Aramaic word · H69

אֶ֫בֶן

'even

stone

Stone, rock: a building stone, a boulder, or a stone used as a weight or monument.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) stone

1a) a (the) stone

1b) stone, material of idols and buildings

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Daniel 2:35

Range of meaning

Stone, rock: a building stone, a boulder, or a stone used as a weight or monument.

Against the English

'Stone' is accurate. Some readers picture a pebble; the Aramaic does not give a size, only that it was 'cut out not by hands' (v.34) and came 'from the mountain' (v.45).

Used elsewhere in the period

Israel's scriptures also speak of a foundation or cornerstone stone (Isa 28:16; Ps 118:22) and of a stone of stumbling (Isa 8:14). Luke 20:18 (and Matt 21:44 in many manuscripts) combines Ps 118:22 with this passage: 'everyone who falls on that stone will be broken, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him'. 4 Ezra 13:6–7, 36 (late 1st century AD) describes a mountain 'carved out without hands', identified with Zion. Josephus (Antiquities 10.210) pointedly declines to explain the stone, probably because it implied Rome's fall.

From the study of Ezra 5:8

Range of meaning

The phrase occurs only here and in Ezra 6:4. גְּלָל comes from the root g-l-l, 'to roll' (Hebrew galal; compare gal, 'heap', and Gilgal). The most likely sense is 'stone of rolling': blocks too heavy to carry, moved by rolling on logs or rollers. Some scholars link it to Akkadian words for large stone blocks. Others take it as a technical term for a type of masonry, either dressed (cut and finished) blocks or rough ones.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, BSB: 'great/large stones'. Several modern versions: 'huge stones'. YLT keeps the root meaning with 'rolled stones'. Some paraphrases speak of 'specially prepared' stones, which adopts the 'dressed stone' interpretation.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek 2 Esdras 5:8 renders it 'chosen stones'. 1 Esdras 6:9, a freer Greek retelling, speaks of hewn, costly stones. The Latin Vulgate has 'lapide inpolito', 'unpolished stone'. These ancient translators were clearly guessing at an unusual word, and they guessed in opposite directions (finished versus rough). Ezra 6:4 uses the same phrase in Cyrus's specifications: 'three layers of stone of rolling and one layer of timber.'

From the study of Daniel 2:34

Range of meaning

Stone or rock of any size, from a pebble to a building block. It is the material of altars, boundary markers, memorial pillars and foundations. In poetry it is used for God or a God-given foundation (Gen 49:24, "the Stone of Israel"; Isa 28:16, a tested cornerstone in Zion; Ps 118:22).

Against the English

"Stone" (KJV, ESV, BSB, WEB) and "rock" (NIV) are both accurate. "Stone" better suggests a single block quarried from a larger mass, which fits the verb and 2:45 ("cut out of the mountain").

Used elsewhere in the period

Israelite law forbids altars of shaped stone: an iron tool would "profane" them (Exod 20:25; Deut 27:5–6). Isaiah's cornerstone (28:16) and the stone the builders rejected (Ps 118:22) are later read alongside Daniel's stone, both in early Jewish interpretation and in the New Testament (Luke 20:17–18, where "it will crush him" echoes the Greek of Dan 2:44).

Where it appears

Ezra · 2

  1. Ezra 5:8 אֶ֣בֶן stone of

    Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.

    Here: 'Stone', used as a collective for the building material.

  2. Ezra 6:4 אֶ֤בֶן stone of

    with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.

Daniel · 6

  1. Daniel 2:34 אֶ֙בֶן֙ a stone

    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.

    Here: "A stone". It is ordinary rock, not refined metal, and it is set against the gold, silver, bronze and iron of the statue. By 2:35 it has grown into a mountain.

  2. Daniel 2:35 וְאַבְנָ֣א׀ and stone the

    Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

    Here: 'And the stone': the stone 'cut out not by hands' from v.34. The 'and' marks a sharp contrast. The metals disappear, and the stone grows.

  3. Daniel 2:45 אֶ֜בֶן a stone

    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.”

    Here: A stone, plain and unworked, set against the costly metals of the statue. In 2:44 Daniel has just identified it as the kingdom God will set up.

  4. Daniel 5:4 וְאַבְנָֽא׃ and <the> stone

    As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

    Here: 'And the stone.' The list ends at the humblest material. Together with wood it echoes the old biblical taunt about 'gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands' (Deut 4:28). It may also recall the stone 'cut without hands' that smashed the statue of metals in Daniel 2.

  5. Daniel 5:23 וְאַבְנָ֗א and <the> stone

    Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

    Here: 'And the stone.' The pair 'wood and stone' is the classic biblical phrase for lifeless idols (Deut 4:28; 28:36).

  6. Daniel 6:17 אֶ֣בֶן a stone

    A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.