Stone,_Stones

STONE, STONES ston, stonz:

1. Hebrew and Greek Words:

(1) Chiefly 'ebhen, and lithos; but also, occurring rarely, 'eshekh (Leviticus 21:20); tsur (Job 22:24), usually "rock"; tseror (2 Samuel 17:13); petros (John 1:42); psephos (Revelation 2:17). For cela`, usually "cliff," "crag," "rock," the King James Version, in Psalms 137:9; 141:6, has "stone," but the Revised Version (British and American) "rock." For the King James Version "stones," cheres (Job 41:30), the Revised Version (British and American) has "potsherds."

See SELA.

2. Literal Usage:

The word is used of great stones (Genesis 29:2); of small stones (1 Samuel 17:40); of stones set up as memorials (1 Samuel 7:12, "Eben-ezer," "stone of help"); of precious stones (Exodus 35:9, etc.); of hailstones (Joshua 10:11).

3. Figurative Usage:

Of hardness:

"I will take the stony heart out of their flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19); of one smitten: "(Nabal's) heart died within him, and became as a stone" (1 Samuel 25:37); of weight: "A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty" (Proverbs 27:3); of dumbness: "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" (Habakkuk 2:19); of Jerusalem: "I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples" (Zechariah 12:3); of the corner-stone as a figure of high position:

"The stone which the builders rejected

Is become the head of the corner" (Psalms 118:22).

See FLINT; ROCK.

(2) Used also anatomically of the testicles (Leviticus 21:20; Deuteronomy 23:1; Job 40:17, pachadh, the Revised Version (British and American) "thighs").

Alfred Ely Day

Copyright Statement

These files are public domain.

Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'STONE, STONES'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.