joshua-4:15-24-niv

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:1-24

The memorial. Prom this chapter we learn several lessons. I. THE DUTY OF COMMEMORATING , BY A PIOUS MEMORIAL , THE GOOD THINGS GOD HAS DONE FOR US . The memory of events under the law was ever kept up in this way. The memorials of God's mercy we read of in the Old Testament are innumerable. There was circumcision, the memorial of God's covenant with Abraham; the stone set up at Bethel, the memorial of Jacob's vision. There was the passover, the memorial of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:6-22

Memorials. The crossing the Jordan dry shod was tile first miracle which marked the entrance of the people of Israel into the land of Canaan. It was God's purpose that this should be held in perpetual remembrance. Hence the erection of the twelve stones in the bed of the river, to remind the twelve tribes of that which the Almighty hand had wrought for them, in fulfilment of the promise made to their fathers. The material monument would, however, be insufficient of itself to preserve this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:15

And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying. Meyer and others, according to the method of a certain school, regard this as an extract from another document, which is equivalent to saying that the Book of Joshua is a compilation of the most unintelligent kind, a conclusion which is refuted by every line of the Book. A vivid and picturesque narrative, such as we have before us, could hardly have Been brought together by the liberal use of scissors and paste, with utter disregard of the coherence of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:15-17

Prophets and priests-the order of precedence. Here a layman commands a priest. It was not a case of royal supremacy exactly, nor did he govern them by virtue of his being the civil head of the community; but because, though layman (he was of the tribe of Ephraim), he was a prophet. "The Lord spake to Joshua," and therefore Joshua could command even the priests of God. We have here not a question of arehaeological interest merely. It is a live question of today. Rome goes in for having an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:16

The testimony. The word עֵדוּת though derived from the same root as עֵד witness, would seem rather to have the sense of precept, from the idea of repetition contained in the root. Compare the well known Hebrew particle עוֹד again. It must refer to the two tables of the law which ( Hebrews 10:4 ) were placed in the ark (see Deuteronomy 10:5 , and comp. Exodus 25:16 , Exodus 25:21 , Exodus 25:40 , Numbers 17:10 , where this is said to be the testimony). Other things... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:18

When the priests ... were come up. There is a difference of reading here. The Masorites read as our version. The Hebrew text implies that the waters began to flow from the very moment that the priests' feet left the channel of the Jordan. Were lifted up. The original is more vivid, and marks the authentic sources from which this history is derived. Were plucked up, i.e; out of the soft adhesive mud in the channel of the river. The construction of the original is a constructio praegnans.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:18

The passage of Jordan the symbol of death. The passage of Jordan as the necessary way of entrance into the land of promise has always been regarded as symbolic of the death of the Christian. The same causes which allowed the children of Israel to cross the stream without being buried in its waters, operate in the case of the believing soul, to enable him also to pass through the deep water floods without being overflowed by them. These causes may be described as threefold. I. THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:19

On the tenth day of the first month. This statement, compared with Joshua 5:10 , will bear close analysis, and refutes the clumsy compiler theory. There was just time between the tenth and fourteenth day of the month for the events described in the meantime. And the scrupulous obedience to the law, the provisions of which, we are expressly told, had been of necessity neglected hitherto, is a fact closely in keeping with the character of Joshua, and the whole spirit of the narrative. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:19-24

Memorials. The passage of the Jordan has been called a "priestly miracle," a natural event "turned into a miracle" by the historian for the sake of exalting the priestly office. We fail, however, to see that any such special prominence has been given to the priestly clement. It is the ark that is the medium of the miracle working power, the priests are but its servants and attendants. The ark, as the symbol and throne of the Divine presence, is the centre around which all the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:21

When . Hebrews אֲשֶר . The relative pronoun here is sometimes equivalent to "when," as in Deuteronomy 11:6 ; I Kings Deuteronomy 8:9 . Gesenius would translate "if that," and Keil would render by quod. read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:1-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:6-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:15-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:18

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:18

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:19

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:19-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 4:21

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