Joshua 4:2

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Twelve men. These were the men mentioned previously, who were told to be prepared.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.