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Memorial Stones

from JordanNew American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Chapter 4)

1 Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’ ”

Note: 8486 I. שִׂיד‎ (śîḏ): v.; ≡ Str 7874; TWOT 2254—LN 6.54–6.67 (qal) paint, coat, i.e., to coat with a surface with liquid compound (quicklime whitewash), with the effect of being a plaster as it smooths in pits and small fissures on a mason surface (Dt 27:2, 4+), note: used here as a preparation of a writing surface, see also domain LN 45; note: NIV “plaster”

8487 II. שִׂיד‎ (śîḏ): n.[masc.]; ≡ Str 7875; TWOT 2254a—1. LN 2.14–2.28 lime, quicklime, i.e., a dry, white powdery substance from limestone or some kinds of seashells, used as a substance for whitewash paint which absorbs into fissures and cracks of a substance, so also a kind of plaster (Dt 27:2, 4+), see also LN 7.77–7.79; 2. LN 6.54–6.67 whitewash, quicklime-plaster, i.e., a liquid composition with many various uses in construction, in this context used as a smoothing and whitening agent on a surface to prepare for writing on (Isa 33:12; Am 2:1+), see also domain LN 451

1 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

God can take a life that has been broken and cracked wash it all away.

Signs of God given to leaders Men to teach

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Chapter 4)

4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;

5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

6 “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

Note: These were the leaders of the Israel tribes who collected the stones. The important part is, they are the ones who gives the word to the people. So in this case they are required to teach and remind the people who God is and what he has done for the people.

Water

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Chapter 4)

7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

8 Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there.

9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

10 For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;

11 and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed before the people.

12 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;

13 about 40,000 equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.

14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.

15 Now the LORD said to Joshua,

16 “Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”

18 It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.

20 aThose twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.

21 He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’

22 then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’

23 “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

24 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may cfear the LORD your God forever.”

NOte: WATER A valuable resource in the ancient world, a source of power and fear, a means of deliverance and punishment, and a vital element in religious worship.

Water as Power

In the ancient world, as in the modern one, water was an extremely valuable resource. A group of people controlling a water source were healthier and had economic advantages over those who needed water. The need for water inspired ancient people to develop hydraulic systems that allowed them to transport and preserve water as a resource (Mithen, Thirst). Having a continual source of water during wartime, especially during a siege, was vital. Many cities developed protected tunnels and canals that could bring water into the city to sustain them (de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238–40). Hezekiah’s Tunnel (or the Siloam Tunnel) under Jerusalem is a prime example.

Water as Chaos

To many ancient people, large bodies of water like lakes and oceans represented chaos (von Rad, Old Testament Theology, 152). The earth was understood to have been founded on the waters (e.g., Psa 24:2), and these waters were held at bay by the Creator, although, as Gen 7 depicts, these waters could also be released by the Creator, wreaking havoc in the process.

Water as Deliverance and Punishment

In the Old Testament, water functions as a means of deliverance and punishment, and sometimes both simultaneously:

• Noah and his family are saved by the water while wicked humanity is annihilated (Gen 6–8).

• Moses is rescued in the same river where other children were killed (Exod 1–2).

• When God judges Egypt, He contaminates the life-giving Nile (Exod 7:14–25).

• Moses and the Israelites are delivered through the sea while Pharaoh’s army is engulfed by it (Exod 14:21–29)

• Similarly, the Jordan River is parted in Josh 3:14–17.

• Moses strikes a rock and brings forth life-saving water (Exod 17:1–7; Num 20:2–13).

• Elisha instructs Naaman to dip in the Jordan River seven times to be cleansed of his skin disease (2 Kgs 5:10–14).

• Water is a means of both rescue and rebuke for the prophet Jonah.

Water as Religious Element

Water also has religious significance in the Bible. It was central to the washing ritual that took place at the laver of bronze in the tent of meeting (Exod 30:18–21). Many Levitical ordinances used water, whether for washing sacrifices (Lev 1:9–13), sacred vessels (Lev 6:28), the priests (Lev 8), or anyone who was ceremonially unclean. In the New Testament, baptism in water functioned as a sign of repentance under the prophetic calling of John the Baptist (Matt 3:5–6; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3) and was a symbol of initiation for the earliest Christians (Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38).

Bibliography

Mithen, Steven. Thirst: For Water and Power in the Ancient World. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2012.

Rad, Gerhard von. Old Testament Theology: The Theology of Israel’s Historical Traditions. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.

Vaux, Roland de. Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

Brian LePort, “Water,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).