Bible Dictionaries
Flint

Holman Bible Dictionary

Flint translates three Hebrew terms which are applied loosely to any hard, compact rock or specifically to nearly opaque, cryphytocryshytaline varieties of quartz. Flint may be flaked to give a very sharp, hard edge. Flint tools, including scrapers, axheads, knives (Exodus 4:25; Joshua 5:2-3 REB, NIV, NAS, NRSV, TEV), arrow heads, sickle blades, and other tools were used from the earliest prehistoric times. The hardness of flint is proverbial. God's miraculous provision for the Israelites in the wilderness is pictured as water ( Deuteronomy 8:15; Psalm 114:8 ) or oil (Deuteronomy 32:13 ) flowing from flinty rock. God protected the prophet Ezekiel by making his forehead harder than flint (Ezekiel 3:9 ). A face set like flint pictured the determination of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 50:7; compare Luke 9:51 ). Zechariah 7:12 pictures the people's unwillingness to repent as hearts of flint.