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Numbers Chapter
Nine
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 9
In
this chapter the command for keeping the passover is repeated
and it was
accordingly kept
Numbers 9:1; but
some persons being defiled and disqualified for observing it
Moses inquires of
the Lord
on their solicitation
what should be done in such a case
Numbers 9:6; when
it was ordered to be kept by such
and those on journeys
on the fourteenth day
of the second month
but not by others
who were to observe it according to its
first appointment
Numbers 9:9; and an
account is given of the appearance of the cloud by day
and fire by night
upon
the tabernacle
which directed the children of Israel when to journey
and when
to pitch their tents
Numbers 9:15.
Numbers 9:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness
of Sinai
in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the
land of Egypt
saying:
YLT
1And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses
in the wilderness of Sinai
in the second year of their going out of the
land of Egypt
in the first month
saying
And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai
.... While the
people of Israel were encamped there
before they took their journey from
thence:
in the first month of the second year
after they were come out of
the land of Egypt: the following order was given some time in the first month of
the second year of Israel's departure out of Egypt; the precise day is not
mentioned
it must be in the beginning of the month before the fourteenth day
of it
in which the passover is ordered to be kept
according to the first
institution of it; very probably immediately after the setting up of the
tabernacle
and the consecration of Aaron and his sons; and it must be before
the numbering of the people the fixing of their standards
the appointment of
the Levites
and the dedication of them; since the order for the numbering of
the people was on the first day of the second month
Numbers 1:1
but
the account of them was postponed to this time
in order to give a relation of
an affair which was not finished until the second month
and therefore the
whole is laid together here:
saying
as follows.
Numbers 9:2 2 “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its
appointed time.
YLT
2`Also
the sons of Israel
prepare the passover in its appointed season;
Let the children of Israel also keep the passover
.... Though
this ordinance was enjoined the people of Israel
and observed by them at the
time of their coming out of Egypt
and had been since repeated
Leviticus 23:5; yet
without a fresh precept
or an explanation of the former
they seemed not to be
obliged
or might not be sensible that they were obliged to keep it
until they
came into the land of Canaan
Exodus 12:25; and
therefore a new order is given them to observe it:
at his appointed season; and what that season is
is next declared.
Numbers 9:3 3 On the fourteenth day of this month
at twilight
you
shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies
you shall keep it.”
YLT
3in the fourteenth day of
this month between the evenings ye prepare it in its appointed season;
according to all its statutes
and according to all its ordinances ye prepare
it.'
In the fourteenth day of this month
.... The first month
the
month Nisan or Abib
answering to part of our March:
at even ye shall keep it
in his appointed season: between the
two evenings
Exodus 12:6; and
even if it fall on the sabbath day
as Jarchi; and this was a sabbath day
according to the Jewish writersF25Seder Olam Rabba. c. 7. :
according to all the rites of it
and according to all the
ceremonies thereof shall ye keep it; the former of these
according to Jarchi
respects the lamb
and the requisites of it
that it
should be without blemish
a male
and of the first year; and the latter
according to him and others
the removal of the leaven
and the seven days of
unleavened bread
and the eating of the lamb with bitter herbs: they take in no
doubt all that were prescribed by the original law
except the sprinkling of
the blood on the doorposts
and also eating the passover in haste
with their
loins girt
and shoes on their feet
and staves in their hands; though some
think these latter might be observed at this time
when they were unsettled.
Numbers 9:4 4 So Moses told the children of Israel that they should
keep the Passover.
YLT
4And Moses speaketh unto the
sons of Israel to prepare the passover
And Moses spake unto the children of Israel
that they should keep
the passover. The time now drawing nigh for the observation of it
it being now
almost a year since their coming out of Egypt.
Numbers 9:5 5 And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the
first month
at twilight
in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the
Lord commanded Moses
so the children of Israel did.
YLT
5and they prepare the
passover in the first [month]
on the fourteenth day of the month
between the
evenings
in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that Jehovah hath
commanded Moses
so have the sons of Israel done.
And they kept the passover on the fourteenth
day of the first
month at even in the wilderness of Sinai
.... No mention is made
of keeping the feast of unleavened bread seven days
only of the passover
which indeed was only enjoined at this time
though the feast of unleavened
bread used to follow it
and did in later times; but perhaps it would not have
been an easy matter to have got the flour to make it of
sufficient for so
large a body of people
for seven days together in the wilderness; though they
might be able to furnish themselves with what was enough for one meal from the
neighbouring countries
and especially from Midian
where Jethro
Moses's
father
lived
and which was not very far from Sinai
where the Israelites now
were:
according to all that the Lord commanded Moses
so did the
children of Israel; which is observed to their honour; though Jarchi gives this as a
reason why this book does not begin with this account
as the order of things
seems to require
because it was to the reproach of the Israelites
that all
the forty years they were in the wilderness they kept but this passover only;
the reason of which was
because of the omission of circumcision during that
time
through the inconveniences of travelling
and the danger of circumcision
in it
without which their children could not eat of the passover
Exodus 12:48.
Numbers 9:6 6 Now there were certain men who were defiled by a
human corpse
so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they
came before Moses and Aaron that day.
YLT
6And there are men who have
been defiled by the body of a man
and they have not been able to prepare the
passover on that day
and they come near before Moses
and before Aaron
on
that day
And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a
man
.... The Targum of Jonathan adds
"who died by them
suddenly
'whereby pollution was contracted
see Numbers 6:9; though
perhaps this was a whole house or family
one of which was dead
and so all
were defiled
being in the place where the dead body was
or had touched it
or
been concerned however in the burying of it
and on account of which were
unclean seven days
and so might not eat of any holy things
as the passover;
and though at the first institution there was no such law
yet since that time
there was
which obliged them
see Leviticus 7:20; and
it is saidF26Chaskuni in loc.
that the section concerning the red
heifer
and so of defilement by a dead body
was delivered on the day the
tabernacle was erected
even on the first day of the first month; and though
recorded in Numbers 19:1; yet
was given out before this; and indeed otherwise it is not easy to conceive how
these men should know that the dead body of a man was defiling:
that they could not keep the passover on that day; as others
did
the fourteenth of Nisan
it being
according to the Targum of Jonathan
the seventh day of their defilement:
and they came before Moses
and before Aaron
on that day; on the
selfsame day the passover was kept
and they were sensible of their pollution
which disqualified for it; and therefore it should rather seem to be the first
day of their pollution than their last; since otherwise they would doubtless
have inquired about this matter before the passover came; unless the time of
their pollution was so near out
that they thought they might eat it safely
on
which they desired advice.
Numbers 9:7 7 And those men said to him
“We became defiled by
a human corpse. Why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the children of Israel?”
YLT
7and those men say unto him
`We are defiled by the body of a man; why are we withheld so as not to bring
near the offering of Jehovah in its appointed season
in the midst of the sons
of Israel?'
And those men said unto him
.... To Moses
who was
the chief magistrate
though Aaron was the high priest. Jarchi says
they were
both sitting together when the men came
and put the question to them
but it
was not proper to speak to one after another; for if Moses knew not
how should
Aaron know? says he; the more difficult matters were brought to Moses
and he
gave answers to them:
we are defiled by the dead body of a man; they had
touched it
or had been where it was
or at the funeral of it
and so were
defiled: this they knew was their case by a law before mentioned
and which
they speak of
not as a sin purposely committed by them
but as what had
unhappily befallen them
and they could not avoid; and express their concern
that upon this account they should be deprived of the ordinance of the passover
and as this confession shows an ingenuous disposition
so what follows
a
pious
religious
and devotional frame of mind:
wherefore are we kept back
that we may not offer an offering of
the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? they speak
very honourably of the ordinance of the passover
they call it "an
offering of the Lord"
the passover lamb being a slain sacrifice; and this
offered to the Lord
by way of thanksgiving
for
and in commemoration of
their wonderful deliverance out of Egypt
and done in faith of Christ the
passover
to be sacrificed for them; and it gave them much uneasiness that they
were debarred by this occasional and unavoidable uncleanness
that was upon
them
from keeping it; and what added to it was
that they could not observe it
on the day which the Lord had appointed
and when the whole body of the
children of Israel were employed in it; for it is no small pleasure to a good
man to observe every ordinance of God in the manner and at the time he directs
to
and his people in general are attending to the same; and the rather they
were urgent in their expostulations
because it is saidF1Maimon. in
Misn. Pesachim
c. 7. sect. 6.
this was the seventh and last day of their
pollution
when they should be clean at evening
and the passover was not to be
eaten until the evening
and therefore so earnestly expostulate why they should
be kept back from it.
Numbers 9:8 8 And Moses said to them
“Stand still
that I may hear
what the Lord will command concerning you.”
YLT
8And Moses saith unto them
`Stand ye
and I hear what Jehovah hath commanded concerning you.'
And Moses said unto them
stand still
.... Where they
were; Aben Ezra says
at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you; as it was a
singular case
of which there had been no instance before
Moses would not
determine anything about it himself
but would inquire of the Lord his mind and
will concerning it; and for that purpose
very probably
went into the most
holy place
where the Lord had promised to meet him and commune with him
from
off the mercy seat
about any matter of difficulty he should inquire about
Exodus 25:22.
Numbers 9:9 9 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses
saying
YLT
9And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses
saying
And the Lord spake unto Moses
.... From between the
cherubim
after he had laid the case before him
and he gave him an answer:
saying; as follows.
Numbers 9:10 10 “Speak to the children of Israel
saying: ‘If anyone
of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse
or is far away
on a journey
he may still keep the Lord’s
Passover.
YLT
10`Speak unto the sons of
Israel
saying
Though any man is unclean by a body or in a distant journey (of
you or of your generations)
yet he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah;
Speak unto the children of Israel
saying
.... Not to
the men only that came to Moses for advice
but to the body of the people; for
the answer of the Lord concerned them all
and carried in it a rule to be
observed in the like case
and others mentioned
in all succeeding ages
as
long as the passover was an ordinance of God:
if any man of you; or "a man
a man"
or any private
man; for
according to the Jewish writers
this law only respects private
persons
as those were who were the occasion of its being made:
or of your posterity; or "in your
generations"F2לדרתיכם
"generationibus vestris"
Pagninus
Montanus; "in aetatibus
vestris"
Drusius.
or "ages"; which shows that this law
respected future times
and not the present case only:
shall be unclean by reason of a dead body; see Numbers 9:6;
MaimonidesF3In Misn. ut supra
(c. 7. sect. 6.) T. Bab. Pesachim
fol. 93. 2. says
this only respects uncleanness by a dead body
and not
uncleanness by any creeping thing; for such as were unclean by them might
sacrifice
though a private person
and eat the passover at evening with
purity
when he had been cleansed: yet he says elsewhereF4Hilchot
Corban Pesach
c. 6. sect. 1.
that such that had issues
and menstruous
women
and those that lay with them
and women in childbed
were unclean
and
were put off to the second passover; and so the Targum of Jonathan here
adds
"or that has an issue
or a leprous person:"
or be in a journey afar off; which
according to Ben
Gersom
was fifteen miles; so in the MisnahF5Pesachim
c. 9. sect.
2. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
and the commentators on it:
yet he shall keep the passover of the Lord; not the
first
but second
according to the directions given in Numbers 9:11.
Numbers 9:11 11 On the fourteenth day of the second month
at
twilight
they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs.
YLT
11in the second month
on the
fourteenth day
between the evenings they prepare it; with unleavened and
bitter things they eat it;
The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it
.... The mouth
Ijar
as the Targum of Jonathan
which answers to part of our April and part of
May; so that there was a month allowed for those that were defiled to cleanse
themselves; and for those on a journey to return home and prepare for the
passover
which was not to be totally omitted
nor deferred any longer; and it
was to be kept on the same day of the month
and at the same time of the day
the first passover was observed; still the more to keep in mind the saving of
their firstborn; and their deliverance out of Egypt at that time: an instance
of keeping such a passover we have in 2 Chronicles 30:1
&c.
and eat it with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs; in the same manner as the first passover
was eaten
Exodus 12:8; only
no mention is made of keeping the feast of unleavened bread seven days
which
some think those were not obliged unto at this time
only to keep the feast of
the passover.
Numbers 9:12 12 They shall leave none of it until morning
nor break
one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall
keep it.
YLT
12they do not leave of till
morning; and a bone they do not break in it: according to all the statute of
the passover they prepare it.
They shall leave none of it unto the morning
.... None of
the flesh of the passover lamb
what was left was to be burnt with fire
Exodus 12:10
nor break any bone of it; the same was enjoined;
see Gill on Exodus 12:46
according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it: as when
observed in its time
excepting the feast of unleavened bread
which followed
the first passover
and those rites which were peculiar to the passover
as
kept at their first coming out of Egypt; as the sprinkling the blood of the
lamb on the doorposts
eating it in haste
&c.
Numbers 9:13 13 But the man who is clean and is not on a
journey
and ceases to keep the Passover
that same person shall be cut off
from among his people
because he did not bring the offering of the Lord at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.
YLT
13`And the man who is clean
and hath not been on a journey
and hath ceased to prepare the passover
even
that person hath been cut off from his people; because the offering of Jehovah
he hath not brought near
in its appointed season
that man doth bear his sin.
But the man that is clean
.... Free from any
pollution by a dead body
or the like:
and is not in a journey; in a distant country;
for if he was on a journey in his own nation
he ought to return and attend the
passover
which all the males from the several parts of the land were obliged
unto; wherefore the Vulgate Latin version of Numbers 9:10; is a
wrong one; "or in a way afar off in your nation"; for at whatsoever
distance they were in their own nation
they were bound to appear:
and forbeareth to keep the passover; the first passover in
the first month
the month Nisan
wilfully
through negligence
or not caring
to be at the expense and trouble of it
or on any pretence whatsoever: Ben
Gersom interprets it of one that will not keep neither the first nor the second
passover:
even the same soul shall be cut off from his people; either be excommunicated
from them
or cut off by death by the immediate hand of God:
because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed
season: this is the ground and reason of the resentment; it was a breach
of the divine command
which required this offering; ingratitude to God
being
a thank offering for a singular deliverance; and this aggravated by its not
being brought at the appointed time
which was the fit ti me for it:
that man shall bear his sin; be chargeable with the
guilt of it
and bear the punishment of it; he on himself
as Aben Ezra notes
he
and he only; not his wife and family
for he being the head and master of
the family
it lay upon him to provide the passover lamb for himself and his
house.
Numbers 9:14 14 ‘And if a stranger dwells among you
and would keep
the Lord’s Passover
he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and
according to its ceremony; you shall have one ordinance
both for the stranger
and the native of the land.’”
YLT
14`And when a sojourner sojourneth
with you
then he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah
according to the statute
of the passover
and according to its ordinance
so he doth; one statute is to
you
even to a sojourner
and to a native of the land.'
And if a stranger shall sojourn among you
and will keep the
passover unto the Lord
.... Then he must become a proselyte of righteousness
and be
circumcised
or otherwise be might not eat of the passover
Exodus 12:48; Ben
Gersom interprets this of the second passover
and of a proselyte that was not
obliged to the first
he not being then a proselyte
but became one between the
first and the second; and so Aben Ezra understands it of a second passover
though he observes
that some say the first is meant:
according to the ordinance of the passover
and according to the
manner thereof
so shall he do; according to the several rites and
ceremonies
whether of the first or second passover
that an Israelite was
obliged to observe
the same a proselyte was to observe
and what they were has
been already taken notice of:
ye shall have one ordinance
both for the stranger and for him
that was born in the land: for a proselyte
and a native of Israel;
see Exodus 12:49.
Numbers 9:15 15 Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up
the
cloud covered the tabernacle
the tent of the Testimony; from evening until
morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire.
YLT
15And in the day of the
raising up of the tabernacle hath the cloud covered the tabernacle
even the
tent of the testimony; and in the evening there is on the tabernacle as an appearance
of fire till morning;
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 it
as Ben Gersom thinks
after the seven days of the
consecration of Aaron and his sons; on the eighth day
when it was said unto
the people of Israel
"today will the Lord appear unto you"
Leviticus 9:1;
"and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you"
Leviticus 9:6; and
here the Targum of Jonathan calls this cloud the cloud of glory
because of the
glory of God in it; of which see Exodus 40:34
and at even there was upon the tabernacle
as it were
the
appearance of fire until the morning; the same phenomenon
which looked like a cloud in the daytime
appeared like fire in the same place
in the nighttime
throughout the whole of it until morning light
when it was
seen as a cloud again: this was a token of the presence of God with the people
of Israel
of his protection of them
and being a guide unto them by night and
day
while in the wilderness; and was a figure of his being the same to his
church and people
in the present state of things; see Isaiah 4:5.
Numbers 9:16 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day
and the appearance of fire by night.
YLT
16so it is continually; the
cloud covereth it
also the appearance of fire by night.
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 darkness of the night; as in the daytime it could not be
discerned as a body of fire or light
because of the light of the sun; but
being seen under these different forms
was serviceable both by day and night
for the following purposes.
Numbers 9:17 17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the
tabernacle
after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place
where the cloud settled
there the children of Israel would pitch their tents.
YLT
17And according to the going
up of the cloud from off the tent and afterwards do the sons of Israel journey;
and in the place where the cloud doth tabernacle
there do the sons of Israel
encamp;
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 mentioned in Numbers 10:2
and
the whole camp moved and marched on in their journey:
and in the place where the cloud abode
there the children of
Israel pitched their tents; when it stopped and remained without any
motion
it was a signal to the children of Israel to stop also
and to set up
the tabernacle
and pitch their tents about it by their standards
and
according to the order of encampment which had been given them.
Numbers 9:18 18 At the command of the Lord the
children of Israel would journey
and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle
they remained encamped.
YLT
18by the command of Jehovah
the sons of Israel journey
and by the command of Jehovah they encamp; all the
days that the cloud doth tabernacle over the tabernacle they encamp.
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 to them as an
authoritative command
which they obeyed:
as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle
they rested in
their tents; whether a longer or a shorter time
as is after expressed.
Numbers 9:19 19 Even when the cloud continued long
many days above
the tabernacle
the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey.
YLT
19And in the cloud prolonging
itself over the tabernacle many days
then have the sons of Israel kept the
charge of Jehovah
and journey not
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 tarrying of the cloud was a token of
and did not
attempt to proceed in their journey until they had an intimation so to do by
its motion; and all this while
likewise
the tabernacle being up
they
observed all the precepts and ordinances of the Lord in the service of it.
Numbers 9:20 20 So it was
when the cloud was above the tabernacle a
few days: according to the command of the Lord they would
remain encamped
and according to the command of the Lord they would journey.
YLT
20and so when the cloud is a
number of days over the tabernacle; by the command of Jehovah they encamp
and
by the command of Jehovah they journey.
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
removed from the tabernacle.
Numbers 9:21 21 So it was
when the cloud remained only from evening
until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning
then they would
journey; whether by day or by night
whenever the cloud was taken up
they
would journey.
YLT
21And so when the cloud is
from evening till morning
when the cloud hath gone up in the morning
then
they have journeyed; whether by day or by night
when the cloud hath gone up
then they have journeyed.
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 and prepared
for their journey; and by this it is evident
that the appearance by day and
night was the same body called the cloud
though beheld in a different view
in
the daytime as a cloud
in the nighttime as fire.
Numbers 9:22 22 Whether it was two days
a month
or a year
that the cloud remained above the tabernacle
the children of Israel would
remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up
they would journey.
YLT
22Whether two days
or a
month
or days
in the cloud prolonging itself over the tabernacle
to
tabernacle over it
the sons of Israel encamp
and journey not; and in its
being lifted up they journey;
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 saysF7Moreh Nevoch. par. 2. c.
50. p. 512. ; some sayF8Seder Olam Rabba
c. 8. p. 24. nineteen
years
as in Kadeshbarnea:
remaining thereon
the children of Israel abode in their tents
and journeyed not; so that
as the same writer observes
it was not because the
children of Israel lost their way in the wilderness and wandered about
not
knowing where they were
or which way they should go; hence the Arabians call
the wilderness
the wilderness of wandering
nor that they were so long
wandering in it as forty years
but because it was the will of God that should
stay so long at one place
and so long at another
whereby their stay in it was
protracted to such a length of time
according to his sovereign will:
but when it was taken up they journeyed; though they
had continued ever so long
and their situation ever so agreeable.
Numbers 9:23 23 At the command of the Lord they
remained encamped
and at the command of the Lord they
journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord
at the
command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
YLT
23by the command of Jehovah
they encamp
and by the command of Jehovah they journey; the charge of Jehovah
they have kept
by the command of Jehovah in the hand of Moses.
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 desirous of getting as soon as they could into the land of
promise
yet in this case
in all their stations and journeys
were submissive
and obedient to the divine will
as all good men should be with respect to
happiness; and happy are they who have God to be their guide through it
even
unto death:
they kept the charge of the Lord
at the commandment of the Lord
by the hand of Moses; observed the rest or motion of the cloud
the order and command
of God signified thereby
as it was made known unto them by the ministry and
means of Moses.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》