4:23a
For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you: It was Yahweh who made it possible for the people to cross the river. This theme of God’s deliverance continues throughout the book of Joshua as the Israelites move in to conquer the land.
dried up: The words dried up mean that Yahweh made the water stop flowing.
the waters of the Jordan: It may be more natural in some languages to translate the phrase the waters of the Jordan as “the Jordan River.”
4:23b
until you had crossed over: The phrase crossed over means that they walked across the riverbed. God held back the water until they were all across on the west bank of the Jordan.
4:23c
just as: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as just as introduces a comparison.
He did to the Red Sea: This is a comparison. Yahweh rescued the Israelites many years ago at the Red Sea. In a similar way, he has rescued Israel once again at the Jordan River.
4:23d
which He dried up: God made a path for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea by making the waters stand like a wall on each side of the path. This story is told in Exodus 14:21–22.
before us: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before us can also be translated as:
on our behalf
-or-
ahead of us (God’s Word)
-or-
as we watched (New Living Translation (2004))
These three aspects of meaning all make sense in the context, and it is hard to know which meaning is more in focus. You should translate this phrase with the meaning that is most natural in your language.
until we had crossed over: The phrase until we had crossed over indicates that God held the water back until all the Israelites walked across to the other side of the Red Sea.
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