Joshua 4

When the whole nation had completely finished crossing the Jordan River, the LORD said to Joshua,

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

Note"Clean passed over" in the King James does not mean washed or ritually clean. "Clean" here is the old adverb meaning completely or entirely, the whole nation had finished crossing.

2"Choose twelve men from among the people, one man from each tribe.

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

NoteIsrael was reckoned as twelve tribes, each descended from one of the twelve sons of Jacob (also called Israel). One man and one stone per tribe makes the monument stand for the whole nation.

3Give them this command: 'Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the exact spot where the priests' feet stood firm. Carry them across with you, and set them down where you camp tonight.'"

3And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of 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.

NoteThe Jordan is a narrow river running down a deep valley; "the midst of Jordan" means the riverbed itself, which was dry while the water was held back. The "lodging place" is simply the camp where they would spend that night.

4So Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen from the people of Israel, one man from each tribe.

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

5Joshua said to them, "Go on ahead of the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift one stone onto your shoulder, one for each tribe of Israel.

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

NoteThe ark was a gold-covered wooden chest, carried on poles by priests, containing the stone tablets of the law. It traveled at the head of Israel's movements and stood for God's presence with them. "Pass over before the ark" can mean either to go ahead of it or to pass in front of it; the Hebrew allows both.

6These stones will be a sign among you. Later on, your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

6That 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?

NoteSetting up stones as a public marker was ordinary practice in the ancient Near East, to record a treaty, a boundary, or an event. The stones themselves carried no writing; the explanation was passed on by word of mouth, parent to child, which is why the verse anticipates the children's question.

7Then you will tell them that the water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan was cut off. These stones will remind the people of Israel of that forever."

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

NoteA covenant is a binding, formal agreement, closer to a treaty than to a promise. The covenant meant here is the one made at Mount Sinai between God and Israel; the ark held the stone tablets on which its terms were written, which is why it is called the ark of the covenant.

8The people of Israel did just what Joshua commanded. They picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped and set them down there.

8And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

9Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, on the spot where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. Those stones are still there today.

9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

Note"Unto this day" is the writer's own time, generations after the event, a standing note that the monument could still be seen. The verse is genuinely ambiguous in Hebrew: it may describe a second set of twelve stones left in the riverbed, or it may be restating that Joshua had the twelve stones set up after they were lifted out of it.

10The priests who carried the ark kept standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was done that the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell the people, exactly as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across.

10For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.

11When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD went across too, with the priests, while the people watched.

11And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

12The men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over ahead of the rest of the Israelites, armed for battle, just as Moses had told them.

12And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:

NoteReuben, Gad and half of Manasseh had already been given land on the east side of the Jordan, so they had nothing to gain from the crossing. Their agreement with Moses was that their fighting men would cross over armed and fight alongside the other tribes until those tribes had won their own land, only then returning home.

13About forty thousand men, armed and ready for war, crossed over in the presence of the LORD to fight, going out to the flat land near Jericho.

13About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

NoteThe figure covers only the armed men of the two and a half eastern tribes, not all Israel. The Hebrew word translated "thousand" (eleph) can also mean a clan or a military unit of unspecified size, so the actual number is uncertain.

14That day the LORD made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel. They held him in awe all the days of his life, just as they had held Moses in awe.

14On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

Note"They feared him" in the King James does not mean they were frightened of Joshua. The Hebrew word covers respect and awe toward someone in authority, the same word used of Moses in the same sentence.

15Then the LORD said to Joshua,

15And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

16"Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan."

16Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.

Note"The ark of the testimony" is another name for the same chest. The "testimony" is the stone tablets inside it, which stood as the documentary evidence of the agreement between God and Israel.

17So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."

17Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

18When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet touched dry ground, the river's water flowed back to where it had been and spilled over all its banks, just as before.

18And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

Note"All his banks" is simply old English for "all its banks." The detail matters: the Jordan floods in spring, at harvest time, so the river was at its widest and fastest when Israel crossed and when it refilled.

19The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month of the year. They camped at Gilgal, on the eastern edge of Jericho's territory.

19And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

NoteThe first month is Abib, later called Nisan, falling in March or April. The tenth day places the camp at Gilgal four days before Passover, kept on the fourteenth. Gilgal was a site in the Jordan valley near Jericho; its exact location is unknown today.

20And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.

20And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

Note"Pitch" in the King James means to plant or set upright, as one pitches a tent peg, not to throw.

21He said to the people of Israel, "Later on, your children will ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?'

21And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

22Then you are to tell your children, 'Israel crossed this Jordan River on dry ground.'

22Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

23For the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan in front of you until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea. He dried that up in front of us until we had crossed over.

23For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

NoteThe Red Sea crossing was the escape from Egypt under Moses, forty years earlier. The Hebrew name, yam suph, means "sea of reeds," and which body of water it refers to is disputed. Notice the shift from "you" to "us": the generation being addressed had not been born, but Joshua speaks of it as something done for the nation as a whole.

24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth would know that the hand of the LORD is strong, and so that you would always stand in awe of the LORD your God."

24That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.

Note"The hand of the LORD" is a standard Hebrew idiom for power in action, not a statement about God having a body. "Fear the LORD" here again means reverence rather than terror.