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Joshua 4:23

in Joshua 4

For 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:

This verse in Joshua 4

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Before 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

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

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 & 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

21 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.

  • 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 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

    Exodus 14:21

    Then 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.

  • Through

    Isaiah 43:16

    Thus 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…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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.

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.