Christian Standard Bible
Joshua 4:6
6so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you? ’
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 selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, 5and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you? ’ 7you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.” 8The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The twelve men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.
Read all of Joshua 4Joshua 4:6 word by word
לְמַ֗עַן תִּֽהְיֶ֛ה זֹ֥את א֖וֹת בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָל֨וּן בְּנֵיכֶ֤ם מָחָר֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר מָ֛ה הָאֲבָנִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לָכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Joshua 4:6
- Joshua 22:27Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord!’
- Exodus 12:14“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.
- Exodus 13:9Let it serve as a sign for you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the Lord’s instruction may be in your mouth; for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.
- Exodus 31:13“Tell the Israelites: You must observe my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, so that you will know that I am the Lord who consecrates you.
- Numbers 16:38As for the firepans of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, make them into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord, and the firepans are holy. They will be a sign to the Israelites.”
- Isaiah 55:13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; this will stand as a monument for the Lord, an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
- Ezekiel 20:12I also gave them my Sabbaths to serve as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I am the Lord who consecrates them.
- Joshua 4:21and he 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 ceremony mean to you?’
- Exodus 13:14“In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of his hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
- Deuteronomy 6:20“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’
- Deuteronomy 11:19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Psalms 44:1God, we have heard with our ears — our ancestors have told us — the work you accomplished in their days, in days long ago:
- Psalms 71:18Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I proclaim your power to another generation, your strength to all who are to come.
- Psalms 78:3things we have heard and known and that our ancestors have passed down to us.
- Isaiah 38:19The living, only the living can thank you, as I do today; a father will make your faithfulness known to children.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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