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Joshua 4:21

in Joshua 4

Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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

KJV

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

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This verse in Joshua 4

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Then Joshua said to the Israelites

on Joshua 4:21-24

Verse 23 says the sea was dried “before us”, though the men who crossed were dead by Numbers 26:64, so the nation is one body. Clarke reads “all the peoples of the earth” narrowly of that land, and others take it as wide as it sounds.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

9 And 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.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying,.... At the same time he set up the stones: when you children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? See Gill on Jos 4:6.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The pile was designed to serve a double purpose--that of impressing the heathen with a sense of the omnipotence of God, while at the same time it would teach an important lesson in religion to the young and rising Israelites in after ages.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֛אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩that

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִשְׁאָל֨וּןthey will ask !

    yishalunH7592 →171 times

  • בְּנֵיכֶ֤םchildren your

    beneikhemH1121 →4930 times

  • מָחָר֙tomorrow

    macharH4279 →52 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲבוֹתָ֣םfathers their

    ʾavotamH1 →1212 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • מָ֖הwhat?

    mahH4100 →752 times

  • הָאֲבָנִ֥ים[are] the stones

    haavanimH68 →273 times

  • הָאֵֽלֶּה׃<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Deuteronomy 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.30 worksJoshua 4:6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’9 worksPsalms 145:4–7One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—4 worksPsalms 105:2–5Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.2 worksEzekiel 17:12“Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 4:6

    to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

    it leads to

    • Exodus 13:14

      In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

    • Psalms 44:1

      We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.

    • Deuteronomy 6:20–21

      In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”

    • Deuteronomy 11:19

      Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

    • Joshua 22:27

      Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in…

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 4 →