4:1-9. The Memorial.

t  x¹  z¹  1,2. Twelve men.
        a¹  3-. Twelve stones.
         y¹  -3. The Place.
   x²  z²  4. Twelve men.
        a²  5. Twelve stones.
         y²  6,7. The Memorial.
   x³   a³  8-. Twelve stones.
       z³  -8-. Twelve men.
         y³  -8,9. The Place.

1451 B.C.

Joshua 4)

1: And it came to pass, when all the People were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,
2: “Take you twelve men out of the People, out of every tribe a man,

3: And command you to them, saying,

‘Take you from this place out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and you all shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where you all shall lodge this night.’ ”

4: Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the sons of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

5: And Joshua said to them, “Pass over in the presence of the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you all up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel:

6: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What mean you all by these stones?’
7: Then you all shall answer them, ‘That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off:’ and these stones shall be for a memorial to the sons of Israel for ever.”

8: And the sons of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan (4 things said of these memorial stones in vv.8,9: 1. Taken up; 2. carried over; 3. laid down; 4. set up), according as the Lord spoke to Joshua,

according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, and carried them over with them

to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there (see 8:30).

9: And Joshua set up other twelve stones in the midst of Jordan (there were 2 twelves), in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there to this day.

10: For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the People, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
11: And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the People.
12: And the children of Reuben (cp. Num. 32:27. Cp. 1:12), and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed (= by fives. Cp. 6:7,9. These formed the van) before the sons of Israel, as Moses spoke to them:
13: About forty thousand ready armed passed over before the Lord to battle, to the plains of Jericho.

14: On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel (cp. 3:7); and they feared him, according as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15: And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,
16: “Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.”
17: Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come you all up out of Jordan.”

18: And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

30-31st March, 1451 B.C.

19: And the People came up out of Jordan (Heb. = the descender) on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal (Heb. = a wheel, rolling), in the east border of Jericho (= place of fragrance).

20: And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan (cp. vv.8,9), did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
21: And he spoke to the sons of Israel, saying, “When your sons shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What mean these stones?’
22: Then you all shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
23: For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you all 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:
24: That all the People of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that you all might reverence (or love) the Lord your God for ever.’ ”

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