The Stone the Builders Rejected

Biblical Text

The expression appears in Psalm 118:22. The King James Version renders it: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner." The following verse, 23, declares: "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." The image is of a stone discarded as useless that is then set in the most important place in a building. The psalm celebrates a reversal: what people rejected, God exalted.

Background

Psalm 118 is the last in a collection of praise psalms in the Book of Psalms running from Psalm 113 through Psalm 118. Jewish tradition calls this collection the Hallel and sang it at festivals such as Passover. Psalm 118 is the thanksgiving of someone who had been surrounded by enemies and then delivered, offered as he enters the temple. Verses 25–26 of the same psalm, "Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD… Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD," are connected with the cry of Hosanna raised by the crowds at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

The Hebrew phrase translated "head stone of the corner" literally means "head of the corner." Scholars differ on whether it refers to a cornerstone laid at the corner of the foundation or to a stone that completes the top of an arch or wall. Either way, it denotes a key stone that holds the building together. Interpreters also differ on who the "rejected stone" is within the psalm itself. Some identify it as a king despised by his enemies; others, as the people of Israel scorned by the nations.

Use in the New Testament

The New Testament applies this verse to Jesus Christ.

• The Gospels: Jesus quotes the verse after telling the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10–11; Luke 20:17). The husbandmen who killed the son of the vineyard's owner are the "builders," and the son they rejected becomes the head of the corner. Luke 20:18 adds a warning: "Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken."
• Acts: Before the Sanhedrin, Peter testifies that Jesus is "the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner" (Acts 4:11). He uses the verse to explain both the Jewish leaders' rejection of Jesus and God's raising of Jesus from the dead.
• 1 Peter: 1 Peter 2:6–8 weaves three passages together: the precious stone laid in Zion from Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22, and the "stone of stumbling" of Isaiah 8:14. It teaches that the same stone is precious to those who believe but a stone of stumbling to those who do not. The passage also presents the image of believers being built up as "lively stones" upon this stone (1 Peter 2:5). Ephesians 2:20, which describes the church as a building founded on the apostles and prophets with Christ as the chief cornerstone, is read alongside these passages in the same vein.

Interpretations and Debates

Christian tradition generally reads this verse as referring to the suffering and resurrection of Christ, though approaches differ. One view takes the psalm text itself as a direct prophecy of Christ (a messianic prophecy). Another holds that it originally celebrated the experience of a king or of Israel, and that this experience found its full realization in Christ. Some strands of Jewish tradition are reported to have applied the verse to David.

A sermon illustration sometimes circulates claiming that during the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, a stone discarded by the workers was later used as the cornerstone. This story does not appear in the biblical text, and its source is unclear.