Joshua 4:6

Joshua 4:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
• New International Version (NIV)to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’
• English Standard Version (ESV)that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?'
• New King James Version (NKJV)that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

Context of Joshua 4:6

4So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.” 8Thus 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.

Joshua 4:6 word by word

לְמַ֗עַן תִּֽהְיֶ֛ה זֹ֥את א֖וֹת בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָל֨וּן בְּנֵיכֶ֤ם מָחָר֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר מָ֛ה הָאֲבָנִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לָכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

• toמַ֫עַןma‛an · becauseH4616
• ·זֹאתzô'th · thisH2063
• serve asהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• a signאוֹת'ôth · sign: indicatorH226
• among youקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
• In the futureמָחָרmâchâr · tomorrowH4279
• In the futureאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• whenכִּיkîy · forH3588
• your childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• askשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• Whatמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• do theseאֵ֫לֶּה'êlleh · theseH428
• stonesאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68

Cross-references for Joshua 4:6

• Joshua 22:27Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’
• Exodus 12:14And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
• Exodus 13:9It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
• Exodus 31:13“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
• Numbers 16:38As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”
• Isaiah 55:13Instead of the thornbush, the cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, the myrtle will spring up; this will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
• Ezekiel 20:12I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
• Joshua 4:21Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’
• Exodus 12:26When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
• Exodus 13:14In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
• Deuteronomy 6:20In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”
• Deuteronomy 11:19Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
• Psalms 44:1We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
• Psalms 71:18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
• Psalms 78:3that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
• Isaiah 38:19The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.

Commentaries on Joshua 4:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6This may be a sign - Stand as a continual memorial of this miraculous passage, and consequently a proof of their lasting obligation to God.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Joshua told the Israelites two times to get ready to explain to future generations. The stone memorial would help teach them (4:21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-76-7. That this may be a sign among you--The erection of cairns, or huge piles of stones, as monuments of remarkable incidents has been common among all people, especially in the early and rude periods of their history. They are the established means of perpetuating the memory of important transactions, especially among the nomadic people of the East. Although there be no inscription engraved on them, the history and object of such simple monuments are…Read the comment

Topics related to Joshua 4:6

• Instruction
• Pillar
• Stones
• Token

In the dictionaries

• Catechist; Catechumen
• Images
• Joshua (2)
• Joshua, Book of
• Priests and Levites
• Sign
• memorial, memorial offering

Commentaries on Joshua 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings