers 9:16 mean?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 9:15-23

This cloud was appointed to be the visible sign and symbol of God's presence with Israel. Thus we are taught to see God always near us, both night and day. As long as the cloud rested on the tabernacle, so long they continued in the same place. There is no time lost, while we are waiting God's time. When the cloud was taken up, they removed, however comfortably they were encamped. We are kept at uncertainty…

Read the full comment on Numbers 9:15-23 →

Numbers 9:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כֵּ֚ןkenthusH3651
יִהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehit wasH1961
תָמִ֔ידta.MidcontinuallyH8548
הֶעָנָ֖ןhe.'a.Nanthe cloudH6051
יְכַסֶּ֑נּוּye.khas.Se.nuit covered itH3680
וּמַרְאֵה\־u.mar.'eh-and [the] appearance ofH4758
אֵ֖שׁ'eshfireH784
לָֽיְלָה\׃La.ye.lahnightH3915

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 9:16

  • 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 should go.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:1

    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;

  • Revelation 21:3

    And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

  • Isaiah 4:5-6

    And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

  • 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 go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

  • Psalms 105:39

    He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.

  • 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, and in a cloud by day.

  • Numbers 9:18-22

    At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. …

  • 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 in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

  • Psalms 78:14

    In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

  • 2 Corinthians 5:19

    To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

  • Exodus 40:38

    For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
18-22; Ex 13:21,22; 40:38; De 1:33; Ne 9:12,19; Ps 78:14; 105:39
Isa 4:5,6; 1Co 10:1; 2Co 5:19; Re 21:3This cloud not only enlightened the Israelites, but also protected them, and was a continual pledge of God's presence and protection. To this manifestation of the Divine glory, the prophet Isaiah alludes, when he says, (Isa 4:5,) "The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night." God is the director, protector, and glory of his church.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 9:15

    And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

  • Numbers 9:16

    So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

  • Numbers 9:17

    And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.

Read all of Numbers 9

Numbers 9:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Así era continuamente: la nube lo cubría, y de noche la apariencia de fuego.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Il en fut ainsi continuellement: la nuée le couvrait, et la nuit, elle avait l’apparence du feu.
German
Elberfelder 1871
So war es beständig: die Wolke bedeckte sie, und des Nachts war es wie das Ansehen eines Feuers.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Sic fiebat jugiter: per diem operiebat illud nubes, et per noctem quasi species ignis.