Chapter 4 of Sefer Yehoshua continues the account of crossing the Jordan, and its focus revolves around the twelve stones that were taken from within the Jordan. The chapter deals with why a memorial to the miracle was needed at all, who the twelve men chosen for the task were, how the Kohanim came up out of the Jordan, and when the waters returned to their place. We will follow the Malbim, who in his usual way opens with a series of questions, and from them builds the entire explanation.
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר תַּמּוּ כָל הַגּוֹי לַעֲבוֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן, וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לֵאמֹר. קְחוּ לָכֶם מִן הָעָם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲנָשִׁים, אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד מִשָּׁבֶט. - And it came to pass, when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, that Hashem spoke to Yehoshua, saying: Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man, one man from each tribe.
The Malbim asks: it was already stated in chapter 3, verse 12, "Now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man, one man for each tribe." If so, what is the meaning of the repeated command? Some wished to say that this is the same matter, and the verse is merely describing after the fact what had already been done. But to the Malbim this does not fit the language: "take" means from here onward, and is not a description of an existing situation. And it is even more difficult: if here there is a divine command to take twelve men, it turns out that what Yehoshua did earlier was without a command - would Yehoshua take twelve men without Hashem commanding him? This itself requires understanding.
A further difficulty in the precise wording: there it says "one man, one man for each tribe" (lashevet), and here "one man, one man from each tribe" (mishevet). What is the difference between "for the tribe" and "from the tribe"? From this the Malbim concludes that these are two separate groups whose roles differ. The first group, which Yehoshua took on his own initiative, was a group of witnesses to the miracle. For this was an immense nation: six hundred thousand men from age twenty to sixty, and in total about five million people. With such a multitude, only those standing near the place where the Jordan split could see the miracle, while all the rest did not see it. Therefore Yehoshua took twelve men who would see with their own eyes and afterward testify to their tribes.
The lamed of "lashevet" (for the tribe) indicates that the man stands in place of the entire tribe, as its representative, and the one who can represent an entire tribe is the nasi (prince). There, then, twelve princes were taken. Here, by contrast, it says "from the people" and "mishevet" (from a tribe) - the mem indicates only that each one should be from a particular tribe, one from Reuven, one from Shimon, one from Levi, and so on, not necessarily an official representative of the whole tribe. That is why there it says "ish" (man), a term denoting a man of standing, while here it says "anashim" (men), a term of plurality, and not necessarily men of standing.
וְצַוּוּ אוֹתָם לֵאמֹר, שְׂאוּ לָכֶם מִזֶּה מִתּוֹךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן מִמַּצַּב רַגְלֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים הָכִין שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה אֲבָנִים, וְהַעֲבַרְתֶּם אוֹתָם עִמָּכֶם וְהִנַּחְתֶּם אוֹתָם בַּמָּלוֹן אֲשֶׁר תָּלִינוּ בוֹ הַלָּיְלָה. - And command them, saying: Carry up for yourselves from here, from the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the Kohanim stood firm, twelve stones, and you shall bring them over with you and set them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.
"Carry up for yourselves from here" - as though pointing out the place to them with a finger. And there are two conditions here: first, that the stones be taken from within the Jordan itself and not from its bank; and second, "from the place where the feet of the Kohanim stood," from the spot where their feet were set, from beneath the soles of the Kohanim's feet. These stones they must bring over the Jordan with them and set down "bamalon." This does not mean a hotel building, but the place of lodging, the place where they will spend the night.
Rashi brings from Chazal that just as Moshe Rabbeinu commanded to build an altar on Mount Eival and to write upon it the words of the Torah, so on that same day they reached Mount Eival, built the altar, offered up olot and shelamim, ate and drank, folded them up - that is, dismantled the stones - and came and lodged in Gilgal.
וַיִּקְרָא יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶל שְׁנֵים הֶעָשָׂר אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֵכִין מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד מִשָּׁבֶט. - And Yehoshua called to the twelve men whom he had appointed from among the children of Israel, one man, one man from each tribe.
Since Yehoshua already had twelve men ready and prepared, those same princes who had seen the splitting of the Jordan and whose purpose was to testify, Yehoshua called them to occupy themselves with this mitzvah as well and carry the stones. This is what the verse emphasizes, "one man, one man from each tribe," that each of them would do this on behalf of one tribe, as Hashem had said.
וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, עִבְרוּ לִפְנֵי אֲרוֹן יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֶל תּוֹךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן, וְהָרִימוּ לָכֶם אִישׁ אֶבֶן אַחַת עַל שִׁכְמוֹ לְמִסְפַּר שִׁבְטֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. - And Yehoshua said to them: Pass before the Ark of Hashem your God into the midst of the Yarden, and each man lift up one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.
They were standing at the bank of the Yarden, and Yehoshua tells them to cross over to the far side of the Ark, to go around it and enter into the midst of the Yarden, and to take the stones from the place where the Kohanim were standing.
Why did Yehoshua need to spell this out? Because in Hashem's own words, "take for yourselves twelve stones," one could have understood that they should carry them all together. Twelve men carrying twelve stones: it is easier if each pair carries two stones, or if all of them together carry the whole set on poles. Chazal teach that a load which one person cannot carry, if another person joins him, the two of them can carry double. How so? A person who cannot carry five hundred kilo, only four hundred and fifty, yet when his friend joins him, the two of them carry a full ton. The explanation: each person has additional strength that he does not fully exhaust, and when two join together they can carry more than each could alone.
Therefore Yehoshua comes and clarifies: it is not so. Rather, "each man lift up one stone upon his shoulder" - each and every one shall lift a stone of his own and carry it on his shoulder. The reason: they are twelve, corresponding to the twelve tribes, and each tribe is a distinct unit. They should not mix together; rather each tribe carries one stone of its own.
לְמַעַן תִּהְיֶה זֹאת אוֹת בְּקִרְבְּכֶם, כִּי יִשְׁאָלוּן בְּנֵיכֶם מָחָר לֵאמֹר מָה הָאֲבָנִים הָאֵלֶּה לָכֶם. וַאֲמַרְתֶּם לָהֶם אֲשֶׁר נִכְרְתוּ מֵימֵי הַיַּרְדֵּן מִפְּנֵי אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְהֹוָה, בְּעׇבְרוֹ בַּיַּרְדֵּן נִכְרְתוּ מֵי הַיַּרְדֵּן, וְהָיוּ הָאֲבָנִים הָאֵלֶּה לְזִכָּרוֹן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד עוֹלָם. - That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask tomorrow, saying: What are these stones to you? Then you shall say to them: That the waters of the Yarden were cut off before the Ark of the covenant of Hashem; when it passed over the Yarden, the waters of the Yarden were cut off; and these stones shall be a remembrance for the children of Israel forever.
The Malbim raises several difficulties. First, why the repetition within the verse itself: "a sign among you" on one hand, and "a remembrance forever" on the other? "Among you" means now, "forever" means for the future. Second, this entire passage is repeated again in verses 21-24. Third, here it says "when your children ask tomorrow... what are these stones to you," meaning they ask you yourselves, whereas there it says "when your children ask tomorrow their fathers," implying the generations to come. Fourth, here it says "you shall say to them" and there "you shall make known." Fifth, here it says the waters were cut off "before the Ark of the covenant of Hashem," while there it says "that Hashem your God dried up the waters of the Yarden before you" without mentioning the Ark at all. And finally, there the account comes at length while here it is brief.
The Malbim explains: these are two entirely separate statements, and that is why they appear twice. The stones have two purposes: a sign and a remembrance. A sign is a marker for this generation, and a remembrance is for the generations to come. The people of this generation saw the miracle with their own eyes, and they need no remembrance at all: what is there for them to remember, for they were there. What do they need? A sign. That is, a marker that tells them: Know that the splitting of the Yarden was not by your own strength nor by your own merit, but by the merit of the Ark of Hashem that dwells among you; by its power and by its merit the Yarden was split. This is precisely why the stones were taken from beneath the standing place of the feet of the Kohanim who bore the Ark, to say that the splitting was in the merit of the Ark and in the merit of the holiness of the Tablets of the covenant within it.
This is the meaning of "when your children ask tomorrow, saying: What are these stones to you" - the children ask: you saw it with your own eyes, why do you need stones? "Then you shall say to them: That the waters of the Yarden were cut off before the Ark of the covenant of Hashem" - this is the answer: the stones come to tell you the reason, that all of it was because of the Ark. And the proof: "when it passed over the Yarden, the waters of the Yarden were cut off" - until the Ark arrived the waters were not cut off, and from this we learn that the matter was by its power. Therefore it does not say here "you shall make known," since the children already know of the matter; one need only tell them the meaning of the sign.
In contrast, the continuation of the verse, "and these stones shall be a remembrance for the children of Israel forever," deals with the second function: a remembrance for the generations to come who did not see the miracle. They need to be informed, and for them there will be only a memorial of the miracle itself. This matter Yehoshua explains later, in verses 21-24.
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, וַיִּשְׂאוּ שְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה אֲבָנִים מִתּוֹךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה אֶל יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְמִסְפַּר שִׁבְטֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיַּעֲבִרוּם עִמָּם אֶל הַמָּלוֹן וַיַּנִּחוּם שָׁם. - And the children of Israel did so, as Yehoshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Yarden, as Hashem spoke to Yehoshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and laid them down there.
Anyone reading this immediately senses the difficulty: why the repetition of "as Yehoshua commanded" and "as Hashem spoke to Yehoshua"? The Malbim explains: because there was a difference between the wording of Hashem's command and what Yehoshua commanded the people. From Hashem's wording one could understand that they should all carry the stones together, whereas Yehoshua specified that each one should carry a stone by himself. Therefore it says "as Yehoshua commanded" regarding the actual carrying, each man one stone, and "as Hashem spoke to Yehoshua" regarding transporting them to the lodging place, as Hashem commanded.
Chazal state that the size of the stones was a cubit by a cubit. It is hard to imagine: each person lifted a stone of half a meter by half a meter. Look at the stones in the Kotel, picture in your mind half a meter by half a meter, and imagine lifting such a thing. And this is not a hollow block, a block is hollow and airy, and a person carrying one already feels the weight, and if you told him to carry two blocks he would ask if you want him to get a slipped disc. Here we are speaking of a solid stone of half a meter by half a meter, which is two or three times the size of a curbstone on a sidewalk. This is something impossible by nature. It must therefore have been a miracle.
There was another miracle there: the nations who had come to conquer them saw them entering and did nothing to them. And it is written that Hashem sent the hornet that blinded the eyes of the Chivi, who wished to harm them. And these stones they plastered with sid (plaster), which is written with a shin, the letters of Shak"ai (Sha-dai), to teach you that Hashem assisted them so that they could write the Torah upon the stones in seventy languages, as we will see further on.
וּשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה אֲבָנִים הֵקִים יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן, תַּחַת מַצַּב רַגְלֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים נֹשְׂאֵי אֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית, וַיִּהְיוּ שָׁם עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. - And twelve stones Yehoshua set up within the Yarden, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant had stood, and they are there to this day.
After they took stones from beneath the feet of the priests, Yehoshua set up other stones in their place, in that same spot, and these too remained as a memorial, so that they would always remember the place where the miracle occurred, the place where the priests stood. And some say that Yehoshua set up these stones himself: it is not fitting that Yehoshua commands others to take on such great effort while he rests, rather he said: this I will do myself. He went himself and set up the stones in the very spot from which the twelve men had taken their stones.
וְהַכֹּהֲנִים נֹשְׂאֵי הָאָרוֹן עֹמְדִים בְּתוֹךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן עַד תֹּם כָּל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהֹוָה אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְדַבֵּר אֶל הָעָם, כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה מֹשֶׁה אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, וַיְמַהֲרוּ הָעָם וַיַּעֲבֹרוּ. - And the priests who bore the Ark stood within the Yarden until everything was finished that Hashem commanded Yehoshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moshe had commanded Yehoshua, and the people hurried and crossed over.
The matter seems obscure: it does not say what Yehoshua spoke to the people, nor does it say when and what Moshe commanded Yehoshua to speak. Chazal in Tractate Sotah say that when they were in the Yarden, Yehoshua said to them: know this, you are crossing the Yarden on condition that you dispossess all the inhabitants of the land. There he made this condition with them, and it was then something like Hashem holding the mountain over them like a barrel, that if you do not accept the condition, the waters of the Yarden will sweep you away.
The priests remained standing at the eastern bank of the Yarden, that is, on the Jordan side of today (the western being the side of Eretz Yisrael), at the entrance to the Yarden, until everything was finished. And where was Moshe told to say these things to Yehoshua? The Malbim says that this is what is written in Sefer Devarim, chapter 31, verse 14: "Call Yehoshua and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting... And Hashem said to Moshe, behold, your days draw near to die." There Hashem commanded Moshe to tell Yehoshua to speak these words at the time when the Yarden is split before them, and to warn them to conquer the entire land and not to leave any of the nations, who would later become thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides.
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר תַּם כָּל הָעָם לַעֲבוֹר, וַיַּעֲבֹר אֲרוֹן יְהֹוָה וְהַכֹּהֲנִים לִפְנֵי הָעָם. - And it came to pass, when all the people had finished crossing, that the Ark of Hashem crossed over, and the priests, before the people.
The pasuk is puzzling: after all, the priests remained on the eastern side of the Jordan, standing in place and not moving. How, then, did they suddenly become "before the people"? And there is a further difficulty: further on it says "command the priests bearing the Ark of the Testimony that they come up out of the Jordan," and afterward "and it came to pass when the priests came up... out of the midst of the Jordan." But you already said that the Ark and the priests crossed and were going before the people, so what is this that they are still coming up out of the midst of the Jordan?
Because of this difficulty, Chazal expounded, as Rashi brings: they did not cross in the way the others crossed; rather, the soles of the priests' feet were pulled back to the dry land, to the bank they had entered and beside which they had been standing, and the waters returned to their place to flow as before. Thus the Ark and its bearers were on one side and all Israel on the other side, the people already on the western side of the Jordan, in the Land of Israel, and the priests on the eastern side, and then the Ark carried its bearers and crossed over. That is, the Ark and the priests crossed by flying over the Jordan. The Radak, by contrast, wishes to explain that they walked and went around the people, and so again found themselves before them.
The Malbim wishes to explain the pasuk also according to its plain meaning. He asks: the sense of the verses is that the priests stood at the eastern bank of the Jordan, as it says "when you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, in the Jordan you shall stand," and did not move from there. If so, it should have said "and they crossed the Jordan," not "and they came up." And he explains: the term "coming up" implies that you went down a bit into the depression of the Jordan and are coming back up from that very point; whereas the term "crossing" implies from one side to the other, from bank to bank. According to Chazal, "and they came up" means they went back to the eastern portion, and afterward flew over as explained. But according to this there is an out of order sequence in the text, and we wish to set the crooked straight according to the plain meaning.
Here it is fitting to recall the words of the holy Ohr HaChaim, which we have already mentioned several times: every sage in any generation has the power to explain the verses in a way that is not necessarily according to the exposition of Chazal, provided that it does not contradict a halachah or an outlook. And thus we find many verses that Chazal expounded in one way, while the Ibn Ezra and the Rashbam, and I deliberately cite commentators of the plain meaning, explain them otherwise. So too the Malbim here.
The Malbim explains: "and the Ark of Hashem and the priests crossed over" means that then the Ark and the priests crossed from the eastern bank to the western bank, through the Jordan, in the dry place where the people had crossed. That is why the term "and they crossed" is used, which means from bank to bank. But they had not yet emerged from there, and therefore in pasuk 16 it says "they came up out of the Jordan," for they were already on the western bank, and only now were climbing and ascending from it. And as for what is said "before the people," the intent is not a position of front and rear, but like "you shall do the matter before him," which means in his sight: the Ark crossed in the sight of the people.
וַיַּעַבְרוּ בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן וּבְנֵי גָד וַחֲצִי שֵׁבֶט הַמְנַשֶּׁה חֲמֻשִׁים לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶם מֹשֶׁה. - And the children of Reuven and the children of Gad and half the tribe of Menasheh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moshe had spoken to them.
The Malbim asks: after it told that all the people crossed with the Ark, why does it again tell that Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven went before the people? And he explains: until now Bnei Reuven and Bnei Gad traveled according to the order of the banners: three tribes in front, three on the right, three on the left, and three in the rear. From now on they begin to cross at the head of the people, as Moshe said "armed you shall cross before your brothers," and the vanguard goes at the head.
"Chamushim" (armed): some explain it from the term for weapons, but the Malbim explains that it was their manner to divide into companies of fifty men each, and to place a captain of fifty at their head. And "chalutzim" (vanguard) means that they were separated from the rest of their brothers to go to war, for not all of them went. Their number was more than eighty three thousand, and they were the ones going first before the people.
כְּאַרְבָּעִים אֶלֶף חֲלוּצֵי הַצָּבָא עָבְרוּ לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה לַמִּלְחָמָה אֶל עַרְבוֹת יְרִיחוֹ. - About forty thousand armed for battle crossed before Hashem to the war, to the plains of Jericho.
"They crossed before Hashem": this too was part of the condition that Moshe Rabbeinu stipulated: not like one who trusts in his own might and says we will save and we will conquer, but before Hashem, for the sake of Hashem, for Hashem is the One who fights. And Chazal say that at first a hundred and seventeen thousand men crossed, and after they saw the miracles they said: there is no need for all of us to cross, and forty thousand remained. This is hinted at in what they said "nachnu naavor chalutzim" (we will cross armed) and did not say "anachnu" (we), for at first they thought they would need all of them, and afterward the aleph dropped, since not all of them were needed but even part of them, and forty thousand sufficed.
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא גִּדַּל יְהֹוָה אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בְּעֵינֵי כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר יָרְאוּ אֶת מֹשֶׁה כָּל יְמֵי חַיָּיו. - On that day Hashem exalted Yehoshua in the eyes of all Israel, and they revered him as they had revered Moshe all the days of his life.
The Holy One split the Yarden before Yehoshua just as He split the sea before Moshe when they went out of Egypt, and the essence of the miracle was for Yehoshua's sake. This everyone saw, and through it his greatness was displayed before their eyes. We already explained that it was a great matter to strengthen and exalt Yehoshua, since the people of his generation did not see in him a man cut from the cloth of leaders: "The face of Moshe was like the face of the sun, the face of Yehoshua like the face of the moon; woe for that shame." Therefore the Holy One did many things to magnify his name in the eyes of the people, so that he would be accepted as a leader and none would contest him.
Chazal say that on that very day Yehoshua merited a radiance of the skin of his face, as Moshe had, except that with Moshe it was on a far higher level: the face of Moshe was like the face of the sun and the face of Yehoshua like the face of the moon. With this it is resolved why we do not find that Yehoshua placed a veil over his face: because with him the radiance of the skin was like the moon compared to the sun. According to this the matter is hinted at in the word "וַיִּרְאוּ," which can be expounded not only from the language of awe and fear but also from the language of seeing, that they now saw how the skin of his face shone.
צַוֵּה אֶת הַכֹּהֲנִים נֹשְׂאֵי אֲרוֹן הָעֵדוּת, וְיַעֲלוּ מִן הַיַּרְדֵּן. - Command the Kohanim who bear the Ark of the Testimony that they come up from the Yarden.
Rashi senses the difficulty we noted: but it was already stated "and the Ark of Hashem passed over, and the Kohanim"! And Rashi explains: here Scripture spells out what was stated above. This is something found in the verses, that first there comes a kind of heading, and afterward Scripture details exactly how the matter was carried out.
Rashi is precise: it does not say "and they passed over" here but "and they came up," and from this it follows that they came up onto the eastern bank beside which they were standing. It cannot be said that they stood on the western bank of the Yarden, for it was stated above that the feet of the Kohanim were dipped at the edge of the water and the Kohanim stood while all Israel passed over, implying that they remained standing in the place where their feet had been dipped and the Yarden split. If so, "and they came up" means that they came up backward, and from here comes the teaching of Chazal that the Ark carried its bearers and passed over the Yarden after it had closed.
The Malbim, as noted, explains that they came up from the western bank of the Yarden: what was stated earlier, "and it passed over," is the crossing from bank to bank, and what is stated here, "and they came up," is the climb up to the western bank itself. And the reason they waited for the command: since they had been told "you shall stand in the Yarden," they had no permission to leave until Hashem told them to leave. So too we find with Noach, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife," that he did not go out until he was given an instruction to go out. A person who has been told to stand, stands until they tell him to go out.
וַיְהִי כַּעֲלוֹת הַכֹּהֲנִים נֹשְׂאֵי אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְהֹוָה מִתּוֹךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן, נִתְּקוּ כַּפּוֹת רַגְלֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים אֶל הֶחָרָבָה, וַיָּשֻׁבוּ מֵי הַיַּרְדֵּן לִמְקוֹמָם, וַיֵּלְכוּ כִּתְמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם עַל כָּל גְּדוֹתָיו. - And it was, as the Kohanim who bore the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem came up from the midst of the Yarden, when the soles of the feet of the Kohanim were drawn up onto the dry land, that the waters of the Yarden returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as before.
The Radak says that the written form "בעלות" and the read form "כעלות" are one matter, for the prefix kaf here is the same as "at the time when they came up."
Rashi learns further from this verse: the soles of the feet of the Kohanim were drawn up from the water onto the dry land beside them, and the waters returned to their place, so that the Ark and the Kohanim were on this side, the eastern side, the side of the Yarden, and Israel on that side, in the Land of Israel, and the Ark carried its bearers and passed over. And Rashi says: for this matter Uzza was punished when he took hold of the Ark. If it carried its bearers, all the more so itself. Uzza went to take hold of the Ark so that it would not fall, but if the Ark carries its bearers, does it need you to hold it? Can it not carry itself?
The Malbim describes three miracles in this pasuk. First, there is a difference between "charavah" and "yabashah." "Charavah" expresses one of two things: either a place that had water which dried up, or a place that never had water and yet is still not completely dry, but retains some moisture, being damp and muddy, containing a bit of mire. The Jordan, where the miracle occurred, is called "yabashah," as it says "Yisrael crossed the Jordan on dry land," meaning complete dryness. In contrast, the bank of the Jordan, which has constant moisture and where no miracle occurred (for at the bank there is no water anyway and nothing to split), remained damp and muddy, just as the seashore near the water is wet. This is the meaning of "the soles of the priests' feet were drawn up to the charavah": they ascend from the yabashah, which is the middle of the Jordan that dried completely, up to the bank, which is the charavah that has a bit of moisture. The second miracle: as soon as they came up, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place.
And the third miracle: "and they went over all its banks as before." For the waters had piled up heap upon heap and risen very high, and by rights they should have, when the miracle ceased, gushed forth all at once and flooded everything in their path. Says the Radak: this was not the case. Rather, the waters returned slowly and gradually: the lower ones descended with a little of the upper ones, and so bit by bit, until they went again over all its banks as before. This was from Hashem's kindness, that He returned the waters of the Jordan to their place gently and not in a rush, as it should have been according to nature.
וְהָעָם עָלוּ מִן הַיַּרְדֵּן בֶּעָשׂוֹר לַחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, וַיַּחֲנוּ בַּגִּלְגָּל בִּקְצֵה מִזְרַח יְרִיחוֹ. - And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal at the eastern edge of Jericho.
The pasuk specifies the time of the miracle and its place, even down to noting the exact date. And why is such detail needed? Says the Malbim: to remove from the minds of the deniers who would say that this happened at a time when the water was dry, that Yehoshua knew how to time the rising and falling of the water, the times of high and low tide, and then they crossed. Therefore the pasuk specifies for you that this was in the days of Nissan. Is there a low tide in the Jordan in Nissan? On the contrary, in the days of Nissan the water swells, the snows melt and the Jordan is full over its banks.
And further: the place is recognizable to this day by the stones. Even if today we do not know where they are, for the generations that followed the place was recognizable by them, and there the water will never dry up nor rise nor fall with the rising and setting of the moon. For it is known that high and low tide are caused by the power of the moon, just as by the power of the moon cucumbers, gourds, watermelons and pumpkins grow, the whole gourd family. And further: the miracle occurred in a single moment, "when the soles of the priests' feet rested," and everyone knows that high and low tide take several hours, and nothing dries up in a single moment. And should you say that he timed precisely the second when the priests stood and the second when they came up? But it is written "and the people hurried and crossed," that the people hastened to cross, and with all that it was all in a single moment. All this comes to teach that this was from Hashem.
And then they arrived and camped in Gilgal at the eastern edge of Jericho. Chazal in Sotah 36 say that on that very day they traveled a distance of sixty mil, close to sixty kilometers in one day: a people of about five million souls who miraculously covered this distance in a single day. And the matter of "on the tenth of the month" comes to hint that in the merit of the mitzvah of the korban Pesach that their fathers fulfilled, about which it says "take for yourselves" already from the tenth, in that merit the Jordan was now split for them. On the tenth Moshe said to them "draw out and take for yourselves sheep," and this came to atone for the sin of idolatry called Kemosh, for "mishchu" (draw out) and "Kemosh" have the same letters.
וְאֵת שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה הָאֲבָנִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר לָקְחוּ מִן הַיַּרְדֵּן, הֵקִים יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בַּגִּלְגָּל. - And these twelve stones which they took from the Jordan, Yehoshua set up in Gilgal.
But it was already said above in pasuk 8 "and they laid them down there," so what is the setting up mentioned here? The Malbim explains: those who carried the stones merely laid them down at the place of lodging, not in an orderly fashion; whereas Yehoshua set them up in Gilgal, that is, he made of them a monument and stood them up to a height.
And according to what we explained, there were two matters in the stones: a sign and a remembrance. The laying down of the stones by those who carried them was for the sake of the sign, for the generation that saw the miracle; and their setting up by Yehoshua is for a remembrance, for the coming generations.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר, אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁאָלוּן בְּנֵיכֶם מָחָר אֶת אֲבוֹתָם לֵאמֹר מָה הָאֲבָנִים הָאֵלֶּה. וְהוֹדַעְתֶּם אֶת בְּנֵיכֶם לֵאמֹר, בַּיַּבָּשָׁה עָבַר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה. - And he spoke to Bnei Yisrael, saying: When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what are these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, Yisrael crossed this Jordan on dry land.
Here Yehoshua turns to speak about memory, about what will be for the coming generations. That is why it says "your children will ask their fathers in time to come" - not today, and not you, but children will ask their fathers, and you will let them know: Yisrael crossed this Jordan on dry land. Through the memorial of the stones there is something to show them and something to tell them, that Am Yisrael crossed the Jordan; and even the stones set within the Jordan itself served as a sign, a token, and a marvel at the very place where their fathers crossed. That is also why the verse is not precise here to say that it was in the merit of the Aron, for that is not the point here, but rather the very matter that they crossed the Jordan.
אֲשֶׁר הוֹבִישׁ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֶת מֵי הַיַּרְדֵּן מִפְּנֵיכֶם עַד עׇבְרְכֶם, כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לְיַם סוּף אֲשֶׁר הוֹבִישׁ מִפָּנֵינוּ עַד עׇבְרֵנוּ. - For Hashem your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had crossed, as Hashem your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which He dried up from before us until we had crossed.
Notice the change of wording: "from before you" at the Jordan, and "from before us" at the Sea of Reeds. For Yehoshua himself was among those who left Egypt and was there. That is: just as Hashem dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds from before us, so He dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, you who are entering the land. Both were done by way of miracle and wonder.
לְמַעַן דַּעַת כָּל עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ אֶת יַד יְהֹוָה כִּי חֲזָקָה הִיא, לְמַעַן יְרָאתֶם אֶת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם כָּל הַיָּמִים. - So that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Hashem, that it is mighty, so that you may fear Hashem your God all the days.
There are two aims here. The first, that the nations should recognize the hand of Hashem and have fear of punishment. The second, that Am Yisrael should see the wonders of Hashem and have the fear born of His exaltedness. And certainly the fear born of His exaltedness is on a higher level: fear of punishment is dread of the punishment itself, whereas the fear born of His exaltedness is to be in awe of the majesty of His grandeur.
From here we can also understand why the miracle was repeated at the Jordan after there had already been a miracle at the Sea of Reeds. There are two purposes to this: first, the nations of the land had not seen the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, and here the miracle was done right beside their homes, and it is written that all of them saw it, for the waters of the Jordan rose and towered very high and they could see them standing as a heap. And second, "so that you may fear all the days" - that Hashem performs miracles in every generation, so that there be fear of Hashem all the days. The Malbim notes that the word "you may fear" is here pointed with a kamatz, contrary to the usual convention, and the Radak offers an explanation for this; in any case it is an unusual word in Tanach.
Chapter 4 builds around the twelve stones two separate tracks, and with this the Malbim resolves all the seeming repetitions in the chapter: one group of twelve leaders who were taken "for a tribe" as testimony to the miracle, and a new command to take men "from a tribe" to carry the stones - each man one stone on his shoulder, so that the tribes not become intermingled with one another. The stones themselves serve in two roles: a sign for the generation that saw, to teach it that it was not by its own strength that the waters split but because of the Aron of the covenant of Hashem; and a memorial for the coming generations who did not see, so that they know that Yisrael crossed the Jordan on dry land. Around this the miracles are spread out: stones of a cubit by a cubit that were carried on a man's shoulder, the priests standing in their place until the words of the condition to drive out the inhabitants of the land were completed, the return of the waters gradually and with kindness rather than in a flood, and the date, the tenth of Nisan, which silences the deniers. And through all of these the Holy One exalted Yehoshua in the eyes of all Yisrael, until the skin of his face shone like the face of the moon, and all of it "so that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Hashem, that it is mighty, and so that you may fear Hashem your God all the days."