Exodus 14:20 
Context| NET © | It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud 1 and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other 2 the whole night. 3 |
| NIV © | coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other; so neither went near the other all night long. |
| NASB © | So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. |
| NLT © | The cloud settled between the Israelite and Egyptian camps. As night came, the pillar of cloud turned into a pillar of fire, lighting the Israelite camp. But the cloud became darkness to the Egyptians, and they couldn’t find the Israelites. |
| MSG © | The Cloud was now between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. The Cloud enshrouded one camp in darkness and flooded the other with light. The two camps didn't come near each other all night. |
| BBE © | And it came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel; and there was a dark cloud between them, and they went on through the night; but the one army came no nearer to the other all the night. |
| NRSV © | It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. |
| NKJV © | So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one , and it gave light by night to the other , so that the one did not come near the other all that night. |
| KJV | |
| NASB © | So it came <0935> between <0996> the camp <04264> of Egypt <04714> and the camp <04264> of Israel <03478> ; and there was the cloud <06051> along with the darkness <02822> , yet it gave <0215> light <0215> at night <03915> . Thus the one <02088> did not come <07126> near <07126> the other <02088> all <03605> night .<03915> |
| HEBREW | |
| LXXM | |
| NET © [draft] ITL | It came <0935> between <0996> the Egyptian <04714> camp <04264> and the Israelite <03478> camp <04264> ; it was <01961> a dark <02822> cloud <06051> and it lit <0215> up the <0853> night <03915> so that one <0996> camp <04264> did not <03808> come near <07126> the other <02088> the whole <03605> night .<03915> |
| NET © | It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud 1 and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other 2 the whole night. 3 |
| NET © Notes |
1 tn The two nouns “cloud” and “darkness” form a nominal hendiadys: “and it was the cloud and the darkness” means “and it was the dark cloud.” Perhaps this is what the Egyptians saw, preventing them from observing Moses and the Israelites. 2 tn Heb “this to this”; for the use of the pronouns in this reciprocal sense of “the one to the other,” see GKC 448 §139.e, n. 3. 3 tc The LXX reads very differently at the end of this verse: “and there was darkness and blackness and the night passed.” B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 218) summarizes three proposals: (1) One takes the MT as it stands and explains it along the lines of the Targum and Jewish exegesis, that there was one cloud that was dark to one group and light to the other. (2) Another tries to reconstruct a verb from the noun “darkness” or make some use of the Greek verb. (3) A third seeks a different meaning for the verb “lit,” “gave light” by comparative philology, but no consensus has been reached. Given that there is no easy solution apart from reconstructing the text, and given that the MT can be interpreted as it is, the present translation follows the MT. |
