CHAPTER 4. SETTING UP A MEMORIAL. This chapter describes how God commanded that the men of Israel should take twelve stones out of the middle of Jordan, and carry them to the first place they lodged at as a memorial of their passage over it. It also describes how Joshua set up twelve other stones i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man, and Joshua said to them, “You, pass over before the Ark of YHWH your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tr... [ Continue Reading ]
“That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?' Then you shall say to them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the covenant of YHWH. When it passed over Jordan the waters of Jordan were cut off, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan as YHWH spoke to Joshua, in accordance with the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and set them down there.'... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day.' As well as setting twelve stones from the river on the land, Joshua also arranged for the placing of twelve stones in the rive... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ For the priests who bore the Ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that YHWH commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hurried and passed over.' Note here the twofold emphasis. Firstly that the people obeyed YHW... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And so it was that, when the people were clean crossed over, the Ark of YHWH crossed over, and the priests in front of (in the presence of, in front of the eyes of) the people.' Once all were over and the stones in the Jordan were in place, and the other stones were on the bank waiting to be set... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them, about forty eleph ready armed for war, passed over before Yahweh to battle, to the plains of Jericho.' This is not chronologically placed.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ On that day YHWH magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.' That day was the making of Joshua in the eyes of the people more than any other day before or after. It filled them with awe. They recognised that here was one who w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying, “Command the priests who bear the Ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.” ' Having described the exit from Jordan of the Ark in verse 11 the writer now amplifies what happened and adds to it the words of Joshua about the event. This repetition and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Joshua therefore commanded the priests saying, “You, come up out of Jordan.” ' The emphasis is on the fact that Joshua did precisely what YHWH commanded. The aim is to bring out Joshua's instant obedience to YHWH's commands.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And so it was that when the priests who bore the Ark of the covenant of YHWH came up from the middle of Jordan, and the soles of the priest's feet were lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as previously.' The removal from the middle... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho.' This time note is reminiscent of time notes in the account of the flood (Genesis 8:14), the account of the Exodus (Exodus 16:1) and of similar time notes in the Baby... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.' This was in obedience to YHWH Who had told them that they must be set up at the place where they first lodged (Joshua 4:3). The stones had been carried there and laid there (Joshua 4:8), now Joshua erected them in a pi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What mean these stones?' Then you shall let your children know saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land'.” ' The stones also stood as a witness to future generations of th... [ Continue Reading ]
“ For YHWH your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as YHWH your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up from before us, until we were passed over.” Note the change of pronoun to ‘us'. Joshua had been present at the crossing of the Sea of Reeds when... [ Continue Reading ]
“That all the people of the earth might know the hand of YHWH, that it is mighty, that they might fear YHWH your God for ever.” These two great events were not just a witness to the children of Israel but to the whole world far and wide. They too would be made to recognise the great power of YHWH,... [ Continue Reading ]