Wherefore it is said in the scripture: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious. And he that shall believe in him shall not be confounded.
διοτι περιεχει εν τη γραφη ιδου τιθημι εν σιων λιθον ακρογωνιαιον εκλεκτον εντιμον και ο πιστευων επ αυτω ου μη καταισχυνθη
11 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Even now God says to the unbelieving: "I lay for you in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" (Isa 28:16). He becomes a stone of stumbling for unbelievers, who stumble because they do not obey the word. To this they were appointed. The full thought is this: "Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, precious and chosen; and he who believes in Him will not be put to shame." For you who believe, He is precious; but for unbelievers, He is a stone of stumbling.
The Apostle calls our Lord Jesus Christ a chosen, precious, and honored stone, shining with divine glory and majesty. He calls Christ the cornerstone because by one faith He binds together the spiritual unity of two peoples, Israel and the Gentiles.
Thus, without this cornerstone, I do not see how men could be set in the house of God so as to find God dwelling within them, unless they were reborn. Yet this is impossible unless they first have simply been born.
Scripture is not ashamed to call the Lord of glory an axe (Mt 3:10), a cornerstone, a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense (1 Pet 2:6, 8), and by other similar names. In the opinion of men who do not understand the signification of names, these contain little honor. Yet nowhere does Scripture call Him a creature.
In the Epistle to the Romans, the same apostle borrows his proof from Isaiah: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (Is 8:14). He agrees in voice with the ancient translation, yet also with the Hebrew text.
In the Septuagint the sense is not the same: “You shall not stumble as against a stone of stumbling, nor as against a rock of falling.” Yet the Apostle Peter, in agreement with Paul and with the Hebrew translators, set it thus: “To those who disobey, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:7).
From all this it is clear that the apostles and evangelists, when translating the ancient Scriptures, sought the sense and not the words. They cared little for the arrangement of expressions when the matter was clear to the understanding.
Peter said that Scripture contains this, that Christ is the living stone. He joined Him to the holy living stones, saying: "Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone," and the rest that is said of Christ. But concerning living stones, this saying is his alone.
Peter affirms that the Lord and Savior is called a stone by the prophets because of His firmness.
Preachers of an equal priesthood of all Christians think to rest their case on these words. Yet the apostle does not speak of a multitude of separate priests, but of one priesthood.
He also calls it a spiritual house, into which the individual believer enters as only one stone. Therefore, when speaking of the holy priesthood, the apostle means the priesthood not of individual Christians, but of the Church, the house of God.
In this house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay (2 Tim 2:20). In it, “Are all apostles? Are all teachers?” (1 Cor 12:29).
The Church performs priestly service, but not because all her members are priests. Likewise, our body sees, but not because each of its members is an eye (cf. 1 Cor 12:17).
Whoever wishes to take part in her spiritual sacrifices must attain this through unity with her. He may perhaps do so not as a steward of the mysteries (1 Cor 4:1), but only as one who partakes of them.
“For it is said in Scripture,” and so forth. Having instructed Christians to build themselves into a spiritual house on the living stone, the apostle again turns to this image of the stone.
He explains its meaning and at the same time proves its truth by pointing to Isaiah’s direct prophecy. This prophecy was already in view at the first mention of the living stone in 1 Pet 2:4.
The words of God from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (Is 28:16) are not quoted literally from the Hebrew text or from the Septuagint. They are cited freely, with attention to their chief sense and significance.
These words undoubtedly refer to the Messiah, as noted above on 1 Pet 2:4. The Apostle Peter gives them this meaning here.
“Cornerstone”: a stone placed at the head of the corner and serving as the foundation for two walls (see the note on Mt 21:42).
“Christ is called the cornerstone because He joins both walls that make up the spiritual house, namely the Gentiles and the Jews, in His embrace. He binds them into one concord, abolishing the useless sacrifices of the one and changing the demonic superstition of the other into piety” (Theophylact).
“Chosen, precious”: see the note on 1 Pet 2:4. “He who believes in Him will not be put to shame,” that is, he will not be deceived in his trust in the firmness of this stone.
It will bear every structure built upon it. Whoever believes in Christ, trusting that He will save him by faith and by works born of faith, will not be put to shame in this faith and confidence.
He will receive salvation through Him. But this is so only for one who believes in Christ. For such a believer, He is the precious stone, that is, the treasure itself, since all the believer’s salvation is safely built on Him.
Having earlier hinted at the prophetic naming of Jesus Christ as the stone, the Apostle Peter now cites the exact expression of the Prophet Isaiah. In it Jesus Christ is called the precious stone.
He also cites the words of the psalmist, with their prediction of Christ’s rejection by the Jews. One must also see here a clear indication of the New Testament presentation of Jesus Christ as the stone.
According to the word of Symeon the God-receiver, this stone is “set for the fall and rising of many in Israel” (cf. Lk 2:34).
The world hostile to Christ treats Him, and the grace-filled means of salvation given by Him, with distrust and contempt. It trusts in its own powers.
We Christians, on the contrary, have Christ the Savior as the chief and firmest Sacrifice. We must take Him as our unshakable support.
Being established on Him and using all the means of salvation granted by Him, we can carry out the works of salvation without wavering.
Those who hope in their own powers will inevitably come to perdition. They stumble over the stone of life, like the blind, or like those who close their eyes so as not to see the divine Light.
The Prophet Isaiah, from whose book these words are taken (Is 28:16), spoke them in the Lord’s name to awaken hope in Him among the Jews amid troubles and afflictions.
The Jews were threatened by the invasion of Sennacherib. They did not fear this danger, for they hoped in the help of the Egyptians and in their own military fortresses.
Isaiah destroys their hopes and says that help must be expected from the one Lord, who dwells in Jerusalem, in the holy temple. His almighty power is an unbreakable stone.
Those who believe in this power and place their hope in it will not be put to shame. The Lord truly showed Himself to be such a trustworthy stone during the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib’s armies.
Hezekiah fled to the Lord with prayer for salvation. Jerusalem was saved, and Sennacherib’s armies perished beneath its walls.
Yet earthly Jerusalem was an image of the New Testament Jerusalem, the Church of Christ. In relation to her, Christ, the eternal Power of God, is what the Lord was for earthly Jerusalem.
He is the saving power for all who believe in Him and hope in Him. In truth He is the chosen stone, selected and worthy to be preferred before all human powers.
Therefore He is precious to the Church founded on Him. As He Himself is unshaken, so the Church, composed of living stones, the believing souls, is unshaken and invincible.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 20 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS