to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
Parallel translations
- WEB that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’
- KJV That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
- NKJV that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
- NASB This shall be a sign among you; when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
- NLT We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’
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
The stones are to be a sign so that when children ask their meaning, the story can be told. The memorial is meant to teach future generations about God.
Overview
God designs the memorial to prompt questions from children, opening the way to pass on the account of His salvation. This reflects the biblical emphasis on teaching the next generation God's mighty works (Deuteronomy 6:7, 20-25). Faith is meant to be transmitted, so that each generation knows and trusts the God who delivers His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Exod 13:14In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Josh 4:21Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’
- Ps 44:1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
- Deut 6:20–21In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”
- Josh 22:27Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’
- Deut 11:19Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Ps 78:3–8that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Isa 38:19The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
- Exod 12:26–27When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
- Ps 71:18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
- Isa 55:13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
- Ezek 20:12I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
- Exod 12:14And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
- Exod 31:13“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
- Acts 2:39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Exod 13:9It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
- Num 16:38As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”
- Ezek 20:20Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 4:6 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.