Topic

Stones

Passages from across the Bible

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

Commandments engraved upon

Exodus 24:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
Exodus 31:18 When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
Exodus 34:1–4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop. No one may go up with you; in fact…
Deuteronomy 4:13 He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow — the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone.
Deuteronomy 5:22 The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
Deuteronomy 9:9–11 When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water. Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exac…
Deuteronomy 10:1–3 At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.” So I made an ark of acacia wo…

The law of Moses written upon

Joshua 8:32 And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

Houses built of

Isaiah 9:10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with finished stone; the sycamores have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”
Amos 5:11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

Temple built of

1 Kings 5:17–18 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones. So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
1 Kings 7:9–12 All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard. The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long. Above these…
Matthew 24:2 “Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Luke 19:44 They will level you to the ground — you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Luke 21:5–6 As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Prepared in the quarries

1 Kings 6:7 The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

Hewn (cut)

Exodus 34:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
Deuteronomy 10:1 At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
1 Kings 5:17 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
1 Kings 6:36 Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.
1 Kings 7:9 All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard.
2 Kings 12:12 masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs.
2 Kings 22:6 to the carpenters, builders, and masons — to buy timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.
1 Chronicles 22:2 So David gave orders to gather the foreigners in the land of Israel, from whom he appointed stonecutters to prepare finished stones for building the house of God.
2 Chronicles 34:11 They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to deteriorate.
Lamentations 3:9 He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.

Sawed

1 Kings 7:9 All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

Hewers (stone-cutters) of

1 Kings 5:18 So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
2 Kings 12:12 masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs.
1 Chronicles 22:15 You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in every kind of work —

City walls built of

Nehemiah 4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

Memorial pillars of

Genesis 28:18–22 Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this…
Genesis 31:45–52 So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar, and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you an…
Joshua 4:2–9 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’” So Joshua summoned the twelve men he…
Joshua 4:20–24 And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God…
Joshua 24:25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he established for them a statute and ordinance.
1 Samuel 7:12 Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

Great, as landmarks (Some Hebrew mss. have "Abel")

1 Samuel 6:18 The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers — the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

Ezel

1 Samuel 20:19 When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.

Zoheleth

1 Kings 1:9 And Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened calves near the stone of Zoheleth, which is next to En-rogel. He invited all his royal brothers and all the men of Judah who were servants of the king.

Thrown upon accursed ground

2 Kings 3:19 And you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”
2 Kings 3:25 They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.

Used

In building altars

Joshua 8:31 just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.” And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

For weighing (margin)

Leviticus 19:36 You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

For closing graves

Matthew 27:60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Mark 15:46 So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mark 16:3 They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

Tombs hewn in

Matthew 27:60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Mark 15:46 So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
Mark 16:3 They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

Idols made of

Deuteronomy 4:28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
Deuteronomy 28:36 The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods— gods of wood and stone.
Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
Deuteronomy 29:17 You saw the abominations and idols among them made of wood and stone, of silver and gold.
2 Kings 19:18 They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone — the work of human hands.
Isaiah 37:19 They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone — the work of human hands.
Ezekiel 20:32 When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.

Great, in Solomon' s temple

1 Kings 5:17–18 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones. So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
1 Kings 7:9–12 All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard. The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long. Above these…

Magnificent, in Herod the Great' s temple

Mark 13:1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!”

Skill in throwing

Judges 20:16 Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.
1 Chronicles 12:2 they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

See Slings

See Adamant

See Chalcedony

See Marble

See Onyx

See Pillars

See PRECIOUS, below

Figurative

Genesis 49:24 Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
Zechariah 3:9 See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

Of temptation, "Stone of Stumbling,"

Isaiah 8:14 And He will be a sanctuary — but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
Romans 9:33 as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
1 Peter 2:8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word— and to this they were appointed.

Of Christ, "a Tested Stone," "a Precious Stone," "a Sure Foundation,"

Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

Of Christ' s rejection, the rejected Conerstone

Psalm 118:22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Matthew 21:42–44 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
Mark 12:10 Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Luke 20:17–18 But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Acts 4:11 This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
1 Peter 2:4 As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,

The True Foundation

Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
Revelation 21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Of Christ, the Water of Life

1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Of the impenitent heart

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Of the witness of the Spirit, the white stone

Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

Symbolical

Of the kingdom of Christ

Daniel 2:34 As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
Daniel 2:45 And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Precious

In the breastplate and ephod

Exodus 28:9–21 Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on one stone and the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth. Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold fi…
Exodus 39:6–14 They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses. He made the breastpiece with the same workmanshi…

Voluntary offerings of, by the Israelites for the breastplate and ephod

Exodus 35:27 The leaders brought onyx stones and gemstones to mount on the ephod and breastpiece,

Exported from Sheba

1 Kings 10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan— with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind.
1 Kings 10:10 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again were spices in such abundance brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
2 Chronicles 9:9–10 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. (The servants of Hiram and of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum wood and precious stones.
Ezekiel 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.

Ophir

1 Kings 10:11 (The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir a great cargo of almug wood and precious stones.

Partial catalogue of

Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.

Seen in the foundation of the New Jerusalem in John' s apocalyptic vision

Revelation 21:19–20 The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase…

In the crowns of kings

2 Samuel 12:30 Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.
1 Chronicles 20:2 Then David took the crown from the head of their king. It was found to weigh a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

Figurative

Isaiah 54:11–12 “O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

See Agate

See Amethyst

See Beryl

See Carbuncle