10 cubits square which would be equivalent to 15 square feet (1 Kings 7:10). They were used to

lay the foundation, as well as the walls of the two temples and Solomon's houses. These large

stone were said to be costly as it says in 1 Kings, "they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay

the foundation of the house with cut stone" (1 Kings 5:17 NASB). A stone cutter or wood cutter

would hew, or cut out, a section of what they were working on. In Solomon's day he had vast

amounts of hewers in the mountains of Israel hewing stone for the temple (2 Chronicles 2:1; 1

Kings 5:15). They brought back pieces ready to be put into place with flat surfaces. The

majority of the references to hewing are in regard to stone as opposed to wood. Solomon had all

of the buildings he had constructed made from hewn stone from the mountains. According to this

verse it is better to build with hewn stone than to build with brick, "The bricks are fallen down,

but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them into]

cedars" (Isaiah 9:10 KJV). The use of stones was not limited to the construction of walls hewn

from stone. Pillars were hewn from stone according to Proverbs 9:1, tombs were hewn from

stone to bury the dead (Mark 15:46), and resting places were hewn from stone, "What right do

you have here, And whom do you have here, That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here, You

who hew a tomb on the height, You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock" (Isaiah

22:16 NASB)?

 The main structural components of smaller buildings were made of small stones plastered

together at the base of the walls (Thompson 1986). Small stones were likely easier to find and

were used by the poor to build their houses (Proverbs 24:31). The use of stone in construction,

especially hewn stone, was a sign of wealth. Not only were large buildings built with hewn

stones but also homes for the wealthy were built with hewn stones. Amos prophesied against the

people of Israel saying, "Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a