l. And it came to pass, etc The brief and obscure allusion previously made with regard to the twelve men he now explains more at length. He had said that they were chosen by the order of God, one each from his own tribe; but breaking off his discourse, he had not mentioned for what purpose. He now says, that by command of Joshua [1] they took up twelve stones and placed them in Gilgal, that a well marked memorial might exist among posterity. Moreover, as he only relates what was done after the passage of the people, what is interposed should be interpreted as in the pluperfect tense. [2] It is also very obvious that the copula is used instead of the rational particle. [3] The substance is, that before the priests moved their foot from the middle of the river where they stood, the stones at their feet were taken and placed in Gilgal, to be perpetual witnesses of the miracle, and that Joshua thus faithfully executed what God had commanded. Joshua, therefore, called the men whom he had previously chosen, but not without the command of God, that through it he might have a stronger attestation to his authority. For had Joshua raised up a trophy of that kind of his own accord, the piety which dictated it might indeed have been laudable, but the admonition founded only on the will of man might perhaps have been despised. But now when God himself raises the sign, it is impious to pass it carelessly by. He intimates, accordingly, that it was a monument deserving of the greatest attention when he introduces the children asking, what mean these stones?

Footnotes

1 - "Joshua." Apparently a misprint for "Jehovah;" as the French says more accurately, "Le commandment de Dieu;" "The command of God." -- Ed.

2 - French, "Par un temps passe plus que parfait (comme parlent les Latins;)" "By a past time more than perfect, (as the Latins speak.)" -- Ed.

3 - French, "Et quant a ce mot Et, on peut aisement juger qu'il se prend pour Car;" And as to this word And, we may easily judge that it is taken for For." -- Ed.

And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan,.... As related, Joshua 3:17,
that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying: as follows.

The works of the Lord are so worthy of remembrance, 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.

TWELVE STONES TAKEN FOR A MEMORIAL OUT OF JORDAN. (Joshua 4:1-8)
the Lord spake unto Joshua, Take you twelve men--each representing a tribe. They had been previously chosen for this service (Joshua 3:12), and the repetition of the command is made here solely to introduce the account of its execution. Though Joshua had been divinely instructed to erect a commemorative pile, the representatives were not apprised of the work they were to do till the time of the passage.

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 (Joshua 4:2, Joshua 4:3); then the repetition of this command by Joshua to the men appointed for the work (Joshua 4:4-7); and lastly, the carrying out of the instructions (Joshua 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 (Joshua 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. (Joshua 4:2, Joshua 4:3); "and Joshua called the twelve men," etc. (Joshua 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 Joshua 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 Joshua 4:1-3 an interpolation from a second document, and finds the apodosis to Joshua 4:1 in Joshua 4:4. The supposed discrepancy-namely, that the setting up of the memorial is not described in Joshua 4:5. as a divine command, as in Joshua 4:8, Joshua 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.)

Spake - This was commanded before, Joshua 3:12, and is here repeated with enlargement, as being now to be put in execution.