Joshua 4:6
◄  Joshua 4:6  ►
New International Version (©2011)
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'

New Living Translation (©2007)
We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'

English Standard Version (©2001)
that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

International Standard Version (©2012)
Let this serve as a sign among you, so that when your children ask in times to come, 'What do these stones mean to you,'

NET Bible (©2006)
The stones will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, 'Why are these stones important to you?'

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
This will be a sign for you. In the future your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these stones?

American King James Version
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these stones?

American Standard Version
that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Douay-Rheims Bible
That it may be a sign among you end when your children shall ask you to morrow, saying: What mean these stones?

Darby Bible Translation
that this may be a sign in your midst. When your children ask hereafter, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

English Revised Version
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Webster's Bible Translation
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

World English Bible
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do you mean by these stones?'

Young's Literal Translation
so that this is a sign in your midst, when your children ask hereafter, saying, What are these stones to you?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:1-9 The works of the Lord are so worthy of rememberance, and the heart of man is so prone to forget them, that various methods are needful to refresh our memories, for the glory of God, our advantage, and that of our children. God gave orders for preparing this memorial.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - That this may be a sign unto you. There was for many years a visible memorial of the miracle. When your children ask their fathers in time to come (cf. Exodus 12:26; Exodus 13:14; Deuteronomy 6:20). The passover, the law itself, as well as certain outward and visible memorials, were to be the guarantees to future ages of the truth of the history related in the Books of Hoses and Joshua. The monument has disappeared, but the observance of the passover and the whole law by the Jews now, more than 3,000 years after the events related in these books, is a perpetual standing witness of the truth of the record. In like manner the Christian passover, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, is appealed to by Christians of every denomination as a proof of the substantial truth of the narrative of the Gospels.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

That this may be a sign among you,.... A commemorative one:

that when your children ask their fathers in time to come; or "tomorrow" (g) and so in all time, or any time hereafter:

saying, what mean you by these stones? what is the reason of setting them up, and in this place, and being just of such a number?

(g) Sept. "eras", Pagninus, Montanus.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6, 7. 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.

Joshua 4:6 Parallel Commentaries

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Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Twelve Stones from the Jordan
…5And Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 6That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these stones? 7Then you 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: and these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel for ever. …

Exodus 12:26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?'
Exodus 13:14 "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Joshua 4:5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
Joshua 4:21 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?'