Joshua 4:19

_AND THE PEOPLE CAME UP OUT OF JORDAN ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, AND ENCAMPED IN GILGAL, IN THE EAST BORDER OF JERICHO._ The people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month - i:e., the month Nisan, four days before the Passover, and the very day when the paschal lamb required to be set apart, the providence of God having arranged that the entrance into the promised land should be at the feast. AND ENCAMPED IN GILGAL. The name is here given by anticipation (see the note at Joshua 5:9). It was a tract of land, according to Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 5:, ch. 4:, sec. 2), fifty stadia (six and a half miles) from Jordan, and ten stadia (one and a quarter miles) from Jericho, at the eastern outskirts of the palm forest, and in the vicinity of the village Riha. But, according to Robinson, no trace either of its name or site remains....

19._And the people came up, _etc Why the day on which they entered the land, and first encamped in it, is marked, we shall see in next chapter. But the name of Gilgal is given to the first station by anticipation, for this new name was afterwards given to it by Joshua on the renewal of circumcision; its etymology will be explained in its own place. Moreover, the thing here principally treated of is the monument of twelve stones; for though it was formerly mentioned, a kind of solemn dedication is now related, namely, that Joshua not only erected a mound, but called the attention of the people to its use in enabling fathers to keep the memory of the divine goodness alive among their children. From his introducing the children asking, What mean these stones? we infer that they were arranged so as to attract the notice of spectators. For had they been heaped together at random without any o...

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....

Verse Joshua 4:19. _ON THE TENTH_ DAY _OF THE FIRST MONTH_] As the Israelites left Egypt on the _fifteenth_ day of the first month, A.M. 2513, (see Exodus 14:1), and they entered into Canaan the tenth of the first month, A.M. 2553, it is evident that _forty_ years, wanting _five_ days, had elapsed from the time of their exodus from Egypt to their entrance into the promised inheritance. _ENCAMPED IN GILGAL_] That is, in the place that was _afterwards_ called Gilgal, see Joshua 5:9; for here the name is given it by _anticipation_. In Hebrew, _gal_ signifies to _roll_; and the doubling of the root, _galgal_ or _gilgal_, signifies rollin

Gilgal, mentioned here by anticipation (compare Joshua 5:9), the modern Jiljulieh (Conder), was on rising ground (compare Joshua 5:3), and, according to Josephus, nearly five miles from the river, and consequently about two from the city itself. The site of the camp was no doubt fortified by Joshua, as it constituted for some time the abiding foothold in Canaan, from where he sallied forth to subdue the country. It was also the place of safety where the ark, and no doubt also the women, children, cattle, and other property of the people were left. Hence, the demolition of Jericho and Ai, strong fortresses in the neighborhood of Gilgal, was no doubt dictated by sound policy as well as by religious obligations....

EXPOSITION THE MEMORIAL.— JOSHUA 4:2 TWELVE STONES. The commemoration of events by the setting up of huge stones was by no means peculiar to the Jews, though it was often used by them, as, for instance, Genesis 28:18; Genesis 35:14, 1 Samuel 7:12. Almost every nation has adopted it. The Egyptian obelisks, the stones at Hamath, supposed to be of Hittite origin, the dolmens and other megalithic monuments of the Celts, the Logan or rocking stones, are cases in point. The Scandinavians filled their country with them. Our own Stonehenge and the Avebury s

AND THE PEOPLE CAME UP OUT OF JORDAN,.... The channel of it, to the shore: ON THE TENTH [DAY] OF THE FIRST MONTH; the month Nisan or Abib, which from the time of Israel's coming out of Egypt was appointed the first month of the year, Exodus 12:2; on the fifteenth of which month they came out of Egypt, having kept the passover on the fourteenth at even; so that their coming out of Egypt, to their entrance into Canaan, was just forty years, wanting five days. This tenth day was the day in which the passover was taken from the flock, and kept till the fourteenth, on which day the children of Israel kept their first passover in Canaan, in the plains of Jericho, Joshua 5:10; AND ENCAMPED IN GILGAL, IN THE EAST BORDER OF JERICHO; it has its name here by anticipation, for it was so

FIRST MONTH That is, April....

4. THE MEMORIAL STONES CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The first memorial (Joshua 4:1)_ 2. The second memorial (Joshua 4:9) 3. The return of the priests with the ark (Joshua 4:10) 4. The encampment at Gilgal (Joshua 4:19) Jehovah commanded that the great event should be remembered by a memorial. From the river-bed, where the priest's feet stood firm, twelve men, one from each tribe, were to carry twelve stones and leave them at the first lodging place in the land, that is, at Gilgal. These memorial stones were to tell subsequent generations the story of God's faithfulness and power in bringing His people through Jordan into t

JOSHUA 3:1 TO JOSHUA 5:1. THE CROSSING OF JORDAN. Here we begin to meet with more serious difficulties. The old tradition was that after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan, they commemorated the event by the erection of twelve stones. But this simple narrative existed in two recensions, which differed as to the destination of these memorial stones. According to one account, they were to be placed in the midst of the river; according to the other, they were to be set up on the W. side of the Jordan in the place where the army encamped for the night. Deuteronomic additions have been made to these narratives, _i.e._ additions of a religious colouring as in Joshua 3:7, And Yahweh said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in t