Joshua 4:9
in Joshua 4Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Joshua 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Another set of stones is intended than that before mentioned. The one set was erected by the command of God at the spot where they passed the night Jos 4:3; the other by Joshua on the spot where the priests’ feet rested while they bore up the ark during the passage of the people. This spot was near, or perhaps on, the eastern brink (compare Jos 3:8).
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.
This site's exposition
Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan
Kennicott proposed a one letter change to the Hebrew so that the verse would read from the middle of the Jordan. Clarke sets it aside for want of manuscript support. Wesley supposes these river stones were larger than a shoulder load and showed when the water ran low.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
The ark of the covenant was shut up in the sanctuary and covered by a veil placed over against it, and yet its hidden splendor was not without benefit, when they learned from the Law that the covenant of God was deposited in it.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Twelve stones - These stones are not the same with those which a man could carry upon his shoulder, ver. 5. They might be very much larger; and being set up in two rows one above another, might be seen, at least when the water was low, especially where it was shallow, as it was ordinarily, though not at this time, when Jordan overflowed all its banks.
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And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan,....
Some way or other, it is likely, it was discernible, so as to notify the very place where the ark stood, and to serve for a duplicate to the other monument, which was to set up on dry land in Gilgal, for the confirming of its testimony and the preserving of its tradition.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Joshua set up twelve stones . . . in the place where the feet of the priests . . . stood--In addition to the memorial just described, there was another memento of the miraculous event, a duplicate of the former, set up in the river itself, on the very spot where the ark had rested.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan - It seems from this chapter that there were two sets of stones erected as a memorial of this great event; twelve at Gilgal, Jos 4:20 and twelve in the bed of Jordan, Jos 4:9. The twelve stones in the bed of Jordan might have been so placed on a base of strong stone-work so high as always to be visible, and serve to mark the very spot where the priests stood with the ark. The twelve stones set up at Gilgal would stand as a monument of the place of the first encampment after this miraculous passage. Though this appears to me to be the meaning of this place, yet Dr. Kennicott’s criticism here should not be passed by. “It is well known,” says he, “that when Joshua led the Israelites over Jordan, he was commanded to take twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, to be a memorial that the ground in the very midst of that river had been made dry. But where was this memorial to be set up? The ninth verse says; Joshua set up these stones In the midst of Jordan. But is it likely that the stones should be placed or set down where they were taken up; and that the memorial should be erected there where, when the river was again united, it would be concealed, and of course could be no memorial at all? This however flatly contradicts the rest of the chapter, which says these stones were pitched in Gilgal, where Israel lodged in Canaan for the first time. The solution of this difficulty is, that בתוך bethoch In the midst, should be here מתוך mittoch, From the midst, as in Jos 4:3, Jos 4:8, Jos 4:20, and as the word is here also in the Syrian version. The true rendering therefore is, And Joshua set up the twelve stones (taken) From the midst of Jordan,” etc. I confess I see no need for this criticism, which is not supported by a single MS. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Until the the completion of everything. This is as we learn in Masches Sotah, 34a: While they were standing in the Jordan, Yehoshua said to them, “You must know the purpose for which you are crossing the Jordan.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁתֵּ֧ים | usheteim | and two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֣ה | ʾesreh | ten | H6240 → | 338 times |
| אֲבָנִ֗ים | ʾavanim | stones | H68 → | 273 times |
| הֵקִ֣ים | hekim | he set up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁעַ֮ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| בְּת֣וֹךְ | betokh | in [the] middle of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הַיַּרְדֵּן֒ | haiyarden | the Jordan | H3383 → | 182 times |
| תַּ֗חַת | tachat | in | H8478 → | 505 times |
| מַצַּב֙ | matzav | [the] standing-place of | H4673 → | |
| רַגְלֵ֣י | raglei | [the] feet of | H7272 → | 247 times |
| הַכֹּהֲנִ֔ים | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| נֹשְׂאֵ֖י | noseei | [the] bearers of | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֲר֣וֹן | ʾaron | [the] ark of | H727 → | 202 times |
| הַבְּרִ֑ית | haberit | the covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
| וַיִּ֣הְיוּ | vaiyihyu | and they have been | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁ֔ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֥וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וּשְׁתֵּ֧יםand two [plus]
usheteimH8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֣הten
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
אֲבָנִ֗יםstones
ʾavanimH68 →273 times
הֵקִ֣יםhe set up
hekimH6965 →628 times
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ֮Joshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
בְּת֣וֹךְin [the] middle of
betokhH8432 →418 times
הַיַּרְדֵּן֒the Jordan
haiyardenH3383 →182 times
תַּ֗חַתin
tachatH8478 →505 times
מַצַּב֙[the] standing-place of
matzavH4673 →
רַגְלֵ֣י[the] feet of
ragleiH7272 →247 times
הַכֹּהֲנִ֔יםthe priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
נֹשְׂאֵ֖י[the] bearers of
noseeiH5375 →656 times
אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of
ʾaronH727 →202 times
הַבְּרִ֑יתthe covenant
haberitH1285 →284 times
וַיִּ֣הְיוּand they have been
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
שָׁ֔םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֥וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 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
1 Samuel 7:12Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 1:10
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,
- Acts 26:22
But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- Genesis 22:14
And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
- Genesis 35:14
So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
- 1 Samuel 5:1
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,
- 2 Corinthians 1:10
Through
Exodus 28:21The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:12
The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
- Revelation 7:4–8
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:
- Revelation 21:12
Through
2 Chronicles 5:9The poles of the ark extended far enough that their ends were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:8–9
The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.
- 1 Kings 8:8–9
Where this verse is studied
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Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Calvin, Commentaries; 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.