Stone
STONE
The allusion in Jer 2:17 may be to the practice at the Olympic games of giving the successful competitor a white stone, inscribed with his name and the value of his prize; or to the mode of balloting with black and white stones on the question of the acquittal of an accused person, or his admission to certain privileges; if the stones deposited in the urn by the judges were all white, the decision was favorable. In early ages, flint-stone knives were in common use, instead of steel, Exo 4:25 Jos 5:2 .It was also customary to raise a heap or mound of stones in commemoration of any remarkable event, Gen 31:46 Jos 4:5-7 7:26 8:29 2Sa 18:17 . The same custom still prevails in Syria, and passing travellers are wont to add each one a stone to the heap. See CORNER STONE.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Stone
(usually , eben; but occasionally , sela, or , tsur, both of which are rather a rock; , sometimes or ). In such rocky countries as Mount Sinai and Syria, stones were naturally of very frequent reference in Biblical language. SEE ROCK.
The kinds of ordinary stone mentioned by ancient and modern writers as found in Palestine (q.v.) are chiefly limestone (Isa 27:9) [especially marble (q.v.)] and sandstone; occasionally basalt (Josephus, Ant. 8, 7, 4), flint, and firestone (2Ma 10:3). (See Wagner, De Lapidibus Judaicis [Hal. 1724]). SEE MINERAL.
The uses to which stones were applied in ancient Palestine were very various.
1. They were used for the ordinary purposes of building, and in this respect the most noticeable point is the very large size to which they occasionally run (Mar 13:1). Robinson gives the dimensions of one as 24 feet long by 6 feet broad and 3 feet high (Res. 1, 233; see also p. 284, note). SEE QUARRY. For most public edifices hewn stones were used. An exception was made in regard to altars, which were to be built of unhewn stone (Exo 20:25; Deu 27:5; Jos 8:31), probably as being in a more natural state. The Phoenicians were particularly famous for their skill in hewing stone (2Sa 5:11; 1Ki 5:18). Stones were selected of certain colors in order to form ornamental string courses. In 1Ch 29:2 we find enumerated onyx stones and stones to be set, glistening stones (lit. stones of eye-paint), and of divers colors (i.e. streaked with veins), and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones (comp. 2Ch 3:6). They were also employed for pavements (2Ki 16:17; comp Est 1:6)
2. Large stones were used for closing the entrances of caves (Jos 10:18; Dan 6:17), sepulchres (Mat 27:60; Joh 11:38; Joh 20:1), and springs (Gen 29:2).
3. Flint stones ( or ) occasionally served the purpose of a knife, particularly for circumcision and similar objects (Exo 4:25; Jos 5:2-3; comp. Herod. 2, 86; Plutarch, Nicias, 13; Catull. Carm. 62, 5). SEE KNIFE.
4. Stones were further used as a munition of war for slings (1Sa 17:40; 1Sa 17:49), catapults (2 Chronicle 26:14), and bows (Wis 5:22; comp. 1Ma 6:51). Also as boundary marks (Deu 19:14; Deu 27:17; Job 24:12; Pro 22:28; Pro 23:10) such were probably the stone of Bohan (Jos 15:6; Jos 18:17), the stone of Abel (1Sa 6:15; 1Sa 6:18), the stone Ezel (20:19), the great stone by Gibeon (2Sa 20:8), and the stone Zoheleth (1Ki 1:9). Finally as weights for scales (Deu 25:13; Pro 16:11); and for mills (2Sa 11:21).
5. Large stones were set up to commemorate any remarkable events, as by Jacob, at Bethel after his interview with Jehovah (Gen 28:18; Gen 35:14), and again when he made the covenant with Laban (Gen 31:45) by Joshua after the passage of the Jordan (Jos 4:9); and by Samuel in token of his victory over the Philistines (1Sa 7:12). SEE PILLAR. Similarly the Egyptian monarchs erected their steloe at the farthest point they reached (Herod. 2, 106). Such stones were occasionally consecrated by anointing, as instanced in the stone erected at Bethel (Gen 28:18). A similar practice existed in heathen countries, both in Asia and in Europe (see De Saulcy, Dead Sea, 2, 51, 52; Hackett, Illustra. of Script. p. 102 More, Pillar Stones of Scotland [Edinb. 1865]). SEE ALTAR. By a singular coincidence these stones were described in Phoenicia by a name very similar to Bethel, viz. boetylia (), whence it has been surmised that the heathen name was derived from the scriptural one, or vice versa (Kalisch, Comm. in Gen. loc. cit.). But neither are the names actually identical, nor are the associations of a kindred nature; the boetylia were meteoric stones, and derived their sanctity from the belief that they had fallen from heaven, whereas the stone at Bethel was simply commemorative. SEE BETHEL. The only point of resemblance between the two consists in the custom of anointing– the anointed stones ( , Clem. Alex. Strom. 7, 302), which are frequently mentioned by ancient writers as objects of divine honor (Arnob. Adv. Gent. 1, 39; Euseb. Proep. Evang. 1, 10, 18; Pliny, 37, 51; Theophr. Char. 17; Pausan. 10, 24, 5,; see Bellermann, Steine zu salben [Erf. 1793]), being probably aerolites.
6. That the worship of stones prevailed among the heathen nations surrounding Palestine (see Biedermann, De Lapidum Cultu [Frib. 1749]; Hlling, De Boetylli. Vett. [Gron. 1715]; Falcconet, in the Memoires. de l’Acad. des Inscr. 6, 513 sq., SEE STONE WORSHIP ), and was borrowed from them by apostate Israelites, appears from Isa 57:6, according to the ordinary rendering of the passage; but the original ( ) admits of another sense in the smooth (clear of wood) places of the valley and no reliance can be placed on a peculiar term introduced partly for the sake of alliteration. The eben maskith (
), noticed in Lev 26:1 (An image of stone), has again been identified with the boetylia, the doubtful term maskith (comp. Num 33:52, picture; Eze 3:12, imagery) being supposed to refer to devices engraven on the stone. SEE IDOL. The statue (matstsebah, ) of Baal is said to have been of stone and of a conical shape (Movers, Phon. 1, 673), but this is hardly reconcilable with the statement of its being burned in 2Ki 10:26 (the correct reading of which would be matstsebah, and not matstseboth). SEE STONEHENGE.
7. Heaps of stones were piled up on various occasions as in token of a treaty (Gen 31:46), in which case a certain amount of sanctity probably attached to them (Homer, Od. 16, 471); or over the grave of some notorious offender (Jos 7:26; Jos 8:29; 2Sa 18:17; see Propert. 4, 5, 75, for a similar custom among the Romans). SEE GALEED. The size of some of these heaps becomes very great from the custom prevalent among the Arabs that each passer by adds a stone. Burckhardt mentions one near Damascus 20 feet long, 2 feet high and 3 feet broad (Syria, p. 46). A reference to this practice is supposed by Gesenius to be contained in Pro 26:8, which he renders as a bag of gems in a heap of stones (Thes. p. 1263). The Vulgate has a curious version of this passage: (Sicut qui mittit lapidem in acervum Mercurii.
8. The white stone (q.v.) noticed in Rev 2:17 has been variously regarded as referring to the pebble of acquittal used in the Greek courts (Ovid, Met. 15, 41); to the lot cast in elections in Greece; to both these combined, the white conveying the notion of acquittal, the stone that of election (Bengel, Gnom.); to the stones in the high priest’s breastplate (Zllig); to the tickets presented to the victors at the public games, securing them maintenance at the public expense (Hammond); or, lastly, to the custom of writing on stones (Alford, ad loc.). (See the monographs on this subject, in Latin, by Majus [Giss. 1706] and Dresig [Lips. 1731].)
9. The use of stones for tablets is alluded to in Exo 24:12 and Jos 8:32; and to this we may add the guide stones to the cities of refuge (see Schttgen, De Lapidibus Vialibus [Lips. 1716]), and the milestones of the Roman period (comp. Otho, Lex. Rab. p. 362). SEE CITY.
10. Stones for striking fire are mentioned in 2Ma 10:3.
11. Stones were prejudicial to the operations of husbandry; hence the custom of spoiling an enemy’s field by throwing quantities of stones upon it (2Ki 3:19; 2Ki 3:25), and, again, the necessity of gathering stones previous to cultivation (Isa 5:2). Allusion is made to both these practices in Ecc 3:5 (a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones).
12. The notice in Zec 12:3 of the burdensome stone is referred by Jerome to the custom of lifting stones as an exercise of strength, which he describes as being practiced in Judaea in his day (comp. Ecclesiastes 6:21); but it may equally well be explained of a large corner stone as a symbol of strength (Isa 28:16).
Stones are used metaphorically to denote hardness or insensibility (1Sa 25:37; Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26), as well as firmness or strength, as in Gen 49:24, where the stone of Israel is equivalent to the rock of Israel (2Sa 23:3; Isa 30:29). The members of the Church are called living stones, as contributing to rear that living temple in which Christ, himself a living stone, is the chief or head of the corner (Eph 2:20-22; 1Pe 2:4-8). SEE CORNER STONE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Stone
Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events (Gen. 28:18; Josh. 24:26, 27; 1 Sam. 7:12, etc.). They were gathered out of cultivated fields (Isa. 5:2; comp. 2 Kings 3:19). This word is also used figuratively of believers (1 Pet. 2:4, 5), and of the Messiah (Ps. 118:22; Isa. 28:16; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11, etc.). In Dan. 2:45 it refers also to the Messiah. He is there described as “cut out of the mountain.” (See ROCK)
A “heart of stone” denotes great insensibility (1 Sam. 25:37).
Stones were set up to commemorate remarkable events, as by Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 28:18), at Padan-aram (35:4), and on the occasion of parting with Laban (31:45-47); by Joshua at the place on the banks of the Jordan where the people first “lodged” after crossing the river (Josh. 6:8), and also in “the midst of Jordan,” where he erected another set of twelve stones (4:1-9); and by Samuel at “Ebenezer” (1 Sam. 7:12).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Stone
STONE
1. The Greek terms.Apart from the vb. to stone (for wh. see Stoning), there are 5 Gr. words translation stone in the NT which call for notice in the present article. (1) (LXX Septuagint for ) is the general term. It occurs very frequently in the Gospels, and is the word with which in this art we are chiefly concerned. is distinguished from as in English stone is distinguished from rock. (2) (fr. ), made of stone; found in the Gospels only in Joh 2:6 , waterpots of stone. (3) is rendered stone only in Authorized Version of Joh 1:42 Cephas, which is, by interpretation, a stone. AVm [Note: Vm Authorized Version margin.] gives Peter, while Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 has Peter in the text and rock or stone in the margin. Rock is certainly more adequate than stone, for properly denotes a mass of detached rock, as does a living or solid rock. (So in the parable of the Sower [Mat 13:5; Mat 13:20, Mar 4:5; Mar 4:16] does not mean stony [Authorized Version ] but rocky [Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ]not ground full of loose stones, but a thin soil with shelves of rock lying underneath). Probably, however, the sense is best conveyed by the proper name Peterthe meaning of Peter being, of course, understood (cf. Mat 16:18). (4) , hewn in stone (fr. stone and scrape or carve), applied in Luk 23:53 to the tomb in which Jesus was laid. Mt. (Mat 27:60) and Mk. (mrak 15:46), however, describe it as hewn out of rock (). (5) , pebble, represents stone in the white stone which in the Ep. to the Church in Pergamum Christ promises to him that overcometh (Rev 2:17).
2. Stones crying out.The stones of Christ and the Gospels form a suggestive subject. There are sermons in these stones, we might say, for they have lessons to impart to us regarding Christs history, His teaching, and His Person as the Messiah.
(1) His history.(a) Whether or not we accept the ancient tradition that Jesus was born in one of the limestone caves of Bethlehem, it is very likely that His manger would be a manger of stonebuilt with stones and mortar if not hollowed out of the solid rock (see Thomson, LB [Note: The Land and the Book.] [ed. 1878] p. 413). If so, the first bed on which the Lord was laid, like the last one to which He was carried by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea (Joh 19:38 ff.), was a bed of stone.
(b) In Christs spiritual struggles on the very threshold of His public life, He had to do with the stones. It is a curious fact that they play a part in two out of the three acts that make up the drama of the Temptation in the Wilderness. In the one case, Jesus is tempted to use His miraculous powers to turn the stones that lie about Him on the rough mountain-side into loaves of bread wherewith to satisfy His hunger (Mat 4:2-4, Luk 4:2-4). In the other, He is tempted to leap from a pinnacle of the Temple by the reminder that it is written (Psa 91:11-12) that Gods child shall be upheld by angels, and so preserved from dashing his foot against a stone (Mat 4:5-7, Luk 4:9; Luk 4:12). In the one case, the stones were to nourish His life; but contrary to Gods law of sowing and reaping. In the other, they were to refuse to dash Him to death; but contrary to the Divinely fixed law of gravitation. Satan meant the stones to be stones of stumbling to Jesus, on that difficult path of obedience and self-renunciation to which in His baptism He had just consecrated Himself. But Jesus by His faith and patience turned them into stepping-stones to higher things.
(c) At Cana of Galilee Jesus manifested his glory; and there, we might say, He was again beholden to the stones; for the six waterpots by whose aid He wrought His first miracle were waterpots of stone (Joh 2:6).
(d) But not always were the stones His servants and ministers. Twice in Jn.s Gospel (Joh 8:59; Joh 10:31, cf. Joh 11:8) we read how the enemies of Jesus took up stones to cast them at Him, because He claimed that He was the Son of God.
(e) Against the cave which was Lazarus tomb there lay a stone (Joh 11:38)rolled there to shut in the dead during the awful process of decay (Joh 11:39), as well as to shut out the ravening wild beasts. Take ye away the stone, Jesus said (Joh 11:39); and when they had done so, another word of command turned that gravestone at Bethany into a parable to all the ages of the rolling away from human hearts of the crushing bondage of death (Heb 2:14 f.) by Him who is the Resurrection and the Life (Joh 11:25).
(f) It was not long after, when the Lords own body was carried to another tomb hewn in stone (Luk 23:53), and laid on one of the stone shelves prepared for such a purpose. Against the door of His sepulchre also a great stone was rolled (Mat 27:60 ||), and a seal was set upon the guardian stone. And that great stone, which the Jewish rulers would fain have made the incontrovertible proof that the world had seen the last of Jesus of Nazareth (Mat 27:62 ff.), has become the shining and perennial monument of His victory over deathproclaiming, in St. Peters words, that it was not possible that he should be holden of it (Act 2:24). For whenever Christian men think of the Lords sepulchre, they always see that great stone rolled back from the door, and the angel of the Resurrection sitting upon it (Mat 28:2 ||).
(2) His teaching.One of the most self-evident proofs that Jesus ever gave of the Heavenly Fathers love and the reality of prayer, lay in the question, What man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? (Mat 7:9). One of the most memorable examples of His heart-searching irony was when He said to the accusers of a sinful woman, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her (John 8 :[7]). One of the most striking assertions of His claim to Messianic dignity lay in His answer to the Pharisees when they appealed to Him to rebuke the enthusiastic shouts of His disciples: I tell you that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out (Luk 19:40). One of His clearest and most emphatic predictions of the coming fate of Jerusalem was when He said of the Temple, adorned with goodly stones, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Mar 13:2 ||).
In the Ep. to the Church in Pergamum the author of the Apocalypse represents Jesus Christ as promising a white stone to the victor in the good fight of faith (Rev 2:17). Numerous explanations of this white stone have been suggested, but the one that seems best to satisfy all the requirements is that which takes it to be the tessara gladiatoria, bestowed on the victorious young gladiator when he exchanged the name of tiro for that of spectatus (see ExpT [Note: xpT Expository Times.] i. [1889] p. 2, viii. [1897] p. 291; Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible iv. 618b).
The 5th of the Oxyrhynchus (1897) Sayings of Jesus contains the striking words, Jesus saith Raise the stone and there shalt thou find me; cleave the wood and there am I. The words have lent themselves to various ingenious explanations; but the most probable interpretation is the one which also most readily suggests itselfthat we have here an affirmation of the immanence of Christ in natural things. The saying may be understood in a sense that is perfectly in keeping with teaching that is found in the NT (e.g. Joh 1:3, Col 1:16 f.), but was more probably written with a leaning to a kind of Gnostic Pantheism. It is generally agreed that, in their present form at least, these Sayings of Jesus were not spoken by the Lord Himself, and do not even belong to the earliest age (see Lock and Sanday, Two Lectures on the Sayings of Jesus (1897); cf. ExpT [Note: xpT Expository Times.] ix. [1898] p. 194 ff.).
(3) His Person.On one occasion (Luk 20:17 = Mat 21:42) Jesus took a stone (; cf. His symbolic use of rock () in Mat 7:24 f., ||, Mat 16:18, and St. Pauls spiritual rock, that rock was Christ, 1Co 10:4) as a symbol of His own Person. He had just spoken the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, and after announcing their doom, He quoted epexegetically Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. Thus He identified the rejected Son of the parable with the rejected stone of the Psalm, and the wicked husbandmen with the scribes and Pharisees as the builders of Israels theocratic edifice; but at the same time intimated to the latter that they must not think that by rejecting Him and putting Him to death they would be done with Him for ever. So far from that, He went on to say, Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust (Luk 20:18 = Mat 21:44).
In Act 4:11 we find St. Peter taking up Christs symbol, and boldly declaring to the Sanhedrin that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the stone set at naught by them the builders, but made by God the head of the corner. And in his Epistle he returns to this parable of the stone as a symbol of Christs Person, and dwells upon it with much greater fulness (1Pe 2:4-8). He describes the Lord now, with evident reference to His Resurrection (cf. Act 4:10 with Act 4:11), as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but to God chosen and precious, upon whom His people are built up into a spiritual house. The allusion to the verse in Psalms 118 is unmistakable; but in what he proceeds to say the Apostle makes use further of two passages in Isaiah. First he quotes Isa 28:16 Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, etc., and next the words of Isa 8:14 about the stone of stumbling and the rock of offence. And it seems clear that his reminiscence of the latter passage has been inspired by his recollection of the Lords own words as to those who fall upon the Stone which is Himself, and those upon whom that Stone shall fall (cf. Isa 8:7-8 with Luk 20:17-18 = Mat 21:42; Mat 21:44). See, further, art. Rock.
Literature.The Lexx. on the various Gr. words, and the Comm. on the passages quoted.
J. C. Lambert.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Stone
STONE
I. In OT.1. Several different words are rendered stone, but the one of by far the most frequent occurrence is ebhen, which has the same wide range of application as its English equivalent. Palestine is a stony country, arid the uses to which stone was put were numerous and varied. In its natural state a stone served for a pillow (Gen 28:18) or a seat (Exo 17:12), for covering the mouth of a well (Gen 29:2 ff.) or closing the entrance to a cave (Jos 10:18; cf. Mat 27:30 etc.). Out of it, again, might be constructed a knife (Exo 4:25, Heb. tsr. RV [Note: Revised Version.] flint), a vessel (Exo 7:19; cf. Joh 2:6), a mill (Deu 24:8). Above all, stone was employed in architecture. Houses (Lev 14:42 etc.), walls (Neh 4:8, Hab 2:11), towers (by implication in Gen 11:3), and especially the Temple (1Ki 5:17 f. etc.), are referred to as built of stone. We read of foundation-stones (1Ki 5:17), of a corner-stone (Psa 118:22), of a head-stone or finial (Zec 4:7); and in 2Ki 16:17 mention is made of a pavement of stone. Masonry was a regular trade (2Sa 5:11 etc.), and stone-hewing is frequently referred to (2Ki 12:12 etc.). Belonging to the aesthetic and luxurious side of life are precious stones and the arts of cutting and graving and setting them (Exo 28:9; Exo 28:11; Exo 31:5 etc.); see, further, Jewels and Precious Stones. The profusion of stones made it natural to use them as missiles. Stone-throwing might be a mark of hatred and contempt (2Sa 16:6; 2Sa 16:13), or the expedient of murderous intentions against which provision had to be made in legislation (Exo 21:18, Num 35:17). In war, stones were regular weapons of offence. Usually they were hurled with slings (1Sa 17:49, 1Ch 12:2), but, later, great stones were discharged by means of engines (2Ch 26:15, 1Ma 6:51). Stoning to death was a natural and convenient method of execution. At first an expression of popular fury (Jos 7:25), it was afterwards regulated by law as an appointed means of capital punishment (Deu 17:5-7; cf. Act 7:58 f.). See, further, Crimes and Punishments, 10. The use of stones as memorials was common. Sometimes a single large stone, at other times a heap of stones, was raised (Gen 31:45 f., Jos 8:29; Jos 24:26). Akin to this was their employment to mark a boundary (Jos 15:6 etc.). Stones would be the ordinary landmarks between the fields of one person and another, the removal of which was strictly forbidden (Deu 19:14 etc.). In religious worship stones were employed in the forms of the pillar (Gen 28:18; Gen 28:22; Gen 31:45; Gen 35:14) and the altar. The latter was at first a single great stone (1Sa 6:14 f.), but afterwards was built of several stones, which must be unhewn (Exo 20:25, Deu 27:5-6). See, further. Pillar and Altar. The use of stone for literary purposes (cf. the Moabite Stone) is illustrated by the tables of stone on which the Decalogue was written (Exo 24:12 etc.) and the inscribed stones of the altar on Mt. Ebal (Deu 27:2 ff., Jos 8:30 ff.).
2. Stones = testicles (Lev 21:20, Deu 23:1, Job 40:17).
II. In NT.Here tithos is the ordinary word, and is found in most of the connexions already referred to. Noteworthy is the fact that Jesus, after quoting Psa 118:22, took the rejected and exalted stone as a symbol of Himself (Mat 21:42 ff., Luk 20:17 f.). St. Peter adopts the symbol in his address to the Sanhedrin (Act 4:11), and enlarges it, with further reference to Isa 8:14; Isa 28:13, in his figure of the living stone, which is at once the foundation of Gods spiritual house and a stone of stumbling to the disobedient (1Pe 2:4-8). The stone (petros) of Joh 1:42 should be rock, or still better Peter (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ); stony (petrds) in Mat 13:5, Mar 4:5; Mar 4:16 should be rocky. The white stone of Rev 2:17 represents Gr. psphos, a pebble, and the ref. perhaps is to the tessara gladiatoria bestowed on the victorious young gladiator.
J. C. Lambert.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
STONE
Stone (white.) The most ancient way among the Grecians of giving sentence in courts of judicature was by black and white pebbles called . They who were for acquitting a person tried, cast into an urn a white pebble, and those who were for condemning him a black one. Ovid has taken notice of this custom;
Mos erat antiquis, niveis atrisque lapillis His damnare reos, illis absolvere culp.f1
Black and white stones were used in ages past. These to acquit the prisoner, those to cast.H. H.
The like was done in popular elections; the white pebbles being given by way of approbation, and the black ones by way of rejection. Hence a white pebble or stone, becomes a symbol of absolution in judgment, and of conferring honours and rewards.
The symbol of a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, is used in Dan. ii., and may be thus explained.
A mountain has been shewn to signify symbolically a kingdom or empire. Now a mountain consists of stones united together. By the rule of analogy, stones therefore must signify the several peoples of which a kingdom or empire represented by a mountain is composed. And therefore a stone cut out of a symbolical mountain, will be a people to be formed out of the kingdom represented, and to be (forasmuch as the cutting denotes a separation) of a quite different nature to the rest of the people, of which the said kingdom consists. And forasmuch as this is said to be done without hands, this may denote, that the said people would be of a sudden formed when men were not aware of any such thing, and that it would be done without any visible worldly support or assistance.
A stone cast into the sea, symbolizes destruction. When Jeremiah had written his prophecy concerning Babylon, he commanded Saraiah to do after this manner: ” And it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and thall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her.” Jer 51:63-64. The symbols, however, under which the prophets predicted the fall of the Babylonian empire, do not absolutely imply that she should be then totally ruined; and for this reason the Holy Ghost, in declaring God’s judgments on mystical Babylon, brings symbols from other places where such desolations are predicted, as that of Tyre, &c. See Rev 18. The symbols here used are also more vehement: a strong angel, instead of Seraiah; a mill stone, instead of a common stone: thrown into the sea, instead of the Euphrates, (Rev 18:21); symbols denoting utter destruction. Thus Babylon appears to be devoted, or accursed, as Jericho was. In the words of Jeremiah, the curses or predictions are written in a book, and cast into the Euphrates, to shew that as the stone is never likely to rise up again out of the water, so the effect of the curse should continue.
F1 Ovid. Met. L. xv. ver. 41, 42.
Fuente: A Symbolical Dictionary
Stone
This word is sometimes taken in the sense of rock, and is applied figuratively to God, as the refuge of his people. See Rock. The Hebrews gave the name of stones to the weights used in commerce; no doubt because they were originally formed of stone. Just weights, is therefore in Hebrew, just stones. The corner stone, or the head stone of the corner, is a figurative representation of Christ. It is the stone at the angle of a building, whether at the foundation or the top of the wall. Christ was that corner stone, which, though rejected by the Jews, became the corner stone of the church, and the stone that binds and unites the synagogue and the Gentiles in the unity of the same faith. Some have thought the showers of stones cast down by the Lord out of heaven, mentioned several times in the Old Testament, to be showers of hail of extraordinary size; which was probably the case, as they even now sometimes occur in those countries in a most terrific and destructive form, and show how irresistible an agent this meteor is in the hands of an offended God. The knives of stone that were made use of by the Jews in circumcision, were not enjoined by the law; but the use of them was founded, either upon custom, or upon the experience that this kind of instrument is found to be less dangerous than those made of metal. Zipporah made use of a stone to circumcise her sons, Exo 4:25. Jos 5:2, did the same, when he caused such of the Israelites to be circumcised at Gilgal, as had not received circumcision during their journey in the wilderness. The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, made use of knives of stone to open dead bodies that were to be embalmed; and Pliny assures us, that the priests of the mother of the gods had sharp stones, with which they cut and slashed themselves, which they thought they could not do with any thing else without danger. Great heaps of stones, raised up for a witness of any memorable event, and to preserve the remembrance of some matter of great importance, are among the most ancient monuments. In those elder ages, before the use of writing, these monuments were instead of inscriptions, pyramids, medals, or histories. Jacob and Laban raised such a monument upon Mount Gilead in memory of their covenant, Gen 31:46. Joshua erected one at Gilgal, made of stones taken out of the Jordan, to preserve the memorial of his miraculous passage over this river, Jos 4:5-7. The Israelites that dwelt beyond Jordan also raised one upon the banks of the river, as a testimony that they constituted but one nation with their brethren on the other side, Jos 22:10. Sometimes they heaped up such a collection of stones upon the burying place of some odious persons, as was none in the case of Achan and Absalom, Jos 7:26; 2Ki 18:17.
A heart of stone may be understood several ways. Job 41:24, speaking of the leviathan, says, that his heart is as firm as a stone, yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone: that is, he is of a very extraordinary strength, boldness, and courage. It is said, 1Sa 25:37, that Nabal’s heart died within him, and he became as a stone, when he was told of the danger he had incurred by his imprudence; his heart became contracted or convulsed, and this was the occasion of his death.
Eze 36:26, says, that the Lord will take away from his people their heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh; that is, he will render them contrite, and sensible to spiritual things. I will give him a white stone,
Rev 2:17; that is, I will give him full and public pardon and absolution. It is spoken in allusion to an ancient custom of delivering a white stone to such as they acquitted in judgment. They used likewise to give a white stone to such as conquered in the Grecian games.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Stone
The stone is used as a type of many things throughout the Scripture. In both the Old Testament and the New, it represents the Lord JESUS CHRIST, or the child of GOD, or the truth of GOD. Sometimes it represents glory and beauty. It stands for solidity and permanence. We will give here some of these typical meanings:
Gen 11:3 (c) Man-made doctrines are substituted for GOD’s Word.
Gen 49:24 (a) This represents the Lord JESUS CHRIST.
Exo 20:25 (c) The thought in this passage probably is that the stones represent GOD’s truth as revealed in His Word, and man is not to alter it nor change it in any way. False teachers and leaders do take GOD’s Word and twist the meaning to suit their own theology. They take the passage from its text and misuse it. It is this that is forbidden by this type. (See also Deu 27:6; Jos 8:31; 1Ki 6:7).
Exo 24:12 (c) The commandments were on stone, not on rubber, which would bend or stretch. It speaks of permanence and durability.
1Sa 17:49 (c) This may represent a portion of the Scripture, the Gospel.
Job 28:3 (b) We may understand these to be matters that are difficult to understand, and require much investigation and research.
Psa 118:22 (b) There is no doubt but that this type represents the Lord JESUS CHRIST as the One in whom we trust for eternity. Israel rejected him as the foundation of their faith, but GOD exalted Him as the foundation of the Church. (See Isa 28:16; 1Pe 2:6).
Psa 144:12 (a) These represent beautiful daughters, refined, cultured, substantial and solid in their faith. They are dependable and trustworthy.
Pro 26:27 (b) This is probably a type of gossip, malicious lie, or a false report which when started returns to injure the one who told it.
Isa 8:14 (a) This type represents the Lord JESUS for He stood in the way of Israel. In rejecting Him they fell from their place of power and influence, and have been scattered abroad as a punishment for their sins. His Name and His presence are an offense to the nation of Israel. (See also Mat 21:42; Mar 12:10).
Isa 28:16 (a) This type of CHRIST reveals Him as being tried and tested by men and circumstances, and proving His perfection.
Isa 34:11 (b) These are types of those matters which look good, but have no value. They make a big show, but have no reality. These things are hypocritical, pretending to be what they are not. They look like stones, but really are puff balls.
Lam 3:9 (b) GOD permitted His prophet to be surrounded with wicked men and evil workers so that he could not go about His work easily nor comfortably.
Eze 28:14 (b) Satan’s glory is thus described. The unsaved follow the Devil’s plans and programs, thinking he has permanent value, and will give permanent blessing.
Dan 2:34 (b) The Lord JESUS is this stone who comes in His sovereign power to crush all opposition, to defeat his enemies, and to set up his own kingdom throughout the earth.
Zec 3:9 (b) This also is a type of CHRIST who is brought before men for their trust and confidence. It also represents CHRIST, Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, and yet the One who sends and gives the Holy Spirit. (See also Zec 4:7).
Mat 21:44 (a) CHRIST JESUS is this stone, the Rock of ages, the foundation of all GOD’s church and kingdom. When He crushes His enemies beneath His feet, they will be utterly broken, but those who, feeling their need, rest their lives and hearts on Him, they are eternally blessed. (See also Luk 20:18).
Luk 20:17 (a) CHRIST JESUS is this stone. He was rejected by Israel, and is still rejected by that nation. (See also Act 4:11; 1Pe 2:4-7).
1Co 3:12 (b) The good works of GOD’s people carried on for the glory of GOD, the honor of CHRIST, and by the leading of the Spirit, are solid, substantial and eternal in their character.
1Pe 2:5 (a) Christians are reckoned to be a part of CHRIST, and so they are as small stones broken off from the big stone, the Rock of Ages. They partake of His appearance and character.
Rev 2:17 (b) Since the Scripture says that no man knows what this represents, we can hardly dare to express an opinion. It certainly represents some pure precious gift solid and eternal in character which the Lord will give to the overcomer.
Rev 17:4 (b) This type refers to the great wealth and beauty that is seen and adorns false religions. Their magnificence is wonderful and attracts those who do not know our Lord.
Rev 21:11 (b) This is poetic language which describes the glory of GOD by telling us of things we can understand, as a comparison to things we cannot understand.