Joshua 4:6
New International Version
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’

New Living Translation
We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’

English Standard Version
that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’

Berean Standard Bible
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

King James Bible
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?

New King James Version
that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

New American Standard Bible
This shall be a sign among you; when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

NASB 1995
“Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

NASB 1977
“Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

Legacy Standard Bible
in order that this would be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

Amplified Bible
so that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

Christian Standard Bible
so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you? ’

Holman Christian Standard Bible
so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

American Standard Version
that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because this will be a sign among you, that when your children of tomorrow will ask you and they will say to you: ‘What are these stones?’

Brenton Septuagint Translation
that these may be to you continually for an appointed sign, that when thy son asks thee in future, saying, What are these stones to us?

Douay-Rheims Bible
That it may be a sign among you end when your children shall ask you to morrow, saying: What mean these stones?

English Revised Version
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This will be a sign for you. In the future your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

Good News Translation
These stones will remind the people of what the LORD has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you,

International Standard Version
Let this serve as a sign among you, so that when your children ask in times to come, 'What do these stones mean to you,'

JPS Tanakh 1917
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying: What mean ye by these stones?

Literal Standard Version
so that this is a sign in your midst when your children ask hereafter, saying, What [are] these stones to you?

Majority Standard Bible
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

New American Bible
In the future, these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

NET Bible
The stones will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, 'Why are these stones important to you?'

New Revised Standard Version
so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’

New Heart English Bible
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do you mean by these stones?'

Webster's Bible Translation
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?

World English Bible
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’

Young's Literal Translation
so that this is a sign in your midst, when your children ask hereafter, saying, What are these stones to you?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Twelve Stones from the Jordan
5and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, 6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”…

Cross References
Exodus 12:26
When your children ask you, 'What does this service mean to you?'

Exodus 13:14
In 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.

Joshua 4:5
and said to them, "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,

Joshua 4:21
Then Joshua said to the Israelites, "In the future, when your children ask their fathers, 'What is the meaning of these stones?'


Treasury of Scripture

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these stones?

a sign

Joshua 22:27
But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

Exodus 12:14
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

Exodus 13:9
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

when your

Joshua 4:21
And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

Exodus 12:26
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

Exodus 13:14
And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

in time to come [heb] to-morrow

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Joshua 4
1. Twelve men are appointed to take twelve memorial stones from Jordan
9. Twelve other stones are set up in the midst of Jordan
10. The people pass over
14. God magnifies Joshua
15. The priests commanded to come out of Jordan
20. The twelve stones are pitched in Gilgal














Verse 6. - That this may be a sign unto you. There was for many years a visible memorial of the miracle. When your children ask their fathers in time to come (cf. Exodus 12:26; Exodus 13:14; Deuteronomy 6:20). The passover, the law itself, as well as certain outward and visible memorials, were to be the guarantees to future ages of the truth of the history related in the Books of Hoses and Joshua. The monument has disappeared, but the observance of the passover and the whole law by the Jews now, more than 3,000 years after the events related in these books, is a perpetual standing witness of the truth of the record. In like manner the Christian passover, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, is appealed to by Christians of every denomination as a proof of the substantial truth of the narrative of the Gospels.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
to
לְמַ֗עַן (lə·ma·‘an)
Conjunction
Strong's 4616: Purpose -- intent

serve as
תִּֽהְיֶ֛ה (tih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

a sign
א֖וֹת (’ō·wṯ)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 226: A signal, as a, flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence

among you.
בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם (bə·qir·bə·ḵem)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 7130: The nearest part, the center

In the future,
מָחָר֙ (mā·ḥār)
Adverb
Strong's 4279: Deferred, the morrow, tomorrow, hereafter

when
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

your children
בְּנֵיכֶ֤ם (bə·nê·ḵem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 1121: A son

ask,
יִשְׁאָל֨וּן (yiš·’ā·lūn)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 7592: To inquire, to request, to demand

‘What
מָ֛ה (māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

do these
הָאֵ֖לֶּה (hā·’êl·leh)
Article | Pronoun - common plural
Strong's 428: These, those

stones
הָאֲבָנִ֥ים (hā·’ă·ḇā·nîm)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 68: A stone

mean to you?’
לָכֶֽם׃ (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew


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OT History: Joshua 4:6 That this may be a sign among (Josh. Jos)
Joshua 4:5
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