Joshua 4:5

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,)

Joshua 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 4:5

And Joshua said unto them
The twelve men:

pass ye over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of
Jordan;
that is, they were to go back to Jordan again, which they had passed over, and go into the midst of it, where were the priests bearing the ark; for it is not to be imagined that the ark went along with them, or followed them, they going before it; but they went where that was, just before it, from whence they were to take the stones, as next directed:

and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder;
by which it appears they were large stones they were to take, not what they could carry in their hands, but what they were obliged to take upon their shoulders:

according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;
who had that day passed over Jordan, of which these stones were to be a memorial.

Joshua 4:5 In-Context

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.)