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Joshua 4:8

in Joshua 4

Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Jehovah spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

KJV

And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

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This verse in Joshua 4

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Laid them down there - i. e. in Gilgal Jos 4:20. Spoken of as the doers of this, because it was done by the twelve who acted for them.

This site's exposition

Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them

on Joshua 4:8-9

Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read two monuments, and other writers one account told twice, since the Hebrew carries either. The words “the stones are there to this day” place the writer where the second pile could still be seen.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is here taken for granted that posterity would enquire into the meaning of them, supposing them intended for a memorial: Your children shall ask their fathers (for who else should they ask?) What mean these stones? Notes, Those that will be wise when they are old must be inquisitive when they are young.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

In allusion to this, we may observe that when the Lord Jesus, our Joshua, having overcome the sharpness of death and dried up that Jordan, had opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers, he appointed his twelve apostles according to the number of the tribes of Israel, by the memorial of the gospel to transmit the knowledge of this to remote places and future ages.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is probable that the stones they took were as big as they could well carry, and as near as might be of a size and shape. But whether they went away with them immediately to the place, of whether they staid to attend the ark, and kept pace with the solemn procession of that, to grace its triumphant entry in to Canaan, is not certain.

The words behind it

28 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.

  • וַיַּעֲשׂוּ־and they did

    vaiyaasu-H6213 →2628 times

  • כֵ֣ןthus

    khenH3651 →771 times

  • בְּנֵי־[the] people of

    benei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֘לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • צִוָּ֣הhe had commanded

    tzivahH6680 →494 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁעַ֒Joshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

  • וַיִּשְׂא֡וּand they took up

    vaiyisuH5375 →656 times

  • שְׁתֵּֽי־two [plus]

    shetei-H8147 →768 times

  • עֶשְׂרֵ֨הten

    ʾesrehH6240 →338 times

  • אֲבָנִ֜יםstones

    ʾavanimH68 →273 times

  • מִתּ֣וֹךְfrom [the] middle of

    mitokhH8432 →418 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֗ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • דִּבֶּ֤רhe had said

    diberH1696 →1141 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַJoshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

  • לְמִסְפַּ֖רto [the] number of

    lemisparH4557 →

  • שִׁבְטֵ֣י[the] tribes of

    shivteiH7626 →190 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] people of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וַיַּעֲבִר֤וּםand they took over them

    vaiyaavirumH5674 →556 times

  • עִמָּם֙with them

    ʾimamH5973 →1050 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמָּל֔וֹןthe lodging place

    hamalonH4411 →

  • וַיַּנִּח֖וּםand they set down them

    vaiyanichumH5117 →142 times

  • שָֽׁם׃there

    shamH8033 →834 times

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

1 stop

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 4:20

    And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 4:3

      and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend…

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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 →