What does λιθοβολέω (lithoboléō) mean in the Bible?
Λιθοβολέω (lithoboléō) means to stone someone, attacking or executing a person with stones. The New Testament uses it in accounts of rejected messengers, threatened judgment, and actual martyrdom.
Greek · G3036
λιθοβολέω
To stone
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λιθοβολέω G3036
Pronunciation lithoboléō
What does λιθοβολέω (lithoboléō) mean in the Bible?
Λιθοβολέω (lithoboléō) means to stone someone, attacking or executing a person with stones. The New Testament uses it in accounts of rejected messengers, threatened judgment, and actual martyrdom.
Reader summary
Full entry for λιθοβολέω (G3036) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3036?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include stones (2), [and] began to stone [him] (1), it must be stoned (1), stone (1), stoned (1).
Where does λιθοβολέω (lithoboléō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:35. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Matthew (2), Hebrews (1), Luke (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Λιθοβολέω (lithoboléō) means to stone someone, attacking or executing a person with stones. The New Testament uses it in accounts of rejected messengers, threatened judgment, and actual martyrdom. Jesus' vineyard parable includes servants who are beaten, killed, and stoned (Matt. 21:35). He laments over Jerusalem as the city that stones those sent to it (Matt. 23:37). Stephen calls on the Lord Jesus while his killers stone him (Acts 7:59).
In John 8:5 Jesus' opponents cite Moses' command concerning the woman accused of adultery and ask what He says. The scene turns on more than the verb. It involves a legal trap, selective accusation, Jesus' challenge to the accusers, and His final call for the woman to leave her life of sin. The textual history of John 7:53-8:11 also requires transparent handling in teaching.
The word does not make every biblical punishment a model for church discipline or civil action today. Nor should the passage be used to erase the seriousness of sexual sin. Faithful teaching holds justice, mercy, due process, repentance, and Christ's authority together, and it refuses all vigilante violence.
Canonical parallelPassage contextEditorial synthesis
How the Bible Uses It
The verb describes violence against servants and prophets, the legal trap around the accused woman, and Stephen's martyrdom.
- Matt.21.35
But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
The parable portrays escalating rejection of the owner's messengers before the sending of the son.
- John.8.5
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?”
The accusers invoke the penalty as part of a trap while Jesus exposes their posture and addresses the woman's sin directly.
- Acts.7.59
While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Stephen dies bearing witness to Jesus and entrusting himself to the risen Lord.
- Heb.12.20
For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”
The Sinai warning serves Hebrews' contrast between terrifying approach and the access believers receive in the new covenant assembly.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It stones 2× Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34
[and] began to stone [him] 1× Acts 7:58
it must be stoned 1× Hebrews 12:20
stone 1× Acts 14:5
stoned 1× Matthew 21:35
they were stoning [him] 1× Acts 7:59
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 21:35 ἐλιθοβόλησαν to stoned Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 23:37 λιθοβολοῦσα to stones Verb - Present Participle Active - Vocative Feminine Singular Luke 13:34 λιθοβολοῦσα to stones Verb - Present Participle Active - Vocative Feminine Singular Acts 7:58 ἐλιθοβόλουν to [and] began to stone [him] Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 7:59 ἐλιθοβόλουν to they were stoning [him] Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 14:5 λιθοβολῆσαι to stone Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Hebrews 12:20 λιθοβοληθήσεται to it must be stoned Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 21:35
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 4
Matthew 2 Luke 1 Acts 3 Hebrews 1
Source forms
ἐλιθοβόλουν 2x elithoboloun Acts 7:58, Acts 7:59
λιθοβολοῦσα 2x lithobolousa Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34
ἐλιθοβόλησαν 1x elithobolēsan Matthew 21:35
λιθοβοληθήσεται 1x lithobolēthēsetai Hebrews 12:20
λιθοβολῆσαι 1x lithobolēsai Acts 14:5
Parsing patterns
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x Acts 7:58, Acts 7:59
Verb - Present Participle Active - Vocative Feminine Singular 2x Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Matthew 21:35
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1x Acts 14:5
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Hebrews 12:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Teach John 8 with awareness of its manuscript history and full narrative movement. Hold together protection from weaponized accusation and Jesus' command to leave sin.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that λιθοβολέω authorizes Christians to punish sinners physically. The church is commanded to pursue discipline, restoration, and lawful witness without mob violence.
- Do not claim that Jesus' response in John 8 declares adultery harmless. He refuses the accusers' trap and tells the woman to sin no more.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Capital punishment by crowd violence, emphasizing the violent collective method rather than mere pelting.
Strong's G3036
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 9 times Word forms 3 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Matthew 21:35 Source Gloss
to stone
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Capital punishment by crowd violence, emphasizing the violent collective method rather than mere pelting.
(λίθος, βάλλω), [in LXX for סָקַל, רָגַם, Exo.19:13, Lev.20:2, al. ;] to pelt with stones, to kill by stoning, to stone (cf. λιθάζω): with accusative of person(s), Mat.21:35 23:37, Luk.13:34 Act.7:58-59 14:5; pass., Heb.12:20 (LXX).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
9 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 21:35 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐλιθοβόλησαν. eliqobolhsan
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Matthew 23:37 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
λιθοβολοῦσα liqobolousa
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Mark 12:4 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
λιθοβολήσαντες liqobolhsantev
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Luke 13:34 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
λιθοβολοῦσα liqobolousa
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse John 8:5 Verb Present Passive Infinitive
λιθοβολεῖσθαι· liqoboleisqai
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Acts 7:58 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐλιθοβόλουν· eliqoboloun
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Acts 7:59 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐλιθοβόλουν eliqoboloun
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Acts 14:5 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
λιθοβολῆσαι liqobolhsai
I stone, cast stones at
Read verse Hebrews 12:20 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
λιθοβοληθήσεται liqobolhqhsetai
I stone, cast stones at
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Present, Imperfect, Aorist, Future Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Active Matt 23:37 · Luke 13:34 2×
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Imperfect Active Acts 7:58 · Acts 7:59 2×
Aorist Active Matt 21:35 1×
Future Passive Heb 12:20 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Active Acts 14:5 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 3 imperfect 2 future 1 aorist 1
Voice
active 5 passive 2
Mood
indicative 4 participle 2 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 21:35 ἐλιθοβόλησαν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 23:37 λιθοβολοῦσα present active participle participle Luke 13:34 λιθοβολοῦσα present active participle participle John 8:5 λιθοβολεῖσθαι present passive infinitive infinitive Acts 7:58 ἐλιθοβόλουν imperfect active indicative background Acts 7:59 ἐλιθοβόλουν imperfect active indicative background Hebrews 12:20 λιθοβοληθήσεται future passive indicative prospective
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
servants killed by stoning in parable of vineyard tenants
Jesus laments Jerusalem's history of stoning the prophets
martyrdom of Stephen by stoning, foundational persecution account
threat to stone apostles Paul and Barnabas in Iconium
allusion to Exodus law regarding stoning at Mount Sinai
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
λιθοβολέω is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Stoning is not an abstract metaphor in these passages. It is lethal communal violence directed against accused sinners, rejected messengers, and faithful witnesses. John 8 places Jesus within a legal and moral trap. He does not call evil good, and He does not join the accusers' weaponized righteousness. His final word sends the woman away with a command to leave sin.
Stephen's death then shows what faithful witness may cost, while his prayer displays confidence in Jesus and mercy toward enemies. Teaching this word should make the church more serious about truth and due process, more resistant to mob judgment, more compassionate toward the accused, and more courageous in witness. It must never authorize violence or excuse sin.
Anchor passage
John.8.5
Doctrinal connections
- Deuteronomy 17:2-7 - witnesses and covenant justice
- John 7:53-8:11 - accusation, mercy, and repentance
- Matthew 21:33-46 - rejected servants and Son
- Acts 6:8-7:60 - Stephen's witness and martyrdom
The compound directly names an attack or execution using stones. Moral and legal conclusions must come from the passage's covenant and narrative setting.
From Old to New Testament
Torah regulates capital cases with witness requirements; the prophets also experience violent rejection. The New Testament presents Jesus as the rejected Son and Stephen as a witness who follows His pattern.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain