DAWN
Daily Arts Web Nucleus
Discover the Arts! Each day a different image from the Literary, Performing, or Visual Arts representing a portion of Scripture plus an explanation with links and a discussion forum 2014 April 20
Cloister (1861-1862)
Giuseppe Abbati (1836-1868)
Macchiaioli Style
(Anticipatory in Many Respects of the Impressionist Style of Painting)
Galleria dell'Arte Moderna, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy
Image Source: Web Gallery of Art
Explanation: The central concern in Joshua 4 is witness or testimony, particularly in the form of memorial stones. These monuments were made of uncut river stones of a size which could be carried on a man's shoulder. The stones in the painting above were also for use in a memorial. However, unlike the stones used in Joshua's monuments, these were cut and could not be carried by one man; and they had already been part of a monument which was now being repaired and restored.
In Joshua 4, after the people of Israel crossed over the Jordan, the LORD told Joshua to select a man from each tribe and to tell each man to select a stone from the area of the river bed where the priests were standing. They were then to take the stones to the camp in Gilgal where the Israelites lodged that night. These were to be used to make a memorial to the miracle which the LORD performed in parting the waters of the Jordan (1-7). They gathered the stones as Joshua commanded, and they also set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan to mark the place where the priests stood. Those stones were there "unto this day," meaning the time at which this note was written. According to the Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, Brown, this was "at least twenty years [c. 1380 B.C.] after the event, if we reckon by the date of this history (Joshua 24:26), and much later, if the words in the latter clause were inserted by Samuel [c. 1010 B.C.] or Ezra [c. 444 B.C.]" (8-10). When all of this was done, the priests brought up the Ark out of the midst of the River. At this point in the narrative special mention is made of the fact that troops from the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh went over with the rest of the Israelites in fulfillment of their promise to help the other tribes gain their inheritance (Numbers 32:17; Joshua 1:12-16). They went at the vanguard of the Israelites, going ahead of all the other troops (11-14). And the ark, which had preceded the nation into the Jordan River, now served as the nation's rear guard and came out of the river last, at the command of Joshua. And as soon as the priest's feet touched dry ground (presumably at the edge of the flood plain, five miles or so inland, rather than the bank of the Jordan) the Jordan returned to its full flow, extending far beyond the normal dimensions of the river. The miraculous control of these waters would have created a strong and lasting impression on all who saw it (15-18). When the people came out of the Jordan they camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And there they set up the second set of memorial stones, the first being in the midst of the river. These were to serve as a reminder to future generations that the LORD dried up the Jordan from before the children of Israel as he did to the Red Sea. Thus they would be a testimony to the power of the LORD and an incentive to fear him forever (19-24).
Joshua 4
1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
6 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?
7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
11 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
15 And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
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.
20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
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?
22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
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