Joshua 4:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Joshua 4:10
For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joshua 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall r…
Exodus 12:39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of…
Numbers 27:21-23 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall th…
Deuteronomy 31:9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all t…
Joshua 3:16-17 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those tha…
Psalms 119:60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 4:10-19
The inspired historian seems to be so well pleased with his subject here that he is loth to quit it, and is therefore very particular in his narrative, especially in observing how closely Joshua pursued the orders God gave him, and that he did nothing without divine direction, finishing all that the Lord had commanded him (v. 10), which is also said to be what Moses commanded. We read not of any particular commands that Moses gave to Joshua about this matter: the thing was altogether new to him. It must therefore be understood of the general instructions Moses had given him to follow the divine direction, to deliver that to the people which he received of the Lord, and to take all occasions…
THE PEOPLE PASS OVER. (Jos 4:10-13)
the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan--This position was well calculated to animate the people, who probably crossed below the ark, as well as to facilitate Joshua's execution of the minutest instructions respecting the passage (Num 27:21-23). The unfaltering confidence of the priests contrasts strikingly with the conduct of the people, who "hasted and passed over." Their faith, like that of many of God's people, was, through the weakness of nature, blended with fears. But perhaps their "haste" may be viewed in a more favorable light, as indicating the alacrity of their obedience, or it might have been enjoined in order that the the…
And the people hasted and passed over - How very natural is this circumstance! The people seeing the waters divided, and Jordan running back, might be apprehensive that it would soon resume its wonted course; and this would naturally lead them to hasten to get over, with as much speed as possible. The circumstance itself thus marked is a proof that the relater was an eyewitness of this miraculous passage.
John Gill on Joshua 4:10
The Church Fathers
Concerning those, indeed, who crossed the Red Sea, the Apostle said that "all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." But concerning those who crossed the Jordan, we too can declare in like manner that "all were baptized" into Jesus in the Jordan, so that the things which are related to have been done in the Jordan hold the pattern of the sacrament which is celebrated through baptism. But that which is written—"and the people hastened and crossed the Jordan. And it came to pass, when all the people had passed over, the ark of the Lord's Covenant also passed over"—does not seem to me to have been added idly by the Holy Spirit, when it said that "the people hastened to cross over." Whence I too judge that for us as well, when we come to the saving baptism and receive the sacraments of the word of God, the matter must not be conducted idly nor sluggishly, but we must hasten and press on, until we "cross over" all things. For to "cross over" everything is to fulfill everything that is commanded. Let us hasten therefore to "cross over," that is, to fulfill first what is written: "blessed are the poor in spirit," so that, having laid aside all arrogance and taken up the humility of Christ, we may deserve to arrive at the promised beatitude. But even when we have fulfilled this, we must not stand still nor cease, but the other things that follow must also be crossed over, so that we may "hunger and thirst after righteousness." We must cross over also what follows, that in this world we may "mourn." Quickly too the rest must be crossed over, that we may become "meek" and may deserve to be "peacemakers" and through this may be able to hear ourselves called "sons of God." We must also hasten to cross over the weight of persecutions by the virtue of patience. And when we seek after these several things, which pertain to the glory of virtue, not sluggishly nor slackly but with all urgency and speed, this seems to me to be "to cross the Jordan" with haste. But when we have crossed over and have been able to obtain what we ought to obtain, again there succeeds for us the care of diligence and caution, lest perhaps, advancing too negligently, "our steps be poured out" by some unforeseen slip, as the prophet also says: "my steps had almost been poured out." Nor ought our solicitude to be slacker in preserving virtues than in acquiring them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Across the river Jordan — Across the river Jordan
Jordan, The River · Passage of Israel over: Successfully effected — Passage of Israel over: Successfully effected
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan,.... Though on dry ground, the waters being divided:
until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; that is, until all the people had passed over Jordan, as the Lord had ordered Joshua, to encourage them unto, and go over with them, Joshua 1:2; and which Moses, by divine direction, had given Joshua in charge to do, Deuteronomy 31:7; Kimchi interprets this of the setting up of the stones in Jordan, and the removal of the other to Gilgal, of which Moses said nothing to Joshua; and though it may be true of the former, that the priests stood in Jo…
Joshua 4:10-18
10. For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
10. Sacerdotes autem portantes arcam stabant in medio Jordanis donec compleretur omnis sermo quem praeceperat Jehova ad Josuam, ut diceret populo: prorsus ut praeceperat Moses ipsi Josue: festinavit autem populus transeundo.
11. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
11. Quum vero transeundi finem fecisset universus populus,…
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 discrepa…
A second memorial of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan was submerged as soon as the river resumed its flow. The monument’s top would be visible in the dry summer seasons. • Their existence to this day indicates that the memorials stood for generations, until the final editing of the book (see Joshua Book Introduction, “Author and Date”).
Rashi on Joshua 4:10
Until the the completion of everything. This is as we learn in Masches Sotah, 34a: While they were standing in the Jordan, Yehoshua said to them, “You must know the purpose for which you are crossing the Jordan. It is on the condition that you drive away all the inhabitants of the land.”
