Pillar of cloud


A pillar of cloud was one of the manifestations of the presence of the God of Israel in the Torah, the five books of Moses which appear at the beginning of the Bible. According to Exodus, the pillar of cloud guided the Israelites by day during the Exodus from Egypt. The pillar of cloud is traditionally paired with the manifestation of the divine presence by night as the pillar of fire, which provided light. This was so they "could travel by day or night".
Some scholars suggest that the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire imagery, combined with the focus on the tops of mountains, might mean that the ancient Israelites worshiped a volcano.

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