Joshua 4:1-10

1 And when the sons of Israel were passed over (the) Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, (And when all the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua,)
2 Choose thou twelve men, by each lineage one man, (Choose thou twelve men, one man out of each tribe,)
3 and command thou to them, that they take from the midst of the trough of (the) Jordan, where the feet of [the] priests stood, twelve hardest stones; the which thou shalt set in [the] place of the tents, where ye shall set (the) tents in this night. (and command thou to them, that they take out of the middle of the trough, or the river bed, of the Jordan River, twelve stones, from where the feet of the priests had firmly stood; which thou shalt put in the place of the camp, where ye shall pitch the tents tonight.)
4 And Joshua called (the) twelve men, which he had chosen of the sons of Israel, of each lineage one man; (And Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the Israelites, one man out of each tribe;)
5 and he said to them, Go ye before the ark of your Lord God to the midst of (the) Jordan, and bear ye from thence in your shoulders each man one stone, by the number of the sons of Israel, (and he said to them, Go ye before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan River, and each man carry ye out from there a stone on his shoulders, one for each of the tribes of Israel,)
6 that it be a sign betwixt you. And when your sons shall ask you tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, and shall say, What will these stones be mean(ing)? (that shall become a sign for all of you. And so when your sons and daughters shall ask you tomorrow, that is, in the time to come, and shall say, What mean ye by these stones?)
7 ye shall answer to them, The waters of (the) Jordan failed before the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, when the ark passed over (the) Jordan; therefore these stones be set into mind of the sons of Israel, till into without end. (ye shall answer to them, The waters of the Jordan River stopped flowing before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, when the Ark crossed over the Jordan River; and so these stones be here to help the Israelites to remember this forevermore.)
8 Therefore the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded to them, and bare from the midst of the trough of (the) Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord commanded to him, by the number of the sons of Israel, unto the place in which they setted tents (one for each of the tribes of Israel, unto the place where they pitched their tents); and there they putted those stones.
9 Also Joshua putted (an)other twelve stones in the midst of the trough of (the) Jordan, where the priests (had) stood, that bare the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord (who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord); and those stones be there unto this present day.
10 Forsooth the priests, that bare the ark, stood in the midst of (the) Jordan, till all things were [ful]filled, which the Lord commanded, that Joshua should speak to the people (that Joshua should tell the people to do), as Moses had said to him. And the people hasted, and passed over (the) Jordan.

Joshua 4:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 4

This chapter relates an order, that is men, should take twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, and carry them to the first place they lodged at as a memorial of their passage over it, Jos 4:1-8; and how Joshua set up twelve other stones in the river itself, Jos 4:9; and how many of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, went before the Israelites when they passed over, Jos 4:10-14; which being done, the priests were ordered to come out of Jordan, when the waters returned to their place, Jos 4:15-18; The time when this miracle was wrought is observed, Jos 4:19; and an account is given of Joshua's pitching the twelve stones taken out of Jordan in Gilgal, and the use they were to be of in future time, Jos 4:20-24.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.