Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 4:3
And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
3. twelve stones ] We find on several occasions large stones set up to commemorate remarkable events, as ( a) by Jacob in memory of the vision of the Angels at Beth-el (Gen 28:18); ( b) by the same patriarch on his return from Padan-aram (Gen 35:14); ( c) by the same patriarch again as a “heap of witness” between him and Laban (Gen 31:45-47); ( d) by Samuel at “Eben-ezer” to mark the site of the victory over the Philistines (1Sa 7:12). Such stones were sometimes consecrated by anointing with oil (Gen 28:18).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. Where ye shall lodge this night.] This was in the place that was afterwards called Gilgal. See Jos 4:19.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Out of the midst of Jordan; See POOLE “Jos 3:17“. There ye shall lodge this night, i.e. in Gilgal, as is expressed below, Jos 4:19,20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And command you them, saying,…. As follows:
take you hence out of the midst of Jordan; so that they were obliged to go back into the midst of Jordan, having already passed over it, as appears from Jos 4:1;
out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm; where being stones, they chose to stand upon them, and which were a firm standing for them; and which secured them from the slime and mud at the bottom of the river the waters left behind; though it is not absolutely necessary to understand it that they were to take, and did take, the stones from under their feet, but those that lay about the place where they stood:
twelve stones; each man a stone; and, according to the Samaritan Chronicle f, every man inscribed his name on the stone:
and ye shall carry them over with you; from the place they took them up, to the place they should next stop at:
and leave them in the lodging place where you shall lodge this night: which was in the place afterwards called Gilgal, Jos 4:19.
f Apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. p. 500, 503.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
IV.
(3) Out of the midst of Jordan . . . twelve stones(9) Twelve stones in the midst of Jordan.It would seem that we are to understand two cairns to have been set up, one on either side the river, to mark the place where the Israelites crossed. The western cairn was in Gilgal, the other on the opposite side, at the edge of the overflow, where the priests had stopped. The only difficulty lies in the words above cited, in the midst of Jordan. The phrase, like many other Hebrew phrases, is used in a different way from that in which we should use it. The words in the middle of the Jordan to an English reader appear to mean half-way between the banks. But if the river were divided, and half of it had recoiled many miles towards the north, and the rest flowed away to the south, any one standing between these two parts of the river might be said to stand in the midst of Jordan, the two parts being on either side; and he would be equally in the midst, as regards them, whether he were at the edge of the stream or not. It is contrary to common-sense, as well as to the words of the text, to suppose that a cairn was set up in the midst of the rivers bed. They are there unto this day, the writer adds in Jos. 4:9. It is perfectly clear from Jos. 3:8 that the priests stood at the brim of the overflow. That spot and no other would be the particular spot which it would be most interesting to mark, the place from which Jordan, in full flood, was driven back.
Further, the words in the midst (Hebrew, Vthlc) do not necessarily mean more than within. In Jos. 19:1, it is said the inheritance of Simeon was within (bthk) the inheritance of the children of Judah. Yet it was entirely on one edge of it. May not the ark standing in the midst of Jordan represent that suspension of the power of death which is effected by the interposition of our Saviour, and fills the interval between the reign of death from Adam to Moses, and the second death that is to come?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
No doubt the choice of twelve stones was intended to manifest, that all the twelve tribes of Israel were equally interested in the memorial. And Jesus had his twelve apostles also. And the New Jerusalem, which this Canaan represented, had its twelve gates, with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel upon them, as also the names of the apostles of the Lamb upon the foundations. Rev 21:12-14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
Ver. 3. Twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you. ] This is an ancient and commendable practice, by lasting monuments to propagate and perpetuate the memory of special mercies and signal deliverances; to set up some marks and mementoes upon them, that they grow not stale or moth eaten. To this end were those new names of places, Bethel, Penuel, Gilgal, Eben Ezer, Ramath Lehi, Berachah, &c. This is the best art of memory, and a very good means both to prevent Satan – who striveth to obliterate God’s great works, or else to alienate and translate them upon himself, – to excite ourselves to duty – for it fortifieth faith, feedeth hope, nourisheth joy, – and to do good to posterity. Psa 48:13 ; Psa 102:18
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The two memorials
The two memorials. The twelve stones taken out of Jordan and erected by Joshua in Gilgal, and the twelve stones left in Jordan to be overwhelmed by its waters, are memorials marking the distinction between Christ’s death under judgment in the believer’s place Psa 42:7; Psa 88:7; Joh 12:31-33 and the believer’s perfect deliverance from judgment. The stones in Jordan stand, typically, for Psa 22:1-8.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the priests feet: Jos 3:13
twelve stones: Jos 24:27, Gen 28:22, Deu 27:1-26, 1Sa 7:12, Psa 103:2, Psa 11:4, Luk 19:40
leave them: Jos 4:8, Jos 4:19, Jos 4:20
Reciprocal: Exo 24:4 – according Jos 3:17 – stood firm Jos 24:26 – set it 1Ki 18:31 – twelve stones Ecc 3:5 – to cast Luk 3:8 – of these
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood {a} firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the {b} lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
(a) As in Jos 3:17.
(b) Meaning, the place where they would camp.