Psalms 118:22-23

118:22 The stone which the builders discarded ¹ 

has become the cornerstone. ² 

118:23 This is the Lord’s work.

We consider it amazing! ³ 

Isaiah 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ⁴  a stone in Zion,

an approved ⁵  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ⁶ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁷ 

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. ⁸ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ⁹ 

Luke 20:17-18

20:17 But Jesus ¹⁰  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’? ¹¹  20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, ¹²  and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ¹³ 

Acts 4:11-12

4:11 This Jesus ¹⁴  is the stone that was rejected by you, ¹⁵  the builders, that has become the cornerstone. ¹⁶  4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people ¹⁷  by which we must ¹⁸  be saved.”

Romans 9:33

9:33 just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall, ¹⁹ 

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ²⁰ 

Ephesians 2:20-22

2:20 because you have been built ²¹  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ²²  with Christ Jesus himself as ²³  the cornerstone. ²⁴  2:21 In him ²⁵  the whole building, ²⁶  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 ²⁷  dead ²⁸  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 2:7-8

2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ²⁹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ³⁰  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ³¹  through faith, ³²  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

[118:22]  ¹ tn Or “rejected.”

[118:22]  ² tn Heb “the head of the corner.”

[118:23]  ³ tn Heb “it is amazing in our eyes.” The use of the plural pronoun here and in vv. 24-27 suggests that the psalmist may be speaking for the entire nation. However, it is more likely that vv. 22-27 are the people’s response to the psalmist’s thanksgiving song (see especially v. 26). They rejoice with him because his deliverance on the battlefield (see vv. 10-12) had national repercussions.

[28:16]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ⁵ tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ⁶ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[21:42]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[20:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:17]  ¹¹ 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.

[20:18]  ¹² tn On this term, see BDAG 972 s.v. συνθλάω.

[20:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

[4:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 which combines the theme of rejection with the theme of God’s vindication/exaltation.

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[4:12]  ¹⁸ sn Must be saved. The term used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) reflects the necessity set up by God’s directive plan.

[9:33]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

[9:33]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.

[2:20]  ²¹ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ²⁸ 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.

[2:7]  ²⁹ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ³⁰ tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ³¹ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ³² 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.