Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 4:21
And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What [mean] these stones?
21. When your children ] Nothing is more carefully inculcated in the Law than the duty of parents to teach their children not only its precepts and principles, but the meaning of all the great historical events in their national existence. (Comp. Exo 12:26; Exo 13:8; Exo 13:14; Deu 4:5; Deu 4:9-10.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying,…. At the same time he set up the stones:
when you children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying,
What [mean] these stones? [See comments on Jos 4:6].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘ And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What mean these stones?’ Then you shall let your children know saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land’.” ’
The stones also stood as a witness to future generations of this amazing event when the people had crossed over the riverbed of Jordan at a time when it was in flood, because YHWH had held back the waters so that they could cross, and had immediately released them once they were across. For the question asked by the children compare Exo 12:26; Exo 13:8; Exo 13:14; Deu 4:9; Deu 6:20-21; Deu 11:19; Deu 32:7. The teaching of children about YHWH and His activities on their behalf was considered of vital importance in Israel.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
We meet with many passages in the Bible, of the Lord’s directing his people to gratify the enquiry of their children in all questions of divine things. And what can be more sweet or more suited to the situation of creatures such as we are, passing away one generation after another, than to hand down from father to son the gracious works of God. Exo 12:26-27 ; Deu 6:19 . I only detain the Reader to remark, that the Lord hath appointed the memorandum of one mercy, to connect with it the remembrance of another. The drying up of Jordan was to be the introduction of rehearsing the drying up the Red Sea, though there was forty years distance between those events. Our God, our Jesus is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever. As he was with our fathers so is he with us, for his mercy endureth forever.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 4:21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What [mean] these stones?
Ver. 21. See Jos 4:6-7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
When your: Jos 4:6, Psa 105:2-5, Psa 145:4-7
in time to come: Heb. to-morrow
Reciprocal: Exo 12:26 – your children Exo 13:14 – thy son Deu 4:9 – teach them Deu 6:20 – when thy son Psa 78:4 – showing Psa 111:4 – He hath Isa 19:20 – for a Isa 38:19 – the father Eze 17:12 – Know Joe 1:3 – General Eph 6:4 – but