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Ramban on Exodus 13:21/רמב"ן על שמות י״ג:כ״א

אוַה' הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם יוֹמָם כְּבָר אָמְרוּ (ב"ר נא ב) שֶׁכָּל מָקוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַה' הוּא וּבֵית דִּינוֹ, הקב"ה עִמָּהֶם בַּיּוֹם וּבֵית דִּינוֹ בַּלַּיְלָה. אִם כֵּן פֵּרוּשׁ הַכָּתוּב שֶׁהַשֵּׁם שׁוֹכֵן בְּתוֹךְ הֶעָנָן וְהוֹלֵךְ הוּא לִפְנֵיהֶם בַּיּוֹם בְּעַמּוּד עָנָן, וּבַלַּיְלָה בֵּית דִּינוֹ שׁוֹכֵן בְּעַמּוּד הָאֵשׁ לְהָאִיר לָהֶם, כְּטַעַם "אֲשֶׁר עַיִן בְּעַיִן נִרְאָה אַתָּה ה' וַעֲנָנְךָ עֹמֵד עֲלֵיהֶם וּבְעַמֻּד עָנָן אַתָּה הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם יוֹמָם וּבְעַמּוּד אֵשׁ לָיְלָה" (במדבר יד יד): וְרָאִיתִי בְּאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת רַבָּה (י"ט:ו') "כִּי לֹא בְחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ וּבִמְנוּסָה לֹא תֵלֵכוּן כִּי הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם ה'" (ישעיה נב יב), לְשֶׁעָבַר אֲנִי וּבֵית דִּינִי הָיִיתִי מְהַלֵּךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַה' הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם יוֹמָם, אֲבָל לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא אֲנִי לְבַדִּי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נב יב) "כִּי הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם ה' וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל". וְסוֹד הַמִּדְרָשׁ הַזֶּה כַּאֲשֶׁר הִזְכַּרְתִּי, כִּי בַּגְּאֻלָּה הָרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיָה הקב"ה עִמָּהֶם בַּיּוֹם וּבֵית דִּינוֹ עִמָּהֶם בַּלַּיְלָה, אֲבָל לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא תִּתְעַלֶּה מִדַּת בֵּית דִּינוֹ בְּרַחֲמִים, וַה' הוֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם, הַשֵּׁם הַמְיֻחָד, כִּי אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מְאַסְּפָם עִמּוֹ, וְלַיְלָה כַּיּוֹם יָאִיר כַּחֲשֵׁכָה כָּאוֹרָה (תהלים קלט יב), כִּי הַכֹּל בְּמִדַּת רַחֲמִים מְיֻחֶדֶת: ור"א אָמַר (אבן עזרא על שמות י"ג:כ"א) כִּי הַכָּתוּב יְדַבֵּר הוּא כִּלְשׁוֹן בְּנֵי הָאָדָם, בַּעֲבוּר כִּי כֹּחַ הַשֵּׁם וּשְׁלוּחוֹ הוּא הוֹלֵךְ עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּדֶרֶךְ "מוֹלִיךְ לִימִין מֹשֶׁה זְרוֹעַ תִּפְאַרְתּוֹ" (ישעיה סג יב). וְהָאֱמֶת שֶׁהוּא כְּדֶרֶךְ "מוֹלִיךְ לִימִין מֹשֶׁה", אֲבָל לֹא כַּאֲשֶׁר יָבִין ר"א מִמֶּנּוּ, וּכְתִיב "כֵּן נִהַגְתָּ עַמְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת לְךָ שֵׁם תִּפְאָרֶת" (שם יד):

1AND THE ETERNAL WENT BEFORE THEM. The Sages have already said,¹³ “Wherever the phrase And the Eternal is mentioned, it means He and His Celestial Court.” The Holy One, blessed be He, went before them by day, and His Celestial Court by night.¹⁴ If so, the explanation of the verse is that G-d¹⁵ abode in the midst of the cloud, and He went before them by day in a pillar of cloud. By night, His Celestial Court abode in a pillar of fire to give them light. This is similar in meaning to that which the verse says: Inasmuch as Thou Eternal art seen face to face, and Thy cloud standeth over them, and Thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.¹⁶I have seen in Eileh Shemoth Rabbah:¹⁷ “For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight; for the Eternal will go before you.¹⁸ In the past, I and My Celestial Court went before you, as it is said, And the Eternal went before them by day, but in the World to Come,¹⁹ I Myself will go before you, as it is said, For the Eternal will go before you, and the G-d of Israel will be your rearward.”¹⁸ The secret of this Midrash is as I have mentioned, i.e., that at the first redemption, the Holy One, blessed be He, was with them by day and His Celestial Court by night, but in the World to Come,¹⁹ the attribute of His Celestial Court will be elevated in mercy and the Eternal — the Tetragrammaton — will go before them, for the G-d of Israel will then assemble His people, and the night will shine as the day, the darkness even as the light,²⁰ as everything will then be united in the attribute of mercy.Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that Scripture here speaks according to the language of men, since it was the power of G-d and His messenger that went with Israel, [thus, and the Eternal went before them would mean “and the angel of the Eternal went before them”], similar in meaning to the verse, He caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses.²¹ Now it is true that the verse here is similar in meaning to the verse, He caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,²¹ but it is not as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra understood it.²². It was this verse apparently that forced Ibn Ezra to arrive at his interpretation here. See Ramban, ibid., for a fuller discussion. And it is further written, So didst Thou lead Thy people to make Thyself a glorious Name,²³ [thus indicating that it was the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself that went before the people, and not, as Ibn Ezra explained, that the reference here is to an angel].