Joshua 4:6

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?)

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 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.