you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’
Parallel translations
- WEB Then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
- KJV Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
- NKJV then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’;
- NASB then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’
- NLT Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Parents were to tell their children that Israel crossed the Jordan on dry land. The stones preserved the memory of this concrete miracle.
Overview
The answer to the children's question centers on a real, historical act of God. Faith here rests not on myth but on remembered deeds done in space and time. By rehearsing the crossing, each generation confessed that the same God who acted then is their God still.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Josh 3:17The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.
- Isa 51:10Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?
- Isa 11:15–16The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.
- Rev 16:12And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.
- Isa 44:27who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’
- Exod 15:19For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
- Exod 14:29But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
- Ps 66:5–6Come and see the works of God; how awesome are His deeds toward mankind.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 4:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.