Stone - Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words
Usage Number: 1
Strong's Number: H68
Original Word: ’eben
Usage Notes: "stone." A comparison of Semitic languages shows that ’eben was the common word for "stone" among the ancients. Exact philological and semantic cognates are found in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic, Old South Arabic, and several Ethiopic dialects. The Greek Old Testament usually has lithos for ’eben. Used almost exclusively for movable stone(s), ’eben is to be distinguished from sela‘, "rock," and s?ûr, "cliff." The noun ’eben occurs in the Old Testament 260 times, with almost equal frequency in the singular (and collective) as in the plural. It appears more frequently in prose than in poetry.
Palestine was (and is) famous for its ubiquitous "stone." So much was "stone" a part of the ancient writer's consciousness that it served the literary interests of simile (Exod. 15:5), metaphor (Ezek. 11:19), and hyperbole (1 Kings 10:27; 2 Chron. 1:15; 2 Chron. 9:27). That building with "stone" was the rule rather than the exception in Palestine is suggested by the biblical writer's allusion to the Mesopotamian custom of using clay bricks (Gen. 11:3). Yet it seems that Israelite craftsmen at the time of David lagged behind somewhat in the art of stonework, for stonemasons from Tyre were employed in constructing the royal residence (2 Sam. 5:11).
Beyond their use as a construction material, "stones" served as covers for wells (Gen. 29:3ff.), storage containers (Exod. 7:19), weights (Deut. 25:13; Prov. 11:1), and slingstones (1 Sam. 17:49). Plumblines were suspended stones (Isa. 34:11); pavement was sometimes made of "stone" (2 Kings 16:17); and the Bible speaks of hailstones (Josh. 10:11; Ezek. 13:1ff.). The Israelite custom of cave burials presumes stone tombs (Isa. 14:19); on 3 occasions when bodies were not interred, they were heaped with "stones" (Josh. 7:26; Josh. 8:29; 2 Sam. 18:17).
Pentateuchal laws relating to purity-impurity concepts stipulated that certain crimes were punishable by stoning. The standard formula employed either the verb ragam or saqal followed by a preposition and the noun ’eben. Included under this penalty were the crimes of blasphemy (Lev. 24:23; Num. 15:35-36), Molech worship (Lev. 20:2), idolatry (Deut. 13:10), and prostitution (Deut. 22:21, 24). Originally, stoning was a means of merely expelling the lawbreaker from the community; however, in ancient Israel it was a means of capital punishment whereby the community could rid itself of the impure offender without coming into direct contact with him. As for the cult, the carved "stone" figurines commonly worshiped throughout the ancient Near East were strictly forbidden to Israel (Lev. 26:1). To carve "stone" which was to be used in the cult was to profane it (Exod. 20:25). Altars and memorials especially common to the patriarchal age and the period of the Conquest were all made of unhewn "stones" (Gen. 28:18ff.; Gen. 31:45; Josh. 4:5; Josh. 24:26-27). Of the cult objects in Israel's wilderness shrine, only the tablets of the Decalogue were made of "stone" (Exod. 24:12; Exod. 34:1, 4; Deut. 4:13; Ezek. 40:42, the stone tables of Ezekiel's temple served only utilitarian purposes).
Precious "stones" such as onyx (Gen. 2:12) and sapphire (Ezek. 1:26) are mentioned frequently in the Bible, especially with regard to the high priest's ephod and breastplate (Exod. 39:6ff.). The expensiveness of the high priest's garments corresponded to the special workmanship of the most holy place where Aaron served.
In certain texts, ’eben has been given theological interpretations. God is called the "stone of Israel" in Gen. 49:24. And several occurrences of ’eben in the Old Testament have been viewed as messianic, as evidenced by the Greek Old Testament, rabbinic writings, and the New Testament; among them: Gen. 28:18; Psa. 118:22; Isa. 8:14; Isa. 28:16; Dan. 2:34; Zech. 4:7.