Joshua 4:5-7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 4:1-9

We may well imagine how busy Joshua and all the men of war were while they were passing over Jordan, when besides their own marching into an enemy's country, and in the face of the enemy, which could not but occasion them many thoughts of hear, they had their wives, and children, and families, their cattle, and tents, and all their effects, bag and baggage, to convey by this strange and untrodden path, which we must suppose either very muddy or very stony, troublesome to the weak and frightful... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 4:5

And Joshua said unto them ,.... The twelve men: pass ye over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan ; that is, they were to go back to Jordan again, which they had passed over, and go into the midst of it, where were the priests bearing the ark; for it is not to be imagined that the ark went along with them, or followed them, they going before it; but they went where that was, just before it, from whence they were to take the stones, as next directed: and take... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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 מחר αυριον , Sept. "eras", Pagninus, Montanus. 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? read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 4:7

Then ye shall answer them ,.... By informing them of the design and use of 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 below from those that were, above, which stood up on an heap; so that they were divided and separated from each other, and made dry land for a passage of the children of Israel; and this was done before, and in the presence of the ark of the covenant, to show that is was owing to the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 4:6

This may be a sign - Stand as a continual memorial of this miraculous passage, and consequently a proof of their lasting obligation to God. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 4:7

Verse 7 7.Then you shall answer them, etc Although the stones themselves cannot speak, yet the monument furnished the parents with materials for speaking, and for making the kindness of God known to their children. And here zealous endeavors to propagate piety are required of the aged, (50) and they are enjoined to exert themselves in instructing their children. For it was the will of God that this doctrine should be handed down through every age; that those who were not then born being... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:1-24

The memorial. Prom this chapter we learn several lessons. I. THE DUTY OF COMMEMORATING , BY A PIOUS MEMORIAL , THE GOOD THINGS GOD HAS DONE FOR US . The memory of events under the law was ever kept up in this way. The memorials of God's mercy we read of in the Old Testament are innumerable. There was circumcision, the memorial of God's covenant with Abraham; the stone set up at Bethel, the memorial of Jacob's vision. There was the passover, the memorial of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:6

That this may be a sign unto you. There was for many years a visible memorial of the miracle. When your children ask their fathers in time to come (cf. Exodus 12:26 ; Exodus 13:14 ; Deuteronomy 6:20 ). The passover, the law itself, as well as certain outward and visible memorials, were to be the guarantees to future ages of the truth of the history related in the Books of Hoses and Joshua. The monument has disappeared, but the observance of the passover and the whole law by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:6

The Children's Question "That this may be … stones." The children's question. That life is intended to be a school of instruction to us we see plainly from the many directions given to the people of Israel. For they were under the immediate government of God; He blessed them with special favours, was ready also to reprove their faults, and omitted no method of inculcating the lessons which the events of their lives were calculated to teach. Christians are "led by the Spirit of God;"... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:6-22

Memorials. The crossing the Jordan dry shod was tile first miracle which marked the entrance of the people of Israel into the land of Canaan. It was God's purpose that this should be held in perpetual remembrance. Hence the erection of the twelve stones in the bed of the river, to remind the twelve tribes of that which the Almighty hand had wrought for them, in fulfilment of the promise made to their fathers. The material monument would, however, be insufficient of itself to preserve this... read more

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