Joshua 4:20

Joshua 4:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
• New International Version (NIV)And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

Context of Joshua 4:20

18It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before. 19Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal, on the eastern edge of Jericho. As for those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set them up at Gilgal. 21And he said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’

Joshua 4:20 word by word

וְאֵת֩ שְׁתֵּ֨ים עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה הָֽאֲבָנִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לָקְח֖וּ מִן־הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן הֵקִ֥ים יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ בַּגִּלְגָּֽל׃Read the interlinear

• thoseאֵ֫לֶּה'êlleh · theseH428
• twelveשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• twelveעָשָׂר‛âώâr · tenH6240
• stonesאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
• whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• they had takenלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• from the Jordanיַרְדֵּןyardên · JordanH3383
• Joshuaיְהוֹשׁוּעַyehôshûa‛ yehôshûa‛ · JoshuaH3091
• setקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
• upקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
• at Gilgalגִּלְגָּלgilgâl · GilgalH1537

Cross-references for Joshua 4:20

• Joshua 4:3and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firmly, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the encampment where you will spend the night.’”

Commentaries on Joshua 4:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Those twelve stones - It is very likely that a base of mason-work was erected of some considerable height, and then the twelve stones placed on the top of it; and that this was the case both in Jordan and in Gilgal: for twelve such stones as a man could carry a considerable way on his shoulder, see Joshua 4:5, could scarcely have made any observable altar, or pillar of memorial: but erected on a high base of mason-work they would be very conspicuous, and…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-24Verses 20-24 It is the duty of parents to tell their children betimes of the words and works of God, that they may be trained up in the way they should go. In all the instruction parents give their children, they should teach them to fear God. Serious godliness is the best learning. Are we not called, as much as the Israelites, to praise the loving-kindness of our God? Shall we not raise a pillar to our God, who has brought us through dangers and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20The tenth day of the first month: This happened a few days before the Passover feast. Gilgal became an important worship center for early Israel. Although its exact location is uncertain, it was somewhere just east or northeast of Jericho. Its name means “wheel of a cart” (compare Isaiah 28:28). This suggests that Joshua set up the 12 stones in a circle (see study note on Joshua 5:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2420-24. those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal--Probably to render them more conspicuous, they might be raised on a foundation of earth or turf. The pile was designed to serve a double purpose--that of impressing the heathen with a sense of the omnipotence of God, while at the same time it would teach an important lesson in religion to the young and rising Israelites in after ages.Read the comment

Topics related to Joshua 4:20

• Gilgal
• Instruction
• Stones

In the dictionaries

• Gilgal
• Jordan
• Joshua
• Jordan River, Jordan
• Gerizim, Mount
• Images
• Joshua (2)
• Joshua, Book of
• Priests and Levites

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