Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 9:34

"And while he said these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud." — Luke 9:34 (ASV)

The cloud, like other elements in this narrative, can symbolize more than one thing, among them the cloud in the desert after the Exodus (Exodus 13:21–22; Exodus 16:10; Exodus 24:16; Exodus 40:34–38). But clouds are also associated with the future coming of the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13; cf. Mark 14:62) and with the two prophets in Rev 11:12. There may be a possible reference to the Parousia here or to the cloud that will appear during a future time of rest under the Messiah (cf. Isaiah 4:5). But above all the cloud symbolizes the glorious presence of God (cf. Exodus 19:16). Though the disciples enter the cloud, a sense of the transcendence of God is retained as the Voice comes “from” the cloud (v.35).