Joshua 4:11-21

11 It happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, with the Kohanim, in the presence of the people.

12 The children of Re'uven, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Menashsheh, passed over armed before the children of Yisra'el, as Moshe spoke to them:

13 about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before the LORD to battle, to the plains of Yericho.

14 On that day the LORD magnified Yehoshua in the sight of all Yisra'el; and they feared him, as they feared Moshe, all the days of his life.

15 The LORD spoke to Yehoshua, saying,

16 Command the Kohanim who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Yarden.

17 Yehoshua therefore commanded the Kohanim, saying, Come up out of the Yarden.

18 It happened, when the Kohanim who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of the Yarden, and the soles of the Kohanim' feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Yarden returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.

19 The people came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Yericho.

20 Those twelve stones, which they took out of the Yarden, did Yehoshua set up in Gilgal.

21 He spoke to the children of Yisra'el, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

Joshua 4:11-21 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.