λίθος

Matthew 3:9 λίθων stones

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

Here: 'Stones': ordinary rocks of the Jordan riverbank and the Judean wilderness. It is the most lifeless thing at hand, and in Hebrew or Aramaic probably a pun on 'children' (see the studies).

Matthew 4:3 λίθοι stones

The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Here: The loose limestone rocks of the Judean desert. Some are round and loaf-sized. Matthew's readers had just heard John say God could raise children for Abraham “from these stones” (3:9).

Matthew 4:6 λίθον a stone

“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

Here: A rock on the road. Set against a temple pinnacle, the image is ironically small.

Matthew 7:9 λίθον a stone

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Here: A stone. It may look a bit like a loaf, but it is useless as food. Handing it over would be cruel, a refusal disguised as a gift.

Matthew 21:42 λίθον [The] stone

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’?

Here: A building stone. It stands in the accusative case because it has been pulled into the case of the following "which" clause, a Greek quirk copied straight from the Greek Psalm. The sentence breaks off and restarts with "this one": "A stone the builders rejected, this one became…"

Matthew 21:44 λίθον stone

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Here: The same stone as in v. 42: the one the builders rejected that became the head of the corner. In the story, it stands for the son the tenants killed, which means Jesus himself.

Matthew 24:2 λίθος λίθον stone

“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.”

Here: A building stone. Herod's stones were famously enormous and finely dressed; Mark 13:1 has a disciple exclaim, 'What stones!'

Matthew 27:60 λίθον a stone

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.

Here: A separate, movable stone (unlike πέτρα, the bedrock). This was the stone that closed the tomb.

Matthew 27:66 λίθον stone

So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

Here: The large stone closing the tomb entrance (27:60, "a great stone"). It sets up 28:2, where an angel rolls it away and sits on it.

Matthew 28:2 λίθον stone

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it.

Here: The large blocking stone that closed the tomb entrance. The authorities had sealed it to stop anyone getting in.

Mark 5:5 λίθοις.¶ with stones.

Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Mark 12:10 λίθον [The] stone

Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Here: A building block, specifically a cut stone of the kind builders inspect and either use or throw aside. Grammatically it has been pulled into the case of the "which" that follows (the Septuagint has the same quirk), so it stands at the head of the sentence like a headline: "A stone..."

Mark 13:1 λίθοι stones

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

Mark 13:2 λίθος λίθον stone

“Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Here: A building stone. It answers the disciple's 'what stones!', and some of Herod's stones were enormous.

Mark 15:46 λίθον a stone

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 λίθον stone

They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

Mark 16:4 λίθος· stone;

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.

Luke 3:8 λίθων stones

Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

Here: The loose stones of the Jordan valley and wilderness, lifeless and everywhere. In Hebrew or Aramaic the word sounds almost like 'sons' (see studies).

Luke 4:3 λίθῳ stone

The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Luke 4:11 λίθον a stone

and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

Luke 17:2 λίθος a stone

It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

Here: A plain word for a stone, here a working stone of heavy rock. It stands first in its clause and gives the picture its weight.

Luke 19:40 λίθοι stones

“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”

Here: “Stones.” The most silent, lifeless things there are. In Luke's next chapters stones become a running theme: “not one stone upon another” (19:44), “the stone the builders rejected” (20:17), the Temple's admired stones (21:5–6).

Luke 19:44 λίθον λίθον a stone

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.”

Here: A building stone, the cut masonry of walls, houses and above all the Temple (compare Luke 21:5–6).

Luke 20:17 λίθον [The] stone

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’?

Here: A dressed building stone. The form is accusative because the word is pulled into the case of the relative clause that follows (the stone *which* they rejected). The Greek quotation matches the Septuagint word for word.

Luke 20:18 λίθον stone

Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Luke 21:5 λίθοις with stones

As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,

Luke 21:6 λίθος λίθῳ stone

“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.”

Here: A building stone. It answers the disciples' "beautiful stones" in verse 5: the very thing they admired is what will be taken apart.

Luke 22:41 λίθου a stone’s

And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,

Here: 'Of a stone.' Here it is part of an everyday way of measuring distance.

Luke 24:2 λίθον stone

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

John 8:59 λίθους stones

At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.

Here: Throwing stones was the Law's punishment for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16) and for leading people astray to other gods (Deuteronomy 13:10). Picking up stones meant they were treating Jesus' words as a capital offense.

John 10:31 λίθους stones

At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.

Here: Plural, ordinary stones: throwing stones, not building blocks set in place. In the temple precinct there was plenty of loose rubble, because Herod's rebuilding was still under way.

John 11:38 λίθος a stone

Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.

Here: The stone closing the tomb. It becomes the object of Jesus' first command in v.39: 'Take away the stone.'

John 11:39 λίθον. stone.

“Take away the stone,” Jesus said. “Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”

Here: The blocking stone over the tomb entrance. It sealed the dead off from the living, kept out animals, and contained the smell and the ritual impurity of the corpse.

John 11:41 λίθον stone

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

Here: The stone that closed the burial cave (v. 38). It was most likely a squared block or plug pushed into the opening, not the round rolling disc of modern pictures.

John 20:1 λίθον stone

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

Here: The large blocking stone set in the low doorway of a rock-cut tomb.

Acts 4:11 λίθος stone

This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

Here: A building stone, a cut block for construction. It is the central picture of the verse, taken from Psalm 118:22.

Acts 17:29 λίθῳ, to stone,

Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

Here: Marble and other stone, the commonest material for the statues Paul saw all over the city (17:16). Precious or common, it is all lifeless matter.

Romans 9:32 λίθῳ stone

Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

Here: 'Stone', in the dative case for the thing struck. It points straight to Isaiah's stone that God himself lays in Zion (v. 33), which most readers take to be the Messiah.

Romans 9:33 λίθον a stone

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.”

Here: A single stone, such as a building block or a stone lying in a path. The same object can be a foundation to build on or something to trip over.

1 Corinthians 3:12 λίθους stones

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

Here: Plural, 'stones', meaning individual pieces. With the next word it most likely means costly building stone such as dressed blocks or marble, though gems are possible.

2 Corinthians 3:7 λίθοις stones

Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,

Here: The tablets of stone from Sinai (Exod 31:18; 34:1). It echoes v.3 ("not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts") and the promise in Ezekiel 36:26 of replacing a heart of stone.

1 Peter 2:4 λίθον a stone

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,

Here: A building stone, a dressed block for a wall, not a pebble or a rock outcrop. It sets up the chain of Old Testament stone texts quoted in verses 6–8.

1 Peter 2:5 λίθοι stones

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Here: Building stones, the dressed blocks of a wall or temple. It is the same word used of Christ, the 'living stone', in verse 4 and of the cornerstone in verses 6–8 (Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14).

1 Peter 2:6 λίθον a stone

For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

Here: A dressed building stone, not a pebble. It picks up 'living stone' (v. 4, Christ) and 'living stones' (v. 5, believers).

1 Peter 2:7 λίθος [the] stone

To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

Here: The start of a word-for-word quotation of Psalm 118:22. It is nominative (subject form), so Peter just breaks into the quotation: "to the unbelieving, a stone which the builders rejected…". The stone is Christ, the "living stone" of v. 4.

1 Peter 2:8 λίθος A stone

and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

Here: The same stone as in verses 4–7: Jesus, the 'living stone' God laid in Zion. Here it is the stone seen from the other side, by those who reject it.

Revelation 4:3 λίθῳ stone

The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.

Here: 'A stone', meaning a precious stone or gem. Precious stones were the brightest, most lasting, most costly objects an ancient person could picture.

Revelation 17:4 λίθῳ with stone

The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

Here: Singular, but meaning a class of things: jewels. English naturally makes it 'stones'.

Revelation 18:12 λίθου of stone

cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

Here: Singular but meant as a class: gemstones in general.

Revelation 18:16 λίθῳ with stone

saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!

Here: Grammatically singular but meaning a whole class: “precious stone”, i.e. gems of every kind.

Revelation 18:21 λίθον stone

Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.

Here: A stone, a solid mass. It recalls the stone that Seraiah threw into the Euphrates to act out Babylon's sinking (Jeremiah 51:63).

Revelation 21:11 λίθῳ λίθῳ as a stone

shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.

Here: Here it means a gemstone, a 'precious stone', not building rock.

Revelation 21:19 λίθῳ stone

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,

Here: Singular but collective: 'stone' as a material, 'with every precious stone'. The case marks it as what the foundations were adorned with.