Numbers 9:20

20 Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they would set 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 At the command of the Lord the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp.
19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the Lord, and would not set out.
20 Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they would set out.
21 Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out.
22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.