Joshua 4:3

twelve stones We find on several occasions large stones set up to commemorate remarkable events, as (a) by Jacob in memory of the vision of the Angels at Beth-el (Genesis 28:18); (b) by the same patriarch on his return from Padan-aram (Genesis 35:14); (c) by the same patriarch again as a "heap of witness" between him and Laban (Genesis 31:45-47); (d) by Samuel at "Eben-ezer" to mark the site of the victory over the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12). Such stones were sometimes consecrated by anointing with oil (Genesis 28:18).