21 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?'
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?
21 And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, 'What do these stones mean?'
21 And then he told the People of Israel, "In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, 'What are these stones doing here?'
21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?'
21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, "In the future your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean?'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joshua 4:21
Commentary on Joshua 4:20-24
(Read Joshua 4:20-24)
It is the duty of parents to tell their children betimes of the words and works of God, that they may be trained up in the way they should go. In all the instruction parents give their children, they should teach them to fear God. Serious godliness is the best learning. Are we not called, as much as the Israelites, to praise the loving-kindness of our God? Shall we not raise a pillar to our God, who has brought us through dangers and distresses in so wonderful a way? For hitherto the Lord hath helped us, as much as he did his saints of old. How great the stupidity and ingratitude of men, who perceive not His hand, and will not acknowledge his goodness, in their frequent deliverances!