Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
Joshua called the twelve men. They had probably, from a feeling of reverence, kept back, and were standing on the eastern bank. They were now ordered to advance, and picking up each a stone, probably as large as he could carry, from around the spot in the channel "where the priests stood," pass over before the ark, and deposit the stones in the place of next encampment (Joshua 4:19-20) - namely, Gilgal.