λίθος (lithos)

The Greek word lithos simply means stone, covering everything from small pebbles to massive building blocks. In the New Testament it appears in everyday contexts, such as Jesus asking which disciple would use a millstone or turn a river rock into bread (Matthew 4:3; Luke 17:2). It also describes the heavy stones used to seal tombs, like the one rolled away from Jesus’ grave (Mark 16:3-4), or the ruins of Jerusalem’s temple that He predicted would be destroyed (Luke 21:6).

Beyond literal objects, lithos carries significant metaphorical weight. It frequently refers to precious stones in Revelation’s descriptions of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19) or to the tables of the law written on stone tablets (2 Corinthians 3:7). Most notably, it identifies Christ as the cornerstone rejected by builders but chosen by God (Matthew 21:42; 1 Peter 2:6), and describes believers as living stones being built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). The word also appears in the phrase stumbling stone, highlighting how faith in Christ becomes an obstacle for those who reject Him (Romans 9:33).

Interestingly, while classical Greek sometimes used a feminine gender for precious stones, the New Testament consistently uses the masculine form lithos even when referring to gems like jasper or sapphire. This uniformity underscores that the text treats all these objects under the same conceptual category of durable, valuable material rather than distinguishing them by grammatical gender.