1Ug nahitabo, nga sa nakaagi na ang tibook nga nasud sa Jordan, si Jehova namulong kang Josue, nga nagaingon: 2Magkuha ka ug napulo ug duha ka tawo gikan sa katawohan, tagsa ka tawo sa usa ka banay. 3Ug magsugo ka kanila, nga magaingon: Kumuha kamo sa taliwala sa Jordan, sa dapit diin nagtindog nga walay lihok ang mga tiil sa mga sacerdote, napulo ug duha ka bato, ug dad-a ninyo, ug ibutang sa dapit nga inyong pagahigdaan karong gabii. 4Unya gikuha ni Josue ang napulo ug duha ka tawo nga iyang giandan sa mga anak sa Israel, usa ka tawo sa matag-banay: 5Ug si Josue miingon kanila: Lumatas kamo una sa arca ni Jehova nga inyong Dios, ngadto sa taliwala sa Jordan, ug ang tagsatagsa kaninyo kumuha ug pumas-an ug usa ka bato sa iyang abaga, sumala sa gidaghanon sa mga banay sa mga anak sa Israel: 6Aron kini maoy mahimong ilhanan sa taliwala ninyo nga sa mangutana ang inyong mga anak sa panahon nga umaabut, nga magaingon: Unsay kahulogan niining mga batoha? 7Unya tubagon ninyo sila: Tungod kay ang mga tubig sa Jordan nabahin sa duruha sa atubangan sa arca sa tugon ni Jehova; sa pag-agi niana sa Jordan, ang mga tubig sa Jordan nabahin; ug kining mga batoha maoy handumanan sa mga anak sa Israel sa walay katapusan. 8Ug ang mga anak sa Israel nagbuhat sumala sa gisugo kanila ni Josue, ug nanagkuha ug napulo ug duha ka bato sa kinataliwad-an sa Jordan, sumala sa gipamulong ni Jehova kang Josue, sumala sa gidaghanon sa mga banay sa mga anak sa Israel; ug gidala nila ngadto sa dapit nga ilang gihigdaan, ug didto ilang gipahamutang kini. 9Ug si Josue nagpatindog sa napulo ug duha ka bato sa kinataliwad-an sa Jordan, sa dapit nga ginatindogan sa tiil sa mga sacerdote nga nanagyayong sa arca sa tugon: ug kini atua nagatindog gihapon didto hangtud niining adlawa. 10Kay ang mga sacerdote nga nanagyayong sa arca nanagtindog sa kinataliwad-an sa Jordan, hangtud nga nahimo ang tagsatagsa ka butang nga gisugo ni Jehova kang Josue nga ipasulti sa mga tawo, sumala sa tanang gisugo ni Moises kang Josue: ug ang mga tawo nanagdali ug nanabok. 11Ug nahitabo, nga sa nahurot na ang mga tawo pagtabok, gitabok usab ang arca ni Jehova, ug ang mga sacerdote, sa atubangan sa katawohan. 12Ug ang mga anak ni Ruben, ug ang mga anak ni Gad, ug ang katunga nga banay ni Manases, nanabok nga sangkap sa hinagiban, una sa mga anak sa Israel, sumala sa gisulti kanila ni Moises. 13May duol sa kap-atan ka libo nga sangkap sa hinagiban nga andam sa gubat, nanabok sa atubangan ni Jehova, ngadto sa panggubatan, ngadto sa mga kapatagan sa Jerico. 14Niadtong adlawa, sa atubangan sa tibook Israel, si Jehova nagpadaku kang Josue; ug sila nangahadlok kang Josue , ingon sa ilang pagkahadlok kang Moises sa tanang mga adlaw sa iyang kinabuhi. 15Ug si Jehova namulong kang Josue, nga nag-ingon: 16Sugoa ang mga sacerdote nga nanagyayong sa arca sa pagpamatuod nga tumakas sila gikan sa Jordan. 17Busa si Josue nagsugo sa mga sacerdote, nga nagaingon: Tumakas kamo gikan sa Jordan. 18Ug nahitabo, sa diha nga ang mga sacerdote nga nanagyayong sa arca sa tugon ni Jehova, nakatakas na gikan sa kinataliwad-an sa Jordan, ug ang mga lapalapa sa mga tiil niining mga sacerdote nahitunob na sa yutang mamala, ang mga tubig sa Jordan namalik sa ilang kaugalingong dapit, ug ming-awas sa iyang mga daplin, ingon sa kaniadto. 19Ug ang katawohan nanakas sa Jordan, sa ikapulo nga adlaw sa nahaunang bulan, ug namuyo sa Gilgal, sa utlanan nga dapit sa silangan sa Jerico. 20Ug kadtong napulo ug duha ka bato, nga ilang gikuha sa Jordan, gipahaluna ni Josue didto sa Gilgal. 21Ug namulong si Josue sa mga anak sa Israel, nga nagaingon: Sa diha nga ang inyong mga anak mangutana sa ilang amahan, nga magaingon: Unsa bay kahulogan niining mga batoha? 22Nan suginlan ninyo ang inyong mga anak, sa pag-ingon: Ang Israel mitabok niining Jordan sa yutang mamala. 23Kay si Jehova nga inyong Dios, nagmala sa katubigan sa Jordan sa inyong atubangan, hangtud nga kamo nakatabok, ingon sa gihimo ni Jehova nga inyong Dios, sa Dagat nga Mapula, nga iyang gimala sa atong atubangan hangtud nga kita nakatabok; 24Aron ang tanang mga katawohan sa kalibutan makaila sa kamot ni Jehova, nga kana makagagahum; aron nga kamo managkahadlok kang Jehova nga inyong Dios sa walay katapusan.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 TWELVE STONES TAKEN FOR A MEMORIAL OUT OF JORDAN. (
Josh 4:1-
Josh 4:8)
the Lord spake unto Joshua, Take you twelve men--each representing a tribe. They had been previously chosen for this service (
Josh 3:12), and the repetition of the command is made here solely to introduce the account of its execution. Though Joshua had been divinely instructed to erect a commemorative pile, the representatives were not apprised of the work they were to do till the time of the passage.
4 Joshua called the twelve men--They had probably, from a feeling of reverence, kept back, and were standing on the eastern bank. They were now ordered to advance. Picking up each a stone, probably as large as he could carry, from around the spot "where the priests stood," they pass over before the ark and deposit the stones in the place of next encampment (
Josh 4:19-
Josh 4:20), namely, Gilgal.
6 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 traditionally preserved from age to age. Similar was the purpose contemplated by the conveyance of the twelve stones to Gilgal: it was that they might be a standing record to posterity of the miraculous passage of the Jordan.
8 the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded--that is, it was done by their twelve representatives.
9 TWELVE STONES SET UP IN THE MIDST OF JORDAN. (
Josh 4:9)
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. This heap of stones might have been a large and compactly built one and visible in the ordinary state of the river. As nothing is said where these stones were obtained, some have imagined that they might have been gathered in the adjoining fields and deposited by the people as they passed the appointed spot.
they are there unto this day--at least twenty years after the event, if we reckon by the date of this history (
Josh 24:26), and much later, if the words in the latter clause were inserted by Samuel or Ezra.
10 THE PEOPLE PASS OVER. (
Josh 4:10-
Josh 4:13)
the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan--This position was well calculated to animate the people, who probably crossed below the ark, as well as to facilitate Joshua's execution of the minutest instructions respecting the passage (
Num 27:21-
Num 27:23). The unfaltering confidence of the priests contrasts strikingly with the conduct of the people, who "hasted and passed over." Their faith, like that of many of God's people, was, through the weakness of nature, blended with fears. But perhaps their "haste" may be viewed in a more favorable light, as indicating the alacrity of their obedience, or it might have been enjoined in order that the the whole multitude might pass in one day.
11 the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people--The ark is mentioned as the efficient cause; it had been the first to move--it was the last to leave--and its movements arrested the deep attention of the people, who probably stood on the opposite bank, wrapt in admiration and awe of this closing scene. It was a great miracle, greater even than the passage of the Red Sea in this respect: that, admitting the fact, there is no possibility of rationalistic insinuations as to the influence of natural causes in producing it, as have been made in the former case.
12 the children of Reuben . . . passed over armed before the children of Israel--There is no precedency to the other tribes indicated here; for there is no reason to suppose that the usual order of march was departed from; but these are honorably mentioned to show that, in pursuance of their promise (
Josh 1:16-
Josh 1:18), they had sent a complement of fighting men to accompany their brethren in the war of invasion.
13 to the plains of Jericho--That part of the Arabah or Ghor, on the west, is about seven miles broad from the Jordan to the mountain entrance at Wady-Kelt. Though now desert, this valley was in ancient times richly covered with wood. An immense palm forest, seven miles long, surrounded Jericho.
14 GOD MAGNIFIES JOSHUA. (
Josh 4:14-
Josh 4:24)
On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel--It appeared clear from the chief part he acted, that he was the divinely appointed leader; for even the priests did not enter the river or quit their position, except at his command; and thenceforward his authority was as firmly established as that of his predecessor.
18 it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark . . . were come out of the midst of Jordan . . . that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place--Their crossing, which was the final act, completed the evidence of the miracle; for then, and not till then, the suspended laws of nature were restored, the waters returned to their place, and the river flowed with as full a current as before.
19 the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month--that is, the month Nisan, four days before the passover, and the very day when the paschal lamb required to be set apart, the providence of God having arranged that the entrance into the promised land should be at the feast.
and encamped in Gilgal--The name is here given by anticipation (see on
Josh 5:9). It was a tract of land, according to JOSEPHUS, fifty stadia (six and one-half miles) from Jordan, and ten stadia (one and one-fourth miles) from Jericho, at the eastern outskirts of the palm forest, now supposed to be the spot occupied by the village Riha.
20 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.