Joshua 4:12

4:10-19 The priests with the ark did not stir till ordered to move. Let none be weary of waiting, while they have the tokens of God's presence with them, even the ark of the covenant, though it be in the depths of adversity. Notice is taken of the honour put upon Joshua. Those are feared in the best manner, and to the best purpose, who make it appear that God is with them, and that they set him before them.

And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh,.... Who were settled on the other side Jordan, in the countries taken from Sihon and Og: passed over armed before the children of Israel; the rest of the tribes: as Moses spake unto them; or ordered them, and as they promised they would, Numbers 32:17.

Joshua 4:12-13 . The children of Reuben passed over armed — As they had engaged to do, Numbers 32:20-27 , and Joshua 1:13 . About forty thousand prepared for war — It is likely that Joshua drew out this number only of chosen men; and left all the rest to take care of their families and flocks. Passed over before the Lord — Having passed over the river, they stood in battle array before the ark, at the distance, probably, of two thousand cubits; or, in the presence of the Lord, as the expression, before the Lord, may mean, who observed whether they would keep their covenant with their brethren or not.

12, 13. the children of Reuben … passed over armed before the children of Israel—There is no precedency to the other tribes indicated here; for there is no reason to suppose that the usual order of march was departed from; but these are honorably mentioned to show that, in pursuance of their promise (Jos 1:16-18), they had sent a complement of fighting men to accompany their brethren in the war of invasion.

Another set of stones is intended than that before mentioned. The one set was erected by the command of God at the spot where they passed the night Joshua 4:3 ; the other by Joshua on the spot where the priests' feet rested while they bore up the ark during the passage of the people. This spot was near, or perhaps on, the eastern brink (compare Joshua 3:8 ). These stones would therefore mark the spot at which the people crossed, as the others marked the place in which they lodged the night after the crossing; nor, as the stones would only be reached by the water in flood time, and then by the utmost edge of it, is there any reason why they could not both be seen, and continue in their place as the writer asserts they did up to the time when he wrote.

Verse 12. - Armed (see Joshua 1:14 ). Before the children of Israel. Not necessarily "in front of," but "in the sight of," as in Numbers 8:22 . The Israelites were witnesses of the fulfilment of the pledge given them by their brethren. But the usual place of these tribes was not with the vanguard. See last verse, whine the same words are translated "in the presence of." Joshua 4:12

The account of the fighting men of the tribes on the east of the Jordan passing over along with them, in number about 40,000, is added as a supplement, because there was no place in which it could be appropriately inserted before, and yet it was necessary that it should be expressly mentioned that these tribes performed the promise they had given ( Joshua 1:16-17 ), and in what manner they did so. The words וגו ויּעברוּ do not imply that these 40,000 men crossed over behind the priests with the ark, which would not only be at variance with the fact so expressly stated, that the ark of the covenant was the medium of the miraculous division of the water, but also with the distant statement in Joshua 4:18 , that when the priests, with the ark, set their feet upon the dry land, the waters filled the river again as they had done before. The imperfect with vav consec. here expresses simply the order of thought, and not of time. "Arboth Jericho," the steppes of Jericho, were that portion of the Arabah or Ghor which formed the environs of Jericho, and which widens here into a low-lying plain of about three and a half or four hours' journey in breadth, on account of the western mountains receding considerably to the south of the opening of the Wady Kelt (Rob.

Pal. ii. pp. 263ff.). - In Joshua 4:14 the writer mentions still further the fact that the Lord fulfilled His promise (in Joshua 3:7 ), and by means of this miracle so effectually confirmed the authority of Joshua in the eyes of Israel, that the people feared him all the days of his life as they had feared Moses. "This was not the chief end of the miracle, that Joshua increased in power and authority; but since it was a matter of great importance, so far as the public interests were concerned, that the government of Joshua should be established, it is very properly mentioned, as an addition to the benefits that were otherwise conferred, that he was invested as it were with sacred insignia, which produced such a felling of veneration among the people, that no one dared to treat him with disrespect" (Calvin).

Verse 29. - The places mentioned in this verse were assigned to Manasseh. Bethshean was on the west of Jordan, and was within the borders of Issachar ( Joshua 17:11-13 ; 1 Kings 4:11, 12 ). Dor was within the borders of Asher ( Joshua 11:1, 2 ; Joshua 12:23 ; Joshua 17:11 ; Judges 1:27, 28 ). Taanach . This place also lay within the borders of Issachar or Asher ( Joshua 17:11, 12 ; Joshua 21:25 ; Judges 5:19 ). Megiddo . This place is constantly coupled with the preceding. It lay on the south of the plain of Esdraelon ( Joshua 12:21 ; Joshua 17:12 ; Judges 1:27 ; 1 Kings 4:12 ). 1 Chronicles 7:29