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What the Bible Says About Rocks

Overview

The Bible addresses rocks across 98 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Numbers, Psalms and Job. Closely related themes include Rock, Desert, Journey of Israel Through The, Meribah and Water. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Moses, David, Aaron and Saul.

Key Bible verses about rocks

Old Testament

Exodus

Exodus 17:1

And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

Exodus 17:2

Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?

Exodus 17:3

And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

Exodus 17:4

And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

Exodus 17:5

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

Exodus 17:6

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 33:21

And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

Exodus 33:22

And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

Numbers

Numbers 20:1

Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

Numbers 20:2

And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

Numbers 20:3

And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

Numbers 20:4

And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

Numbers 20:5

And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

Numbers 20:6

And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.

Numbers 20:7

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Numbers 20:8

Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

Numbers 20:9

And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

Numbers 20:10

And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

Numbers 20:11

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

Numbers 23:9

For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8:15

Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

Deuteronomy 32:13

He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

Deuteronomy 32:15

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Deuteronomy 32:18

Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Deuteronomy 32:31

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

Deuteronomy 32:37

And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

Judges

Judges 6:20

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

Judges 6:21

Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

Judges 6:26

And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. rock: Heb. strong place in the ordered: or, in an orderly manner

Judges 7:25

And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

Judges 13:19

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

Judges 15:8

And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Judges 20:45

And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 13:6

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.

1 Samuel 14:4

And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

1 Samuel 23:25

Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. into: or, from the rock

1 Samuel 23:28

Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth. Selahammahlekoth: that is, The rock of divisions

1 Samuel 24:1

And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. following: Heb. after

1 Samuel 24:2

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

Job

Job 14:18

And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place. cometh: Heb. fadeth

Job 19:24

That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

Job 24:8

They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

Job 28:9

He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. rock: or, flint

Job 28:10

He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

Job 29:6

When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; me: Heb. with me

Job 30:3

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. solitary: or, dark as the night in: Heb. yesternight

Job 30:6

To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. caves: Heb. holes

Job 39:1

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

Job 39:28

She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.

Psalms

Psalms 18:1

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

Psalms 18:2

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. my strength: Heb. my rock

Psalms 27:5

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

Psalms 31:2

Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. my: Heb. to me for a rock of strength

Psalms 31:3

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Psalms 40:2

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. an: Heb. a pit of noise

Psalms 67:2

That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

Psalms 81:16

He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee. finest: Heb. fat of wheat

Psalms 89:26

He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

Psalms 94:22

But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

Psalms 95:1

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Psalms 104:18

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

Isaiah

Isaiah 2:19

And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. of the earth: Heb. of the dust

Isaiah 8:14

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 10:26

And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

Isaiah 17:10

Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

Isaiah 22:16

What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? as: or, O he

Isaiah 32:2

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. great: Heb. heavy

Isaiah 33:16

He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. high: Heb. heights, or, high places

Isaiah 51:1

Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

Isaiah 57:5

Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? with: or, among the oaks

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 5:3

O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Jeremiah 16:16

Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

Jeremiah 23:29

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Jeremiah 48:28

O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.

Jeremiah 49:16

Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

New Testament

People in the Bible and rocks

Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.

In the Bible dictionary

Studying rocks for yourself

  • Begin with Exodus 17:1, then read the passages below in canonical order.
  • Compare how Numbers, Psalms and Job each treat the theme.
  • Consider the lives of Moses, David and Aaron and how their stories intersect with it.
  • Widen the study to related themes: Rock, Desert, Journey of Israel Through The, Meribah and Water.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Bible say about rocks?

The Bible addresses rocks across 98 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Numbers, Psalms and Job. Closely related themes include Rock, Desert, Journey of Israel Through The, Meribah and Water. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Moses, David, Aaron and Saul.

How many Bible verses are about rocks?

The Bible references rocks in 98 verses (King James Version).

Where does the Bible first mention rocks?

In canonical order, the first of these passages is Exodus 17:1: “And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.”

Which people in the Bible are associated with rocks?

Moses, David, Aaron, Saul and Miriam.

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