Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events ( Genesis 28:18 ; Joshua 24:26 Joshua 24:27 ; 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 1 Peter 2:5 ), and of the Messiah ( Psalms 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 ).
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.
Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. "Entry for Stone". "Easton's Bible Dictionary".