Like a Stationary Stone
Joshua Chapter 4, the Strange and the Spectacular
Vital Stats:
Verses: 24
Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.
Famous Quotes/Phrases: The word “stone” or “stones” (אבן, even) is mentioned seven times in this chapter. This chapter is rather repetitive in general; more on that in a moment.
Basic Plot: Remember how, in the last chapter, each Israelite tribe is asked to select one man each, but it never says why? Now we know: God wants each man to carry a large stone on his shoulder and deposit it on the Israelites’ first encampment upon entering the Promised Land. Joshua then places 12 more stones (by himself?) in the middle of the Jordan River, where the people holding up the Ark are, mysteriously, still standing. When they’re finally allowed to join the rest of the people, 40,000 shock troops are already assembled, prepared to attack Jericho.
It’s a little difficult to figure out which order everything occurs, and how often at that; it feels like there are numerous fragments of story accounts that have been woven together rather imperfectly.
What’s Strange: The parallels with Passover continue, specifically in this case an excerpt found in the Seder. In the Haggadah, the wise child at the table asks a question taken directly from the book of Deuteronomy: “What are these testimonies, statutes, and judgments that Adonai our God commanded you?” Here, the narrative imagines someone in a future generation asking about the meaning of these stone structures. One might imagine that this question and answer might have been asked had the Haggadah included a mention of a fifth child at the Seder table, but alas, we’ll never know.
What’s Spectacular: The answer to the question about the stone structures says a lot about the centrality of the Ark: “The waters were cut off because of the Ark of Adonai’s Covenant; when it passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.” In other words, the fact that hundreds of thousands of Israelites are on their way to cross the waters isn’t particularly relevant — the Ark seems to be what matters.
Maybe it’s a little harsh to think of the answer that way. It would be ungrateful to think that the text is dismissive of the human element of the Exodus and its aftermath. But it’s worth noting that when the Israelites escape Pharaoh’s army at the Sea, they don’t yet have an Ark; they only build that after the account of the Ten Commandments. Now that they’re crossing into Canaan, they have a bit more baggage than before. Not just any baggage, mind you — a physical reminder of God’s covenant. As Marten H. Woudstra writes in his commentary on the book of Joshua:
“The ark is the very symbol of the covenant of the Lord. Thus the full light falls on the redemptive significance of the event. No mere recalling of a miracle is envisaged. The miracle is to be viewed as an expression of covenant fidelity. By repeating the reference to the cutting-off of the waters the explanation highlights its tremendous significance.”
So whereas the Israelites depart Egypt completely on the run (they didn’t even have fully-baked bread!), they enter Canaan armed with emotional and physical confidence that they will succeed. Much like our Seders of today, we need people to tell the story of our redemption, but also the symbols to make that redemption meaningful.
Shabbat Shalom, and soon, Chag Kasher v’Sameach!