Joshua 4:6

6 so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

Joshua 4:6 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 4:6

That this may be a sign among you
A commemorative one:

[that] when your children ask [their fathers] in time to come;
or "tomorrow" ^F7 and so in all time, or any time hereafter:

saying, what mean you by these stones?
what is the reason of setting them up, and in this place, and being just of such a number?

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (rxm) (aurion) , Sept. "eras", Pagninus, Montanus.

Joshua 4:6 In-Context

4 So Joshua summoned the 12 men selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe,

5 and said to them, "Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes,

6 so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

7 you should tell them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord's covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan's waters were cut off.' Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites."

8 The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The 12 men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.