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11:3). Yet it seems that Israelite craftsmen at the time of David lagged behind somewhat
in the art of stonework, for stonemasons from Tyre were employed in constructing the
royal residence (2 Sam. 5:11).
Beyond their use as a construction material, “stones” served as covers for wells (Gen.
29:3ff.), storage containers (Exod. 7:19), weights (Deut. 25:13; Prov. 11:1), and
slingstones (1 Sam. 17:49). Plumblines were suspended stones (Isa. 34:11); pavement
was sometimes made of “stone” (2 Kings 16:17); and the Bible speaks of hailstones
(Josh. 10:11; Ezek. 13:11ff.). The Israelite custom of cave burials presumes stone tombs
(Isa. 14:19); on 3 occasions when bodies were not interred, they were heaped with
“stones” (Josh. 7:26; 8:29; 2 Sam. 18:17).
Pentateuchal laws relating to purity-impurity concepts stipulated that certain crimes
were punishable by stoning. The standard formula employed either the verb
or
%
followed by a preposition and the noun
!
Included under this penalty were the
crimes of blasphemy (Lev. 24:23; Num. 15:35-36), Molech worship (Lev. 20:2), idolatry
(Deut. 13:10), and prostitution (Deut. 22:21, 24). Originally, stoning was a means of
merely expelling the lawbreaker from the community; however, in ancient Israel it was a
means of capital punishment whereby the community could rid itself of the impure
offender without coming into direct contact with him.
As for the cult, the carved “stone” figurines commonly worshiped throughout the
ancient Near East were strictly forbidden to Israel (Lev. 26:1). To carve “stone” which
was to be used in the cult was to profane it (Exod. 20:25). Altars and memorials
especially common to the patriarchal age and the period of the Conquest were all made of
unhewn “stones” (Gen. 28:18ff.; 31:45; Josh. 4:5; 24:26-27). Of the cult objects in
Israel’s wilderness shrine, only the tablets of the Decalogue were made of “stone” (Exod.
24:12; 34:1, 4; Deut. 4:13; Ezek. 40:42—the stone tables of Ezekiel’s temple served only
utilitarian purposes).
Precious “stones” such as onyx (Gen. 2:12) and sapphire (Ezek. 1:26) are mentioned
frequently in the Bible, especially with regard to the high priest’s ephod and breastplate
(Exod. 39:6ff.). The expensiveness of the high priest’s garments corresponded to the
special workmanship of the most holy place where Aaron served.
In certain texts,
has been given theological interpretations. God is called the
“stone of Israel” in Gen. 49:24. And several occurrences of
in the Old Testament
have been viewed as messianic, as evidenced by the Greek Old Testament, rabbinic
writings, and the New Testament, among them: Gen. 28:18; Ps. 118:22; Isa. 8:14; 28:16;
Dan. 2:34; Zech. 4:7.
STREET
A. Noun.
$
(
0
, 2351), “street.” This word, of uncertain origin, appears in biblical,
mishnaic, and modern Hebrew. In the Old Testament the total number of occurrences of
the noun and adverb is about 160.
A particular use of
$
denotes the place outside the houses in a city, or the “street.”
The “street” was the place for setting up bazaars: “The cities, which my father took from
thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father
made in Samaria” (1 Kings 20:34). Craftsmen plied their trade on certain “streets” named