Exodus 13:21

Summary

The verse describes Yehovah going before the Israelites, using a pillar of cloud by day to guide their path and a pillar of fire by night to give them light, enabling continuous travel day and night.

Key words

• ho.leKh ("[was] going", H1980G) — qal participle, masculine singular, denoting continuous or ongoing action: Yehovah's going is presented as a sustained, present state rather than a single completed act.
• 'a.Mud ("a pillar of", H5982G) — masculine singular construct noun, appearing twice, linking the pillar directly to what follows ('a.Nan "cloud" and 'esh "fire") in a construct chain "pillar of X."
• la.n.cho.Tam ("to guide them", from n.cho.Ta H5148) — hiphil infinitive with pronominal suffix m ("them", H9038); the hiphil stem is causative, so the verb expresses causing them to be guided/led, not simply "leading."
• le.ha.'Ir ("to give light", from ha.'Ir H0215) — hiphil infinitive, causative form of the root for light, meaning "to cause light" rather than merely "to shine."
• la.Le.khet ("to go", from Le.khet H1980I) — qal infinitive expressing purpose, paired with the adverbs yo.Mam ("by day", H3119) and La.ye.lah ("night", H3915) to state the goal: continuous travel.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with va.Yehovah ho.leKh — the conjunction plus divine name plus participle — placing Yehovah as subject of an ongoing action ("was going"), rather than a finite past-tense verb. This participial construction conveys durative, continuous presence ahead of the people, distinct from a single completed movement.

The verse is structured in two parallel halves, each following the pattern: time adverb + preposition be ("in") + construct noun 'a.Mud ("pillar of") + element (cloud/fire) + purpose infinitive. By day: be'a.Mud 'a.Nan ("in a pillar of cloud") with purpose la.n.cho.Tam ha.De.rekh ("to guide them, the journey" — the guiding infinitive taking "the journey" as direct object). By night: be'a.Mud 'esh ("in a pillar of fire") with purpose le.ha.'Ir la.Hem ("to give light to them"). Both purpose verbs are hiphil infinitives, marking causative action — the cloud/fire pillars do not merely lead or shine, but are made to cause guidance and light.

The final clause, introduced by la.Le.khet ("to go"), restates the adverbs yo.Mam va.La.ye.lah ("day and night") from the opening, forming a structural envelope around the verse and expressing the resulting purpose: continuous travel without interruption.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va.Yehovah ("and Yehovah") as ὁ δὲ θεός ("but God"), replacing the divine name with the generic term for deity. The LXX also renders the two Hebrew purpose infinitives (la.n.cho.Tam, "to guide them"; le.ha.'Ir, "to give light") with a single infinitive δεῖξαι ("to show") governing "the way," collapsing the causative guiding and illuminating functions the Hebrew separates by day/night. The Vulgate's ut dux esset itineris utroque tempore ("that he might be guide of the journey in both times") summarizes the final Hebrew clause (la.Le.khet yo.Mam va.La.ye.lah, "to go by day and night") as a single stated purpose of guidance, rather than preserving the paired day/night infinitives of the Hebrew.