Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on Joshua 4:1
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Crossing the River. - In the account of the crossing, the main point is their taking twelve stones with them from the bed of the river to the opposite side to serve as a memorial. To set forth the importance of this fact as a divine appointment, the command of God to Joshua is mentioned first of all ( Jos 4:2, Jos 4:3); then the repetition of this command by Joshua to the men appointed for the work ( Jos 4:4-7); and lastly, the carrying out of the instructions ( Jos 4:8). This makes it appear as though God did not give the command to Joshua till after the people had all crossed over, whereas the twelve men had already been chosen for the purpose ( Jos 3:12). But this appearance, and the discrepancy that seems to arise, vanish as soon as we take the different clauses-which are joined together here by vav consec., according to the simple form of historical composition adopted by the Hebrews, "and Jehovah spake, saying," etc. ( Jos 4:2, Jos 4:3); "and Joshua called the twelve men," etc. ( Jos 4:4), \- and arrange them in logical order, and with their proper subordination to one another, according to our own modes of thought and conversation, as follows: "Then Joshua called the twelve men-as Jehovah had commanded him, saying, 'Take you twelve men out of the people,' etc. - and said to them," etc. (Note: So far as the meaning is concerned, Kimchi, Calvin, and many others, were perfectly correct in taking Jos 4:1-3 as a parenthesis, and rendering ויּאמר as a pluperfect, though, grammatically considered, and from a Hebrew point of view, the historical sense with vav consec. does not correspond to our pluperfect, but always expresses the succession either of time or thought. This early Hebrew form of thought and narrative is completely overlooked by Knobel, when he pronounces Jos 4:1-3 an interpolation from a second document, and finds the apodosis to Jos 4:1 in Jos 4:4. The supposed discrepancy-namely, that the setting up of the memorial is not described in Jos 4:5. as a divine command, as in Jos 4:8, Jos 4:10 -by which Knobel endeavours to establish his hypothesis, is merely a deduction from the fact that Joshua did not expressly issue his command to the twelve men as a command of Jehovah, and therefore is nothing more than an unmeaning argumentum e silentio.) Jos 4:1-5 When all the people had crossed over Jordan, (Note: The piska in the middle of Jos 4:1 is an old pre-Masoretic mark, which the Masorites have left, indicating a space in the midst of the verse, and showing that it was the commencement of a :parashah.) Joshua issued to the twelve men who had been appointed by the twelve tribes the command given to him by God: "Go before the ark of Jehovah into the midst of Jordan, and take every man a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites," or, as it is expressed in the fuller explanation in the divine command in Jos 4:3, "from the standing-place of the priests, the setting up of twelve stones (הכין is an infinitive used as a substantive, or else it should be pointed as a substantive), and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place of encampment where ye shall pass the night." Jos 4:6-7 This (viz., their taking the twelve stones with them and setting them up) was to be a sign in Israel; the stones were to serve as a memorial of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan to all succeeding generations. For the expression "if your children ask to-morrow (in future)," etc., see Exo 13:14; Exo 1…
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