Acts 7:58

"To Stone"

λιθοβολέω is a very rare word, typically understood as a compound verb meaning “to stone” (i.e., to cast stones at a person in a punitive or ritualized context), the underlying root βάλλω is highly flexible, encompassing “to throw,” “to put,” “to lay,” and, in certain technical or metaphorical contexts, “to lay the foundations of” (οἰκοδομίαν, στρατόπεδον, Plat., Hdt.; cf. LSJ s.v. βάλλω, 6c–d).

Therefore, depending on contexts where the direct object is inanimate, it is etymologically defensible to render λιθοβολέω as “stone-casting” in the sense of placing or casting stones for construction, rather than its usual sense of stoning a person. This reflects the lexical transparency of the compound while acknowledging the semantic narrowing in other attested uses.