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The Stones Taken from the Midst of the River Bed
v. 1. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,
v. 2. Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, as had been provided for before the crossing began, Jos_3:12,
v. 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, from the very center of the stream's bed, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging-place, where ye shall lodge this night. It is plain that this entire paragraph, up to and including v. 7, belongs, in point of time, to the morning hours, and is here inserted, together with the actual execution of the order and in explanation of it.
v. 4. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, selected for this particular work, out of every tribe a man;
v. 5. and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord, your God, into the midst of Jordan, or, Go over to the place where the ark is now stationed, and take you up, every man of you, a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
v. 6. that this may be a sign among you, serve for a memorial, a monument, in their midst, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, "What mean ye by these stones?
v. 7. then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off, as related in the preceding chapter; and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever, to remind every succeeding generation of the great miracle which the Lord performed in keeping His promise and in leading His people safely into the Land of Promise.
v. 8. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, the twelve men acting as the representatives of the entire host or congregation, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, where camp was pitched that evening, and laid them down there, in the form of a rough monument.
v. 9. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, where they might become visible when the water was at low stage, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the Ark of the Covenant stood; and they are there unto this day, to the time when this report was put down or this book written. This second monument was erected by Joshua without special divine direction, but nevertheless with a good purpose, for it served to bring home to the people the fact of God's protection and assistance in the conquest of Canaan.