Bible Dictionaries
Stone
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events (Genesis 28:18; Joshua 24:26,27; 1 Samuel 7:12 , etc.). They were gathered out of cultivated fields (Isaiah 5:2; Compare 2 Kings 3:19 ). This word is also used figuratively of believers (1 Peter 2:4,5 ), and of the Messiah (Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11 , etc.). In Daniel 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 Samuel 25:37 ).
Stones were set up to commemorate remarkable events, as by Jacob at Bethel (Genesis 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 (Joshua 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 Samuel 7:12 ).
Copyright Statement
These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.
Bibliography Information
Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Stone'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/s/stone.html. 1897.