a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
magnified
גִּדַּ֤לgi.Dal
H1431
to be (causatively make) large (in various senses · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Joshua
יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַye.ho.Shu.a'
H3091
Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
sight
בְּעֵינֵ֖יbe.'ei.Nei
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
feared
וַיִּֽרְא֣וּvai.yir.'U
H3372
to fear · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
feared
יָרְא֥וּya.re.'U
H3372
to fear · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Moses
מֹשֶׁ֖הmo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
days
יְמֵ֥יye.Mei
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
life
חַיָּֽיוchai.Yav
H2416
alive · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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 3:7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Mose…
2 Chronicles 30:12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.
1 Kings 3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to…
Joshua 1:16-18 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
Romans 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he i…
Exodus 14:31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant…
1 Samuel 12:18 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
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…
GOD MAGNIFIES JOSHUA. (Jos 4:14-24)
On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel--It appeared clear from the chief part he acted, that he was the divinely appointed leader; for even the priests did not enter the river or quit their position, except at his command; and thenceforward his authority was as firmly established as that of his predecessor.
Adam Clarke on Joshua 4:14
The Lord magnified Joshua - See the note on Jos 3:7.
John Gill on Joshua 4:14
On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of Israel,.... Made him great and honourable in their esteem, by doing what he foretold would be done, dividing the waters of Jordan, drying up the river to make a passage for them through it, as on dry land:
and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life; had a reverend esteem of him, and affection for him, and yielded obedience to him all his days; see Exodus 14:31.
John Calvin on Joshua 4:10-18
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,…
The Church Fathers
"In that day the Lord exalted Joshua." The Lord exalted Joshua, for as he increased in age his strength became obvious [for all to see]. They rightly feared the son of Nun with a lawful fear as is fitting for service. And we rightly revere our Jesus with holy fear who stands by us for all eternity.
"And they feared Jesus," it says, "as they had feared Moses." Everyone who is under the law "fears Moses"; but when he has crossed over from the law to the gospel, the observance being changed, the fear too is changed, as the Apostle also says: "for I through the law am dead to the law, that I may live to God; I have been crucified together with Christ. Yet I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me."
Nevertheless, "forty thousand armed men, girded in the sight of the Lord for war," "cross" the Jordan, and then Scripture says that: "on that day the Lord exalted Jesus in the sight of the whole race of the children of Israel." This exaltation may indeed have belonged to the son of Nave, that as leader of the people he might be held magnificent among those whom he ruled; but let us see how our Jesus, my Lord, the leader and ruler of this people, "is exalted in the sight of the whole race of the children of Israel." I judge that he himself has always been "exalted" and lofty with the Father. But this is what is needed, that "God" may "exalt" him "in" our "sight." And he "is exalted in" my "sight" when the sublimity and loftiness of his divinity is opened to me. When, then, was his lofty divinity revealed to me? Then, assuredly, when I "crossed the Jordan" and was armed with the various defenses of the sacraments for the battles.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
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…
Now that God had brought the Israelites safely across the Jordan River, Israel recognized God’s presence with Joshua as a great leader and revered him as much as they had revered Moses. Their confidence in Joshua would be crucial in the years ahead.
Rashi on Joshua 4:11
And it was when all the people had finished crossing and the Ark crossed. The Ark did not cross as the others did, but in the manner explained below:3Verse 18. ‘The soles of the feet of the Kohanim were lifted and they were moved back to the dry land, on the bank from which they initially entered. They were standing next to it and the waters were returned to their course to flow as they did before. The result of all this was that the Ark and its bearers were on this side and all the Bnei Yisroel were on the other (lit. this) side. The Ark then lifted its bearers and crossed over.’
In the people’s presence. Before the eyes of the people.
