Joshua 4:1-7

1 And it came to pass, when all the people had clean passed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,

2 "Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

3 and command ye them, saying, `Take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones; and ye shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night.'"

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

5 And Joshua said unto them, "Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,

6 that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, `What mean ye by these stones?'

7 then ye shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD: when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever."

Joshua 4:1-7 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.