GRAVEL

Small stones or pebbles. In the Scriptures, “gravel” is used in an illustrative sense. The injurious aftereffects of gaining bread by falsehood are compared to having one’s mouth filled with gravel. (Prov. 20:17) Also, the severe treatment Jehovah meted out to unfaithful Jerusalem by means of the Babylonians is likened to ‘breaking teeth with gravel.’ (Lam. 3:16) According to traditional Jewish thought, this was actually experienced by those taken into Babylonian exile. The tradition claims that they were forced to bake bread in pits dug in the ground and that, as a result, the bread contained grit.