Throughout all their journeys comes at the end of the verse in the Hebrew. Literally it says “in all their breaking [of camp].” The word for journeys comes from the verb meaning “to pull up stakes.” (See the comment at 12.37.) Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle is literally “in the cloud’s being taken up from upon the mishkan.” The passive form of the verb is used (“in its being taken up”), suggesting that the cloud did not rise by its own power. Most translations, however, seem to ignore this feature. Good News Translation has “only when the cloud lifted from the Tent,” and Contemporary English Version has “Whenever the cloud moved from the tent.”

The people of Israel would go onward is literally “the sons of Israel pulled up stakes.” Here the verb should be understood as frequentative, giving the idea of whenever. But if the cloud was not taken up again uses the passive form of the verb. Then they did not go onward uses the same verb, “they did not pull up stakes.” Till the day that it was taken up is literally “until the day of its being taken up.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .