Bible Dictionary
CHALKSTONE
Chalkstone refers to brittle lime or limestone that crumbles when broken. Isaiah uses the image for the destruction of Jacob’s idolatrous altars and images.
Definition
Chalkstone refers to brittle stone or lumps of lime that break apart and crumble. The term is associated with limestone converted into quicklime and then easily reduced to pieces or dust.
Biblical Usage
Isaiah uses the image of stones broken like chalkstones to describe the removal of Jacob’s sin and the destruction of idolatrous altars, Asherim, and sun-images.
Historical Background
Most of Palestine’s rock is limestone. When burned, limestone becomes lime; exposed lime is slaked by atmospheric moisture and crumbles. Lime was known to Egyptians, Assyrians, and Hebrews, though clay was more common in building.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>chok'-ston ('abhneghir (compare Eben-ezer, 'ebhen ha-`ezer, "stone of the help," 1Sa 7:12)): In Isa 27:9 we have: "Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim and the sun- images shall rise no more." 'Abhne-ghir is compounded of 'ebhen, "stone," which occurs in many passages, and gir or gir, "lime" (compare Arabic jir , "gypsum" or "quicklime"), which occurs only here and in Da 5:5: "wrote .... upon the plaster (gir) of the wall of the king's palace." Nearly all the rock of Palestine is limestone. When limestone is burned, it is converted into lime, which is easily broken into pieces, and, if allowed to remain open to the air, becomes slaked by the moisture of the atmosphere and crumbles into dust. The reference is to the destruction of the altar. It may mean that the altar will be burned so that the stones will become lime, or, more probably, that the stones of the altar will be broken as chalkstones (i.e. lumps of quicklime) are broken. There is no doubt that lime was known to the Egyptians, Assyrians and Hebrews, though clay, with or without straw, was more commonly used in building. Even bitumen ("slime") appears to have been used for mortar.</p><p>See CLAY; LIME; SLIME.</p><p>Alfred Ely Day</p>