Charles Ellicott Commentary Joshua 4

Out of the midst of Jordan ... twelve stones —(9) Twelve stones in the midst of Jordan. —It would seem that we are to understand two cairns to have been set up, one on either side the river, to mark the place where the Israelites crossed. The western cairn was in Gilgal, the other on the opposite side, at the edge of the overflow, where the priests had stopped. The only difficulty lies in the words above cited, in the midst of Jordan. The phrase, like many other Hebrew phrases, is used in a different way from that in which we should use it. The words “in the middle of the Jordan” to an English reader appear to mean half-way between the banks.

But if the river were divided, and half of it had recoiled many miles towards the north, and the rest flowed away to the south, any one standing between these two parts of the river might be said to stand in the midst of Jordan, the two parts being on either side; and he would be equally in the midst, as regards them, whether he were at the edge of the stream or not.

It is contrary to common sense, as well as to the words of the text, to suppose that a cairn was set up in the midst of the river’s bed. They are there unto this day, the writer adds in Joshua 4:9. It is perfectly clear from Joshua 3:8 that the priests stood at the brim of the overflow. That spot and no other would be the particular spot which it would be most interesting to mark, the place from which Jordan, in full flood, was driven back.

Further, the words “in the midst” (Hebrew, Vthôlc) do not necessarily mean more than within. In Joshua 19:1, it is said the inheritance of Simeon was within (b’thôk) the inheritance of the children of Judah. Yet it was entirely on one edge of it. May not the ark standing in the midst of Jordan represent that suspension of the power of death which is effected by the interposition of our Savior, and fills the interval between the reign of death “from Adam to Moses,” and the “second death” that is to come?

The waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant. —Observe that the act is indirectly ascribed to the ark of the covenant:

According to the number of the tribes... .— Every tribe was represented by a stone on either side of the Jordan. The two cairns represent a complete Israel in the wilderness, and a complete Israel in the promised land. Thou shalt remember all the way that the Lord thy God led thee. By the grace of God I am what I am.

According to all that Moses commanded Joshua. — It would seem that the passage of the Jordan had been made the subject of some directions by Moses, though nothing is written concerning the manner of it in the Pentateuch. It is noticeable that if Israel had gone into the land when Moses brought them to the frontier at Kadesh-barnea, in the second year of the Exodus, they would have had no occasion to pass the Jordan at all. When the route was changed we cannot say, unless the journeying around the land of Edom (Numbers 21:4), when they left Kadesh the second time, because they were not permitted to cross that territory, marks the decision. If so, the fact suggests some interesting reflections.

About forty thousand. The totals of these three tribes at the last census (Numbers 26) were: Reuben (Numbers 26:7), 43,730; Gad (Numbers 26:18), 40,500; and Manasseh (Numbers 26:34), 52,700 (or for the exact half, 26,350). Thus, the entire force of the two and a half tribes might amount to 110,580. They therefore left more than half their number to protect their families and their dwellings. This does not seem inconsistent with the spirit of their agreement with Moses, or with the interpretation of that agreement by Joshua and their fellow Israelites. (Numbers 32:24; Numbers 32:26.) The permission to build cities implies the right to fortify and defend them.

Reuben, Gad, and Simeon formed the second division on the march in the wilderness (Numbers 10:18–20). Why Reuben and Gad discarded Simeon and associated themselves with part of Manasseh is not explained. (See Names on the Gates of Pearl.—Simeon.)