KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
To get what Joshua 4:6 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“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?”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “That” | לְמַ֗עַן | Properly, heed, i.e., purpose; used only adverbially, on account of (as a motive or an aim), teleologically, in order that | That |
| “this” | זֹ֥את | This (often used adverb) | this |
| “may be” | תִּֽהְיֶ֛ה | To exist, i.e., be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary) | may be |
| “a sign” | א֖וֹת | A signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc | sign |
| “among” | בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם | Properly, the nearest part, i.e., the center, whether literal, figurative or adverbial (especially with preposition) | among |
| “you, when” | כִּֽי | (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed | you when |
| “that” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “your children” | בְּנֵיכֶ֤ם | A son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.) | children |
| “ask” | יִשְׁאָל֨וּן | To inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand | ask |
| “their fathers” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “in time to come,” | מָחָר֙ | Properly, deferred, i.e., the morrow; usually (adverbially) tomorrow; indefinitely, hereafter | time come |
| “saying,” | לֵאמֹ֔ר | To say (used with great latitude) | saying |
| “What” | מָ֛ה | Properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses | What |
| “mean” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “ye by these” | הָאֵ֖לֶּה | These or those | these |
| “stones?” | הָֽאֲבָנִ֥ים | A stone | stones |
See Joshua 4:6 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
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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.
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.