Joshua 4:23
in Joshua 4For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were passed over;
KJV
For 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:
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This verse in Joshua 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBefore us - That is, myself and Caleb, and all of us here present; for this benefit, though done to their fathers, is justly said to be done to themselves, because they were then in their parent's loins. It greatly magnifies later mercies, to compare them with former mercies; for hereby it appears, that God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
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.
This site's exposition
just as He did to the Red Sea
Wesley reads before us as Joshua speaking for himself and Caleb and for everyone present, since the younger ones were then in their fathers' loins. He adds that setting a later mercy beside an earlier one shows God to be the same in every age.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
21 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הוֹבִישׁ֩ | hovish | he dried up | H3001 → | 59 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֜ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵ֧י | mei | [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| הַיַּרְדֵּ֛ן | haiyarden | the Jordan | H3383 → | 182 times |
| מִפְּנֵיכֶ֖ם | mipeneikhem | from before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| עַֽד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עָבְרְכֶ֑ם | ʾaverekhem | had passed over you | H5674 → | 556 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂה֩ | ʾasah | he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֧ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְיַם־ | leyam- | to [the] sea of | H3220 → | 396 times |
| ס֛וּף | suf | reed[s] | H5488 → | 28 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הוֹבִ֥ישׁ | hovish | he dried up | H3001 → | 59 times |
| מִפָּנֵ֖ינוּ | mipaneinu | from before us | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עָבְרֵֽנוּ׃ | ʾaverenu | had passed over we | H5674 → | 556 times |
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הוֹבִישׁ֩he dried up
hovishH3001 →59 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֜םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מֵ֧י[the] waters of
meiH4325 →581 times
הַיַּרְדֵּ֛ןthe Jordan
haiyardenH3383 →182 times
מִפְּנֵיכֶ֖םfrom before you
mipeneikhemH6440 →2123 times
עַֽד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
עָבְרְכֶ֑םhad passed over you
ʾaverekhemH5674 →556 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
עָשָׂה֩he did
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֧םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
לְיַם־to [the] sea of
leyam-H3220 →396 times
ס֛וּףreed[s]
sufH5488 →28 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הוֹבִ֥ישׁhe dried up
hovishH3001 →59 times
מִפָּנֵ֖ינוּfrom before us
mipaneinuH6440 →2123 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
עָבְרֵֽנוּ׃had passed over we
ʾaverenuH5674 →556 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Exodus 14:21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were…
it leads to
- Exodus 15:8
At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 66:6
He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 63:12
who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,
- Nehemiah 9:11
You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
- Exodus 15:8
Through
Isaiah 43:16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters,
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:10
Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…
- Psalms 77:19
Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.
- Jeremiah 31:35
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the…
- Isaiah 51:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
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About Joshua

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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
