the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Stones
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Stones. Besides the ordinary uses to which stones were applied, we may mention that large stones were set up to commemorate any remarkable event. Genesis 28:18; Genesis 35:14; Genesis 31:45; Joshua 4:9; 1 Samuel 7:12. Such stones were occasionally consecrated by anointing. Genesis 28:18. Heaps of stones were piled up on various occasions, as in token of a treaty, Genesis 31:47, or over the grave of some notorious offender. Joshua 7:26; Joshua 8:29; 2 Samuel 18:17.
The "white stone" noticed in Revelation 2:17, has been, variously, regarded as referring to the pebble of acquittal used in the Greek courts; to the lot cast in elections in Greece; to both of these combined; to the stones in the high priest's breastplate; to the tickets presented to the victor, at the public games; or, lastly, to the custom of writing on stones.
The notice in Zechariah 12:3, of the "burdensome stone," is referred by Jerome to the custom of lifting stones as an exercise of strength, compare Sirach 6:21; but it may equally well be explained of a large corner-stone as a symbol of strength. Isaiah 28:16.
Stones are used metaphorically to denote hardness or insensibility, 1 Samuel 25:37; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26, as well as firmness or strength. Genesis 49:24. 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. Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:4-8.
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Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Stones'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/s/stones.html. 1901.
