The Scripture behind the Scripture

The Stone the Builders Rejected

Psalm 118:22 declares that the stone which the builders refused has become the head stone of the corner. Jesus applies it to himself in Matthew 21:42, and it reappears in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7.

“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”Psalm 118:22

“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”Matthew 21:42

“This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.”Acts 4:11

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,”1 Peter 2:7

In its own place

In its own place. Psalm 118 is a psalm of thanksgiving, part of the group sung at Israel's great festivals, celebrating deliverance from distress. The speaker recounts being surrounded by enemies and nations, pushed to the point of falling, yet rescued by the Lord. In that setting the image arises of a stone the builders rejected becoming the chief cornerstone. It likely pictured Israel itself, or the king, once despised and counted worthless among the nations, now made the foundation of God's work by his saving hand. The line marvels at a reversal that only God could accomplish, This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. The rejected becomes essential, the discarded becomes the very stone that holds the structure together. The psalm goes on to the well known cry Save now, or Hosanna, and blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, words later sung at Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. In its own place the verse is a song of astonished gratitude, celebrating how God exalts the lowly and vindicates those the powerful had dismissed as useless.

Where the New Testament takes it up

This is a direct quotation, used pointedly by Jesus and then by the apostles. In Matthew 21:42, at the close of the parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus asks the chief priests and elders whether they have never read this Scripture, then quotes Psalm 118:22 about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone. The application is unmistakable and confrontational. The builders are the leaders of Israel, and the rejected stone is Jesus himself, whom they are about to crucify but whom God will vindicate. Peter presses the same verse in Acts 4:11 before the Sanhedrin, telling the very rulers who condemned Jesus that they are the builders who set him at nought, yet God made him the head of the corner. In 1 Peter 2:7 the apostle weaves the verse into a larger stone passage, joining it with Isaiah on the cornerstone and the stone of stumbling, to describe Christ as precious to believers but a stumbling block to those who disobey. The citations follow the Greek text closely. The apostles read the psalm's reversal as accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the rejection at the cross and the vindication at the empty tomb.