וּלְפִ֞י הֵעָלֹ֤ת הֶֽעָנָן֙ מֵעַ֣ל הָאֹ֔הֶל וְאַ֣חֲרֵי־כֵ֔ן יִסְע֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּבִמְק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִשְׁכָּן־שָׁם֙ הֶֽעָנָ֔ן שָׁ֥ם יַחֲנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
Chaque fois que la nuée s’élevait de dessus la tente, aussitôt les enfants d’Israël levaient le camp; puis, à l’endroit où se fixait la nuée, là s’arrêtaient les enfants d’Israël.
Guide for the Perplexed
In a similar manner the words, “At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched” (Num. 9:18), would suffice as a simple statement of facts; and the reader might at first sight consider as unnecessary additions all the details which follow, viz., “And when the cloud tarried long. . . And so it was when the cloud was a few days. . . . Or whether it were two days,” etc. (ibid. 9:19-22). But I will show you the reason why all these details are added. For they serve to confirm the account, and to contradict the opinion of the nations, both of ancient and modern times, that the Israelites lost their way, and did not know where to go; that “they were entangled in the land” (Exod. 14:3); wherefore the Arabs unto this day call that desert Al-tih, “the desert of going astray,” imagining that the Israelites erred about, and did not know the way. Scripture, therefore, clearly states and emphatically declares that it was by God’s command that the journeyings were irregular, that the Israelites returned to the same places several times, and that the duration of the stay was different in each station; whilst the stay in one place continued for eighteen years, in another place it lasted one day, and in another one night. There was no going astray, but the journey was regulated by “the rising of the pillar of cloud” (Num. 9:17). Therefore all these details are given. Scripture clearly states that the way was near, known, and in good condition; I mean the way from Horeb, whither they came intentionally, according to the command of God, “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exod. 2:12), to Kadesh-barnea, the beginning of inhabited land, as Scripture says, “Behold, we are now in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border” (Num. 20:16). That way was a journey of eleven days; comp. “Eleven days’ journey from Horeb, by the way of mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea” (Deut. 1:3). In such a journey it is impossible to err about for forty years: but Scripture states the cause of the delay.