To throw stones at someone, to stone — the prescribed method of capital punishment in Jewish law for blasphemy, idolatry, and other severe offenses. A violent, communal act of judgment.
Lithazō traces a trajectory of tragic irony in Scripture. Israel stoned the prophets God sent (Matt 23:37). The crowd tried to stone Jesus for claiming deity (John 10:31–33) — the very crime of which they, not He, were guilty. Stephen was stoned while seeing heaven open (Acts 7:59). Paul was stoned and left for dead, then got up and kept preaching (Acts 14:19). The stones meant to silence truth become monuments to its power. God's Word cannot be killed.