אֶ֫בֶן

From the study of Isaiah 28:16

Range of meaning

Bōḥan comes from bāḥan, "to test, examine, assay", used of testing metals and of God testing hearts (Jeremiah 17:10; Psalm 139:23). As a noun it can mean "testing" (Ezekiel 21:13 [21:18 Heb.]). So "stone of testing" can mean a tested, proven stone, or a stone that serves as the test or standard. A third proposal, going back to L. Koehler and T. O. Lambdin, takes bōḥan as a loanword from Egyptian bḫn, a hard dark stone (greywacke or schist) used for monuments, which would make this a builder's technical term: "a block of bōḥan-stone".

Against the English

KJV/WEB "a tried stone" and BSB/NIV "a tested stone" take the first sense. "Tried" in KJV English meant "proven by testing", not "attempted". The LXX translator rendered it "chosen" (eklekton), probably connecting it with the similar verb bāḥar, "to choose". That is how "chosen" reaches 1 Peter 2:6.

How it drifted

KJV "tried" has shifted in ordinary English toward "attempted"; the 1611 sense was "tested and proven".

Used elsewhere in the period

bāḥan is used for assaying silver and gold (Zechariah 13:9; Psalm 66:10). The Egyptian derivation appears in HALOT as a possibility. At Qumran the Community Rule (1QS 8:7–8) applies this verse to the community's council: "the tested wall, the precious cornerstone", taking bōḥan as "tested".

From the study of Proverbs 11:1

Range of meaning

'Ěben is 'stone'. In trade contexts it means a stone weight. Šālēm means whole, complete, intact, full, sound, at peace. It shares a root with shalom (peace, wholeness) and with the verb šillēm, 'to repay, make good'.

Against the English

'Just weight' (KJV, ESV, NASB) moves the idea into moral language. 'Accurate weight' (BSB, NIV, WEB) moves it into technical language. 'Perfect weight' (YLT) sounds like moral perfection. The Hebrew picture is physical: a full, undiminished stone that weighs what it claims to weigh.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 25:15 has the fuller phrase 'a stone full and righteous' (ʾeben šəlēmâ wāṣedeq), next to the ban on carrying 'a stone and a stone, large and small' in one's bag (25:13). Archaeologists have found many small dome-shaped limestone weights from Judah (8th–7th centuries BC), marked with shekel signs and numerals. They show there was a recognized standard that a dishonest trader could undercut (Kletter, Economic Keystones). The 'king's stone' (2 Samuel 14:26) and the 'shekel of the sanctuary' (Exodus 30:13) point to official standards.

From the study of Ezekiel 36:26

Range of meaning

Stone or rock of any kind, including building stones, weights and boundary stones. In comparisons it stands for hardness, heaviness, silence and lifelessness ('they sank like a stone', Exod 15:5; Nabal's 'heart died within him and he became like a stone', 1 Sam 25:37; Leviathan's heart 'hard as stone', Job 41:24). In prophetic attacks on idolatry it often names the material of idols ('wood and stone', Deut 4:28; Ezek 20:32).

Against the English

'Heart of stone' or 'stony heart' (KJV, WEB) is accurate. In English the phrase usually means 'cruel, unfeeling'. The Hebrew picture is wider: unresponsive, unteachable, stubborn toward God. It is less about cruelty to other people and more about being deaf to God's word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel's call narrative calls Israel 'hard of forehead and stiff of heart' (3:7), and God makes the prophet's forehead 'like adamant, harder than flint' (3:9). Zech 7:12: 'they made their hearts like adamant so as not to hear the law.' The Talmud (b. Sukkah 52a) takes Ezekiel's 'stone' as one of the names of the evil inclination.