Meaning
Stone Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events (Gen 28:18; Josh 24:26, 27; 1Sam 7:12, etc.). They were gathered out of cultivated fields (Isa 5:2; comp. 2Kings 3:19). This word is also used figuratively of believers (1Pet 2:4, 5), and of the Messiah (Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16; Matt 21:42; Acts 4:11, etc.). In Dan 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 (1Sam 25:37).
Stones were set up to commemorate remarkable events, as by Jacob at Bethel (Gen 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 (Josh 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" (1Sam 7:12).
