“Take twelve men out of the people, a man out of every tribe,
Parallel Translations
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“Take twelve men out of the people, a man out of every tribe,
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Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
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'Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Joshua 4:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 3:12 Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.
- Numbers 1:4-15 With you there shall be a man of every tribe, each one head of his fathers’ house. These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur. Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar. Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon. Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. Of Benjamin: Abidan the son of Gideoni. Of Dan: Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. Of Asher: Pagiel the son of Ochran. Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel. Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan.”
- Numbers 13:2 “Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”
- Numbers 34:18 You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 1:23 The thing pleased me well. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe.
- 1 Kings 18:31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Yahweh’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
- Matthew 10:1-5 He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 4:2 Take you twelve men out of the…
Jos 4:2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
Ver. 2. Out of every tribe a man.] For the two tribes and half planted beyond Jordan were also concerned, as being of the same body and way of worship. See Jos 22:30.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For the greater evidence and certainty, and the more…
For the greater evidence and certainty, and the more effectual spreading of the report of this marvellous work among all the tribes.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Take you twelve men out of the people,.... Joshua…
Take you twelve men out of the people,.... Joshua had before this ordered twelve men to be taken from among them, which seems to have been done of himself; and now he has a direction from God for it, and what to employ them in:
out of every tribe a man; so that what they did was in the name of the several tribes, and as representing them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Out of every tribe a man - For the…
Out of every tribe a man - For the greater evidence, and the more effectual spreading the report of this marvelous work among all the tribes.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Take you twelve men] From Jos 3:12,…
Verse 2. Take you twelve men] From Jos 3:12, it appears that the twelve men had been before appointed, one taken out of each of the twelve tribes; and now they are employed for that purpose for which they had been before selected.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jos 4:2-5. Take you out of every tribe a…
Jos 4:2-5. Take you out of every tribe a man — For the greater evidence, and the more effectual spreading the report of this marvellous work among the tribes. Where ye shall lodge this night — That is, in Gilgal, as is expressed, Jos 4:19-20. Whom he had prepared — That is, appointed for that work, and commanded to be ready for it. Pass over before the ark — Or, Pass back again directly unto the ark. These twelve men, it seems, re- entered the channel of Jordan, and, being dispensed from the prohibition to approach the ark, came near the place where the priests stood, and each loaded himself with a stone as large as he could carry, and such as might afterward attest to each several tribe that he had seen the bed of the river dry, and the miracle prolonged till the entire execution of the commands of God.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Take you twelve men - The order is given…
Take you twelve men - The order is given in the plural, because no doubt the tribes themselves were to choose their own representatives, the choice being approved by Joshua Jos 4:4. These twelve would be left with Joshua on the hither bank of the river, waiting to receive his orders after the rest of the people had made their way across Jos 3:17; Jos 4:1.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Choose. Hebrew, "take," as [in] chap. iii. 12. Those…
Choose. Hebrew, "take," as [in] chap. iii. 12. Those twelve men were ordered to attend the ark, and to observe the miracle with care: these are chosen to carry the stones for the monuments. (Salien) --- Calmet supposes that they are the same people, and that the former verse might be translated, "the Lord had said." But this does not agree with the context. Hebrew, "and it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over the Jordan, that the Lord spake." The former injunction was given before they entered the river. Hebrew, "the ark passeth...Now therefore take," &c. (Haydock) --- One was selected from the tribe of Levi, and one from that of Joseph, so that all the twelve tribes were represented. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Twelve stones. The commemoration of events by the setting…
THE MEMORIAL.
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, Gen_28:18, Gen_35:14, 1Sa_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 stones are supposed by some to be, not temples nor burial places, but memorials of some battle. The command here given to Joshua was regarding what was to be done by the twelve men, who (Jos_5:4; cf. Jos_3:12) were already chosen. The form of the command is merely another instance of the common Hebrew practice of repetition.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:2 The twelve men represented Jacob’s twelve sons. The…
4:2 The twelve men represented Jacob’s twelve sons. The tribe of Levi was not counted because the Levites settled in designated cities among the other tribes (Gen 49:5-7; Num 1:49-52; 18:20). However, the number of tribes remained at twelve because Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) were accounted as separate tribes (Gen 48:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.