Numbers 9:20

20 Sometimes the cloud was above the tent for only a few days. When the LORD would give the command, they would camp. Then when he would give the command, they would start out.

Numbers 9:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 9:20

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 9:20 In-Context

18 When the LORD gave the command, the people of Israel started out. And when he gave the command, they camped. As long as the cloud stayed above the holy tent, they remained in camp.

19 Sometimes the cloud remained above the tent for a long time. Then the people of Israel obeyed the LORD's order. They didn't start out.

20 Sometimes the cloud was above the tent for only a few days. When the LORD would give the command, they would camp. Then when he would give the command, they would start out.

21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening until morning. When it lifted in the morning, they started out. It didn't matter whether it was day or night. When the cloud lifted, the people started out.

22 It didn't matter whether the cloud stayed above the holy tent for two days or a month or a year. The people of Israel would remain in camp. They wouldn't start out. But when the cloud lifted, they would start out.