Matthew 21:42

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ¹ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ² 

Mark 12:10-11

12:10 Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ³ 

12:11 This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” ⁴ 

Luke 20:17

20:17 But Jesus ⁵  looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? ⁶ 

Acts 4:11

4:11 This Jesus ⁷  is the stone that was rejected by you, ⁸  the builders, that has become the cornerstone. ⁹ 

Ephesians 2:20-22

2:20 because you have been built ¹⁰  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ¹¹  with Christ Jesus himself as ¹²  the cornerstone. ¹³  2:21 In him ¹⁴  the whole building, ¹⁵  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ¹⁶  dead ¹⁷  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 2:4-8

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ¹⁸  – 2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ¹⁹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ²⁰  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ²¹  through faith, ²²  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

[21:42]  ¹ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[21:42]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[12:10]  ³ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[12:11]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[20:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:17]  ⁶ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ⁸ tn The word “you” is inserted into the quotation because Peter is making a direct application of Ps 118:22 to his hearers. Because it is not in the OT, it has been left as normal type (rather than bold italic). The remarks are like Acts 2:22-24 and 3:12-15.

[4:11]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 which combines the theme of rejection with the theme of God’s vindication/exaltation.

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ¹¹ sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.

[2:20]  ¹² tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.

[2:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ¹⁵ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[2:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ²¹ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ²² tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.