Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Peter 2:6

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

6. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture ] As the words are not quoted in exact accordance either with the LXX. or with the Hebrew, it is natural to see in them a citation from Isa 28:16, freely made from memory.

a chief corner stone ] The words, as in Psa 118:22, Eph 2:20, point to the stone at the corner where two walls met, and resting on which they were bonded together and made firm.

elect, precious ] Better, to maintain the identity of phrase, chosen, precious (or, held in honour).

he that believeth on him shall not be confounded ] The meaning of the Hebrew is fairly expressed by the English version, “He that believeth shall not make haste,” i.e. shall go on his way calmly and trustfully, shall not be put to a hurried or hasty flight. Here St Peter follows the LXX. which expresses substantially the same thought.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture – Isa 28:16. The quotation is substantially as it is found in the Septuagint.

Behold, I lay in Sion – See the Isa 28:16 note, and Rom 9:33 note.

A chief cornerstone – The principal stone on which the corner of the edifice rests. A stone is selected for this which is large and solid, and, usually, one which is squared, and worked with care; and as such a stone is commonly laid with solemn ceremonies, so, perhaps, in allusion to this, it is here said by God that he would lay this stone at the foundation. The solemnities attending this were those which accompanied the great work of the Redeemer. See the word explained in the notes at Eph 2:20.

Elect – Chosen of God, or selected for this purpose, 1Pe 2:4.

And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded – Shall not be ashamed. The Hebrew is, shall not make haste. See it explained in the notes at Rom 9:33.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

1Pe 2:6

It is contained in the Scripture.

Wherein the Scriptures exceed all other writings

I. They were inspired all of the Holy Ghost (2Ti 3:17; 2Pe 1:21), so were no other writings.

II. They contain a wisdom far above all that can be had by the princes and men of this world (1Co 6:7).

III. They were penned by more excellent men than any other writings: the greatest, wisest, holiest men-Moses, David, Solomon, prophets, evangelists, apostles, etc.

IV. They have such properties as no other writings have: they are more perfect, pure, deep, and immutable than any mans writings. These contain all things necessary unto faith and a good life (2Ti 3:16-17).

V. If we consider the effects that must be acknowledged to the praise of the scriptures, no writings can describe God so fully to us, do so bring glory to God; no Scripture but this can convert a soul (Heb 4:12-13; Psa 19:11; Psa 119:14-15; Psa 119:27). (N. Byfield.)

I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone.

The Divine foundation

I. Jesus Christ is the foundation stone, or the fundamental truth of Christianity.

1. Jesus Christ is the cardinal truth of the Christian system.

2. Jesus Christ is the central truth of Christianity.

3. Jesus Christ is the all-comprehensive truth of Christianity. Christ is Christianity.

What is meant by it? Two things.

(1) First, that Jesus Christ is essential to His religion. Plato is not essential to Platonism. Suppose that nothing was known of the birth, life, and death of Plato, that his writings came down to us anonymously, it would make but very little difference to his students. And what is true of Plato as a philosopher is also true of Cakyamouni, Confucius, and Mahomet, as founders of religions. Their personalities form no integral portion of their systems. Plato said, Accept my ideas; Christ said, Accept Me. Cakyamouni said, This is the way, by renunciation; Christ said , I am the Way. They, each and all, put the centres of their systems outside themselves; but Christ put the centre of His in His own person.

(2) But, secondly, the phrase, Christ is Christianity, means precisely the same as when we say that the tree is the branches. The tree throws itself out into branches, and it must be patent to all that there can be no more in the branches than there is already in the tree.

II. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, or the harmonising truth of Christianity.

1. He is the Cornerstone of the religions of the world; that is to say, in Him and the religion He instituted all other religions meet and are unified.

2. Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of Christian doctrines; in other words, in Him they find the principle of their reconciliation.

3. Jesus Christ is also the Cornerstone of Christian Churches; in Him is their one point of union.

III. Jesus Christ is the sure foundation. Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be confounded.

1. Jesus Christ is the sure foundation, the one truth which maintains its ground notwithstanding the fierce assaults made upon it from time to time.

2. He is a sure foundation for us to build thereupon the hope of everlasting life. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)

The cornerstone

I. Stability. The cornerstone upholds and is the strength of the building. So it is in the Church, whether viewed collectively, or as composed of individual Christians. Strength is in Christ alone.

II. Beauty. Cornerstones give beauty and ornament to a building. They are often graceful and rich, and curiously wrought; and the other and ordinary stones of the building get comeliness from the very relation in which they stand to the cornerstones. Now Christ is the beauty of the spiritual temple.

III. Unity. Cornerstones are the medium by which the walls of a house, with all the several stones which compose those walls, are united in one building. Take away the cornerstones, and the sides of the house would be separated from each other. The stones of which the walls are built may be of different sizes, and of different degrees of value or beauty; yet so long as they are held together by the cornerstone, the house is one house; nor is there any stone in it however small or common but that stone is necessary to the unity of the house. It cannot be spared. Such is Christ as the precious cornerstone of the spiritual temple. (A. C. Price.)

The chief cornerstone

I. The foundation is called here a chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ is the alone Head and King of His Church, who gives it laws, and rules it in wisdom and righteousness. Elected, or chosen out for the purpose, and altogether fit for it. Isaiah hath it, A stone of trial or a tried stone. As things amongst men are best chosen after trial, so Jesus Christ was certainly known by the Father, as most fit for that work to which He chose Him before He tried Him, as afterwards, upon trial in His life and death and resurrection, He proved fully answerable to His Fathers purpose in all that was appointed Him. He was God, that He might be a strong foundation; He was man, that He might be suitable to the nature of the stones whereof the building was to consist, that they might join and cement together. Precious, inestimably precious, by all the conditions that can give worth to any: by rareness and by inward excellency.

II. The laying of this foundation. It is said to be laid in Zion; that is, it is laid in the Church of God. And it was first laid in Zion, literally, that being then the seat of the Church and of the true religion. He was laid there in His manifestation in the flesh, and suffering, and dying, and rising again; and afterwards, being preached through the world, He became the foundation of His Church in all places where His name was received. He saith, I lay; by which the Lord expresseth this to be His own proper work, as Psa 118:23. And it is not only said, I lay, because God the Father had the first thought of this great work, but also to signify the freeness of His grace in giving His Son to be a foundation of happiness to man, without the least motion from man, or motive in man, to draw Him to it. This, again, that the Lord Himself is the layer of this cornerstone, teaches us the firmness of it. Psa 2:6, I have set My King upon My holy hill of Zion; who then shall dethrone Him? I have given Him the heathen for His inheritance, and the ends of the earth for His possession; and who will hinder Him to take possession of His right?

III. The building on this foundation. To be built on Christ is plainly to believe in Him. It is not they that have heard of Him, or that have some common knowledge of Him, or that are able to discourse of Him and speak of His person and nature aright, but they that believe in Him. Much of our knowledge is like that of the poor philosopher, who defineth riches exactly, and discourseth of their nature, but possesseth none; or we are as a geometrician, who can measure land exactly in all its dimensions, but possesseth not a foot thereof. And truly it is but a lifeless unsavoury knowledge that men have of Christ by books and study, till He reveal Himself and persuade the heart to believe in Him. There is in lively faith, when it is infused into the soul, a clearer knowledge of Christ and His excellency than before, and with it a recumbency of the soul upon Him, as the foundation of its life and comfort; a resolving to rest on Him, and not to depart from Him upon any terms.

IV. The firmness of this building. He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. This firmness is answerable to the nature of the foundation. Not only the whole frame, but every stone of it abideth sure. It is a mistake to judge the persuasion of perseverance to be self-presumption. They that have it are far from building it on themselves, but their foundation is that which makes them sure; because it doth not only remain firm itself, but indissolubly supports all that are once built on it. In the prophet whence this is cited it is, Shall not make haste, but the sense is one. They that are disappointed and ashamed in their hopes, run to and fro, and seek after some new resource; this they shall not need to do who come to Christ.

V. The greatness and excellency of the work intimated in that first word, Behold, which imports this work to be very remarkable, and calls the eyes to fix upon it. The Lord is marvellous in the least of His works; but in this He hath manifested more of His wisdom and power, and let out more of His love to mankind, than in all the rest. Look upon this precious stone, and behold Him not in mere speculation, but so behold Him as to lay hold on Him; for we see He is therefore here set forth, that we may believe on Him; and so not be confounded, that we may attain this blessed union, that cannot be dissolved. All other unions are dissoluble. A man may be plucked from his dwelling house and lands, or they from him, though he have never so good a title to them; may be removed from his dearest friends, if not by other accidents in his lifetime, yet sure by death, the great dissolver of all such unions, and of that straitest one, of the soul with the body; but it can do nothing against this union, but on the contrary perfects it. (Abp. Leighton.)

Christ the one foundation

St. Peter, when arraigned before Annas and Caiaphas, had reminded them of that passage (Psa 118:22) which speaks of a stone cast aside by the builders as unfitted for their purpose, but afterwards, by the Lords own act, chosen out to be the head of the corner. The sacred irony of this contrast had evidently taken hold of his mind. In the context here he has been referring to that passage in combination with one of Isaiahs (Isa 28:16), and applying both to the Lord Jesus, as identified with that Lord of whom another Psalmist had said, O taste and see that the Lord is gracious. He now quotes from Isaiah, applying the title of cornerstone to his Master, just as St. Paul says (1Co 3:11; Eph 2:20). What does this ancient and sacred image, thus borrowed by St. Peter and St. Paul from the stores of Hebrew prophecy, convey to us Christians? When Isaiah was drawing near to the close of his public life, a worldly and irreligious party had risen to influence and temporary command in the kingdom of Judah. Their aim was to strengthen it by a secular policy, with an Egyptian alliance for its basis. Their thoughts, if put into modern shape, would run somewhat as follows: Judah must be set free from the bondage of a narrow clerical interest: it is essentially a kingdom, existing side by side with other kingdoms; its needs, its emergencies, are like theirs; it must, perforce, do as they do. It must therefore shake off the tyranny of meddlesome preachers, who can only look at secular matters from their own theological point of view, and pretend to school practical men like children, with a dull iteration of precept upon precept. We have outgrown all that; it is time for common sense to reign. We know how to make safeguards for the throne and for the country, which will enable us, so to speak, to be on friendly terms with death, exempt from the peril of destruction; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come to us. Isaiah turns round upon them as the minister of Him who scorneth the scorners. No, he says, your hopes are vain; your covenant with death shall be cancelled; your hiding place is a refuge of lies, and the hailstorm and the rising flood will sweep it away. The scourge, when it comes, will simply trample you down. But I will tell you where a refuge can be found; there is a stone laid by God for a sure foundation, a stone tried and precious; he that trusteth to it shall not make haste, shall not be shaken from his foothold. This refers first to that sacred character of the house of David, which belonged to it as destined to culminate in Davids future preeminent Son, and in the fuller sense to that Son in His own Person, as realising all that could be indicated by the glorious titles of the Emmanuel, the Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God. Because He was one day to appear, the pious in Judah would rest their hopes and stay their souls on Him. And this should be, in a far more effective sense, the experience of those who know the Christ as having come. Consider a few of the senses in which He makes good this title of cornerstone. How, do we think, did the first preachers to the heathen win converts? By appealing to mens deepest sense of need, to the felt necessity of a centralising, consolidating principle for human life.

1. Two things, at least, we must secure, if life is not to be a failure.

(1) One is, something certainly true, a truth to stand by amid uncertainties. As we advance in our earthly journey, perplexities gather round on all sides. Life has not verified our first expectations; it raises questions which it does not answer; there is a confusion of theories; but where is that which we can depend upon, and grasp firmly, looking life and death in the face? The answer is in the words of Jesus, I am the Truth.

(2) Man also needs a power of moral and spiritual rectification. He believes Christ is all-precious, because He can and does help them to become pure and single-hearted, high in aim and active in duty.

2. These two great questions well answered by the acceptance of Jesus Christ, one sees how in His relation to the several doctrines and institutions of His Kingdom, He sustains the character of the One Foundation.

(1) It is so in regard to doctrines.

(2) He is also the foundation of all His ordinances. All the instrumental agencies whereby He waits upon the soul-the means, as we call them, or channels of His grace-derive their efficacy from Him; nay, more, it is He who is the real though unseen Minister in them all, the true Celebrant, Baptizer, Absolver, Ordainer, the sovereign Priest of His Church.

3. If Christ be, in these ways, the foundation of our spiritual life, in all its aspects, should He not be also the foundation of all that we do? (W. Bright, D. D.)

The cornerstone

I. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, uniting Jews and Gentiles.

1. Jews and Gentiles met in His Person. He was of the seed of David according to the flesh, a Jew of the Jews, His genealogy complete and flawless right up to Abraham. But as we carefully survey the stream of His ancestry, we here and there discover Gentile blood flowing as tributaries to it. It is rather remarkable that the only women mentioned in the line of His pedigree are of Gentile blood and soiled character.

2. Jews and Gentiles had also a place in His ministry. The Jewish Rabbis never looked over the Wall of Separation, never gave a kindly thought to the great world without, lying in wickedness, seething in misery. Jesus Christ, however, distinctly purposed from the first to bring Jews and Gentiles into one community an idea absolutely original.

3. As Jesus Christ united Jews and Gentiles in His person and teaching, so tie has also joined them in the Church He established. Today we behold Jews and Gentiles, the civilised nations of the earth and the newly reclaimed barbarians of the South Sea Islands, reclining under its refreshing shade.

II. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, uniting men and angels.

1. Jesus Christ has united men and angels in His person. He is our countryman, cry the angels, the Lord from heaven; but He is our kinsman, men make reply. He belongs to us by the ties of citizenship, say the angels; but He belongs to us by the ties of blood, answer men. Thus angels and men can legitimately claim a share in this Son of Jesse.

2. He represents men and angels in His teaching as being one in Him.

3. Men and angels are brought together in unity in His Church.

III. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, uniting God and man.

1. Both meet in His person.

2. He brought God and man together hi His ministry. The great, one might say the central doctrine of His preaching is the Fatherhood of God, and the corresponding sonship of man.

3. In the Church of Christ God and man are welded together in the bonds of closest friendship. God is reconciled to man in the sacrifice of His Son, and now He is reconciling men to Himself. Sinners are being brought into line with the cornerstone, and thus into union with God. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)

Jesus Christ the cornerstone

1. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of religious doctrine. He was the Son of the God of truth; He was truth Himself, and He came into the world to bear witness to the truth. By His personal ministry and by the ministry of His apostles, He revealed to the fallen children of men the things which belonged to their peace.

2. Christ is the cornerstone of morality. During the whole period of His ministry He afforded a constant example of perfect obedience to the moral law. Every duty which it became Him as a man to fulfil towards men He discharged no less punctually than those obligations of which the immediate object was God.

3. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of salvation. Through Him we are justified, sanctified; through Him we receive the inheritance of eternal life. (T. Gisborne, M. A.)

The cornerstone

The figures woven into this passage are architectural. They do not, however, touch the imagination as much now as they did when they were first drawn; for we have been misled with regard to the truths they are designed to illustrate, by the degradation that has befallen the cornerstones which we plant. The cornerstone is not a foundation stone with us. It might just as well be put at the middle of the wall as at the corner; at the top as at the bottom; and, for that matter, it might as well be put in the tower as in the wall. It is merely a ceremonial cornerstone, made to contain a few records, giving the date, the time, and what not, belonging to the building. But there are real cornerstones yet. When builders have dug down and found the bottom level, and desire to lay a foundation which no fire can reach, no water undermine, no weight sway, and lay broad and vast stones, then these stones have a marked relation to the integrity of the whole building above. If they are weak, or easily displaced, the foundation will be unstable; and when that gives way, the superstructure, no matter how carefully it may be built, will follow it. There was, however, another kind of cornerstone in former times-namely, a massive slab, which, standing upright, united to itself firmly the two side walls, and so bound together the building laterally. Both of these terms are in our text, and both of them are applied to Christ, who is represented as not only bearing up the whole structure of piety as a foundation, but binding it together as a cornerstone, or the head of the corner, so that, vertically and laterally, the building takes hold and sustains itself by the foundation and the cornerstone. This passage teaches that as a building rests upon its foundation stones, so every Christian rests upon Jesus Christ. They are not merely connected with Him: they rest upon Him. So do they rest upon Him, that if He were to be removed from them all their religious experience would fall, as a wall would go down if its foundation stones were taken out of the way.

I. I first ask you to mark the distinction which exists between a mere general dependence upon God, and a conscious personal life in Christ Jesus, for that is the distinction which demarks between the school of what may be called the naturalists in religion, and of evangelical Christians. It is one thing to be a believer in Gods government; it is another thing to hold company with God-to behold Him, to love Him, and to commune with Him, to twine your life about Him.

II. I remark, secondly, that this direct, intimate, hourly, and daily living with Christ, is the thing which the Gospel proposes as its characteristic aim. Morality is a good thing. A man without it certainly cannot be a Christian, although he may not be one with it. Moralities are mere day labourers, who dig out the roots and clear off the weeds, and get the ground ready for something else. Morals do but plough the soil-piety is the fruitful stein, and love the fair flower which springs from the soil. It is only love that can find out God without searching. Upon its eyes God dawns. Love is that regent quality which was meant to reveal the Divine to us. It carries its own light, and by its own secret nature is drawn instantly towards God, and reflects the knowledge of Him back upon us. When love hath brought forth its central vision of the Divine, and interpreted it to all the other faculties, then they, in turn, become seers, and the soul is helped by every one of its faculties, as by so many eyes, to behold the fulness of God.

III. I remark, thirdly, that it is deemed by men very delusive, and by some wise men utterly impossible, in this mortal state, for a man to live by faith in an invisible being, so that Christ shall seem to be a present companion to him. You might as well attempt to root up an oak of a hundred years growth as attempt to eradicate my faith in Christ present with me-Christ living with me, and I with Him, so that my life is joined to His. Imagine that I stand, tearful and tremulous, yet joyful, by the side of a magnificent picture, which electrifies me, which touches all the great fountains in my nature, causing them to rise and overflow; which translates my mind, and purifies it. As I stand looking at such a picture, a man comes to me and says, What are you gazing at, sir? I begin, in broken language, to tell him what effect the picture is having upon me; and he looks at me with astonishment, and says, Well, it may be that it affects you so, but it does not stand to reason; for it is natural to suppose that if it affected you so, it would affect me in the same way; and I do not have any such feelings as you profess to have. I am sure I would not pay a sixpence for the thing. There I stand trembling before the picture; he reviles it, because his sensibilities are all materialised. Next there comes to me a utilitarian-one of those men who think nothing good unless it be useful, and with whom use means that which is good to sell or to eat. Is it possible, he says, that this picture can operate upon your feelings? It makes no impression upon me whatever. I do not see how it can do such a thing. If you were to tell me that it was one of Raphaels great productions, and that it was worth five or six thousand dollars, I should understand that it had some value. You are a little touched, are you not? Then a bloated sensualist comes to me, and says, I would give more for one flagon of wine than for all the old painted rags on earth. He and I live in different worlds. But if none of these could be made to understand my feelings in the presence of a picture, how much less can they know the reality and glory of my feelings before that more glorious revelation of heavenly beauty which shall remain unrolled forever and forever, and which, as I stand before it, causes everything in me of faith, and hope, and joy, and love, to cry out!

IV. Need I speak of the preciousness of your saviour? Need I call to your remembrance the experiences in which He has manifested Himself to you? Do you not remember those days of struggle and distress, through which you passed, and that day of hope and joy which succeeded them, when Christ dawned upon you, and you felt that your troubles were over, and your resistance to His will was ended, and you cried out, My Lord and my God! and He raised you to His bosom? Has He not revealed Himself to you, saying, I am with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you? The manifestation of Christ to us takes away from trouble all its sting. By and by we shall strand, every one of us, in the narrow passage of death, and there is but one Pilot there. If He comes, bright and shining, from the dark waters of the troubled sea, how sweet and precious will He be to the dying soul that has loved Him, and longed to see Him! (H. W. Beecher.)

Faiths sure foundation

I. The foundation of the believers faith. He that believeth on Him. The foundation of the believers faith is Christ Jesus Himself. But in what sense am I to believe in Jesus Christ?

1. I reply, first, as Gods appointed Saviour of men. Behold I lay in Zion a sure foundation. We trust in Christ Jesus because God has set Him forth to be the propitiation for sin.

2. We also believe in the Lord Jesus because of the excellency of His person. We trust Christ to save us because we perceive Him in every way to be adapted by the nature and constitution of His person to be the Saviour of man kind.

3. Another ground of our reliance upon Christ is that He has actually finished the work of our redemption. There were two things to be done. The first was the keeping of the law on our behalf: that He has performed to the uttermost, even as He said to His Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. We see our Lord also doing the other part of His work, namely, suffering in consequence of our sin, and our faith becomes fully established.

4. One other truth must be mentioned, seeing that our Lord is now no longer dead, we feel it more easy to place our confidence in Him because He ever liveth to see to the completion of our salvation. A living faith delights in a living Saviour. This is the seal of all that went before.

II. The manner of this believing. How do we believe in Jesus Christ? Now, we have not to go a single inch to find an instructive illustration of what faith in Jesus is. The verse before us is connected with building.

1. If, then, you want to know what it is to believe on Jesus, it is relic upon Him as a stone lies upon a foundation when the mason puts it there. Faith is leaning, depending, relying.

2. A stone rests wholly on the foundation. That is faith: resting upon Christ wholly and entirely, looking to Him for everything that has to do with our salvation. Genuine faith in Christ does not trust Him to pardon sin, and then trust itself to overcome sin. No, it trusts Christ both for the conquest of evil and for the forgiveness of it.

3. The stone laid on the foundation comes closer to that foundation every day. When a house is finished there still goes on a measure of settlement, and you are glad if it settles all in a piece together. Every day the stone is brought by its own weight a little closer to the foundation; may every days pressure bring you and me closer to Christ. Oh, that the pressure of our joys and griefs may press us nearer to our Lord!

4. A well-built stone gets to be one with the foundation. In the old Roman walls the mortar seems to be as hard as the stones, and the whole is like one piece; you must blow it to atoms before you can get the wall away. So is it with the true believer: he rests upon his Lord till he is one with Jesus by a living union, so that you scarce know where the foundation ends and where the upbuilding begins; for the believer becometh all in Christ, even as Christ is all in all to him.

III. The evil which will never come upon the man who believeth on Jesus. The text says, He shall not be confounded, and the meaning of it is, first, that he shall never be disappointed. All that Christ has promised to be He will be to those who trust Him. And then comes the next rendering-you shall never be confounded. When a man gets to be ashamed of his hope because he is disappointed in it, he casts about for another anchorage, and, not knowing where to look, he is greatly perplexed. If the Lord Jesus Christ were to fall through, what should we do? No, Jesus, we shall not be confounded, for we shall never be disappointed in Thee, nor made ashamed of our hope! According to Isaiahs version, we shall not be obliged to make haste; we shall not be driven to our wits end and hurried to and fro. We shall not hurry and worry, trying this and that, running from pillar to post to seek a hope; but he that believeth shall be quiet, calm, assured, confident. He awaits the future with equanimity, as he endures the present with patience. Now, the times of our special danger of being confounded are many; but in none of these shall we be confounded. Let us just turn them over in our minds. There are times when a mans sins all come up before him like exceeding great armies. All your thoughts, words, and deeds, your bad tempers and rebellions against God-suppose they were all to rise at once, what would become of you? Why, even then, he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. The depths have covered them, there is not one of them left. He that believeth on the pardoning Saviour shall not be confounded, though all his sins should accuse him at once. The unbelieving world outside labours to create confusion. The scientific discoverers, the possessors of boastful culture, and all the other braggers of this marvellously enlightened nineteenth century are up in arms against the believers in Jesus. Faith in Jesus can be justified before a synagogue of savans, it deserves the respect of a parliament of philosophers. To trust the Son of God incarnate, whose advent into this world is a fact better proved by history than any other that was ever on record-to trust oneself upon His atoning sacrifice is the most reasonable thing that a man can do. He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded by human wisdom, for God hath long ago confounded it and turned it into foolishness. But the world has done more than sneer; it has imitated Cain and sought to slay the faithful. There they stand. The lions are loose upon them. Do they cry for mercy, and treacherously deny Christ? They are feeble men and women; do they recant and leave their Master? Not they. They die as bravely as ever soldier fell in battle. Well, but there will come other troubles to Christians besides these, and in them they shall not be confounded. They will be tried by the flesh; natural desires will break forth into vehement lustings, and corruptions will seek to cast them down. Will believers perish then? No. He that believeth in Christ shall conquer himself, and overcome his easily besetting sins. There will come losses and crosses, business trials and domestic bereavements. What then? He shall not be confounded; his Lord will sustain him under every tribulation. At last death will come to us. We may not be able to shout victory; we may be too weak for triumphant hymns, but with our latest breath we will lisp the precious name. They that watch us shall know by our serenity that a Christian does not die, but only melts away into everlasting life. We shall never be confounded, even amid the grandeurs of eternity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 6. Behold, I lay in Sion] This intimates that the foundation of the Christian Church should be laid at Jerusalem; and there it was laid, for there Christ suffered, and there the preaching of the Gospel commenced.

A chief corner stone] This is the same as the foundation stone; and it is called here the chief corner stone because it is laid in the foundation, at an angle of the building where its two sides form the ground work of a side and end wall. And this might probably be designed to show that, in Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles were to be united; and this is probably the reason why it was called a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence; for nothing stumbled, nothing offended the Jews so much as the calling of the Gentiles into the Church of God, and admitting them to the same privileges which had been before peculiar to the Jews.

Elect, precious] Chosen and honourable. 1Pet 2:4.

Shall not be confounded.] These words are quoted from Isa 28:16; but rather more from the Septuagint than from the Hebrew text. The latter we translate, He that believeth shall not make haste-he who comes to God, through Christ, for salvation, shall never be confounded; he need not haste to flee away, for no enemy shall ever be able to annoy him.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture: the Greek word being of an active form, makes great difference among expositors about these words; not to trouble the reader with variety, the plainest way of understanding them seems to be, either:

1. That God be understood here, and supplied out of the former verse: Wherefore God contains it in the Scripture: or:

2. That the word, though of an active termination, be yet taken in a passive signification, contains, for is contained; so our translators do, and this way of speaking is not unusual with other writers.

Behold, I; I the Lord, not man, Psa 118:23.

Lay in Sion; viz. by the preaching of the gospel, wherein Christ was declared to be the only foundation of the church, and whereby faith was wrought in the hearts of men, who were thereby actually built on Christ, as their foundation, and so the spiritual house, 1Pe 2:5, erected.

Sion; either by synecdoche, Jerusalem, (whereof Sion was a part), where by the preaching of Christ first, and the apostles after his ascension, and sending the Spirit, this foundation stone was first laid, and Gods temple begun to be built, Psa 110:2; Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2; Luk 24:47. Or rather, Sion here is to be understood of the gospel church, whereof Sion was a type.

A chief corner-stone; or, Head of the corner, Psa 118:22; that which both supports the building, and unites the parts; Christ being the foundation not of a part only, but of the whole church; all the parts of which, Gentile, as well as Jew, are jointly built on him, and upheld by him, Eph 2:20.

Elect, precious: see 1Pe 2:5.

And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded; shall not be disappointed of his expected salvation, and so shall have no cause to be ashamed of his hope. This is according to the LXX., the Hebrew hath it, shall not make haste, i.e. he that believes in Christ shall not through haste, or distrust, or unwillingness to wait Gods time and way, seek after any other way of salvation than by Christ; and so (as before) not being disappointed, shall have no cause to be ashamed; whereas they that do not believe, but make haste, coming short of their expectation, are at last filled with confusion. {See Isa 28:16; Rom 9:33}

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. Wherefore alsoThe oldestmanuscripts read, “Because that.” The statement above is so”because it is contained in Scripture.”

Beholdcallingattention to the glorious announcement of His eternal counsel.

electso also believers(1Pe 2:9, “chosen,”Greek, “elect generation”).

preciousin Hebrew,Isa 28:16, “acorner-stone of preciousness.” See on Isa28:16. So in 1Pe 2:7, Christis said to be, to believers, “precious,” Greek,“preciousness.”

confoundedsame Greekas in Ro 9:33 (Peter here aselsewhere confirming Paul’s teaching. See Introduction;also Ro 10:11), “ashamed.”In Isa 28:16, “makehaste,” that is, flee in sudden panic, covered with the shameof confounded hopes.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture,….

Isa 28:16. This is produced as a proof of the excellency of Christ, as compared to a stone; and of his usefulness in the spiritual building; and of his being chosen of God, and precious, though rejected by men; and of the happiness, comfort, and safety of those that believe in him. That this prophecy belongs to the Messiah, is the sense of some of the Jewish writers: the Targum on it applies it to a mighty king; it does not mention the King Messiah, as Galatinus u cites it; but Jarchi expressly names him, and interprets it of him:

behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; Christ is here called a chief corner stone, as in Eph 2:20 because he not only adorns and strengthens the building, but unites the parts, and keeps them together, even all the saints, Jews or Gentiles, in all ages and places, whether in heaven or earth; and he, as such, is chosen of God for that purpose, and is precious both to God and man, on that account; and is a stone, not of men’s laying, but of God’s laying in his council, covenant, promises, and prophecies, in the mission of him into this world, and in the Gospel ministry; the place where he is laid is in Sion, the Gospel church, of which he is both the foundation and corner stone: and this account is introduced with a “behold”, it being something very wonderful, and worthy of attention: to which is added,

he that believeth on him shall not be confounded: or “ashamed”; of the foundation and cornerstone Christ, nor of his faith in him; and he shall not be confounded by men or devils, neither in this world, nor in that to come; he shall have confidence before Christ, and not be ashamed at his coming; he shall be safe now, being laid on this stone; nor shall he be removed from it, or intimidated by any enemy, so as to flee from it; nor shall he make haste, as it is in

Isa 28:16 to lay another foundation; and he shall be found upon this hereafter; so that his person and state will be safe, though many of his works may be burnt up.

u De Aroan. Cathol. Ver. l. 3. c. 21.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

It is contained (). Present active (here intransitive, to contain, only N.T. example) of , old verb, to surround, transitive in Lu 5:9 to seize (only other N.T. example). The formula with is in Josephus (Ant. XI. 7). This Scripture ( ) is Isa 28:16 with some changes. Peter had in verse 4 already quoted and . Now note (a chief corner stone), a word apparently invented by Isaiah (from , highest, and , Attic word for corner stone). Paul in Eph 2:20 uses the same word, making Christ the chief corner stone (the only other N.T. example). In Isaiah the metaphor is rather a foundation stone. Peter and Paul make it “the primary foundation stone at the structure” (W. W. Lloyd).

On him (‘ ). That is, “on it” (this corner stone, that is, Christ).

Shall not be put to shame ( ). Strong negatives with first aorist passive subjunctive of , old verb, to put to shame (Ro 5:5).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

It is contained [] . From peri, round about, and ecw, to hold. Hence, to contain or comprehend. So Luk 5:9, he was astonished [ ] ; lit., astonishment held him encompassed. Also, Act 23:25, ” He wrote a letter after this manner [ ] ; lit., containing this form. The verb here is impersonal. The kindred word perioch occurs only in Act 8:32, rendered place; i e., the passage of scripture : either the contents of the passage or the section of the book circumscribed or marked off.

In the scripture [ ] . The best texts reject the article. Grafh means a passage of scripture. See on Mr 12:10. Hence Rev., in scripture; margin, in a scripture.

Behold I lay, etc. See Rom 9:33.

Precious. See on ver. 4.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1 ) “Wherefore also it is contained in the scriptures, (Gk. dioti) because it is (Gk. periechei) held or contained Isa 28:16; 1Co 3:10-11. This certifies Peter’s faith in the trustworthiness of the Scriptures.

2) “Behold I lay in Zion” (Gk. tithemi) I Put, place, or set (of my own accord or will) in Zion – the City of God.

3) “A chief corner stone, elect, precious,” this was an elected, called out, selected, chosen and highly honored corner stone – chosen, elected, and honored of God who gave Him for redemption of man, the church, and the universe. Joh 3:16; Eph 5:25; Rom 8:11; Act 20:28.

4) “And he that believeth on Him,” or the one trusting (pisteuon) (epi) upon Him, (Jesus Christ).

5) “Shall not be confounded.” A double negative is used here meaning -shall not, never, at all be ashamed of having trusted Him.”

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

6 Wherefore also it is contained in Scripture; or, Wherefore also the Scripture contains (20) They who refer the verb “contain” ( περιέχειν) to Christ, and render it “embrace,” because through him all these unite together, wholly depart from the meaning of the Apostle. No better is another exposition, that Christ excels others; for Peter simply intended to quote the testimony of Scripture. (21) He then shews what had been taught by the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures, or, which is the same thing, that what he adds is contained in them. Nor is it an unsuitable confirmation of the preceding verse. For we see for what slight reasons, and almost for none, many reject Christ, and some fall away from him; but this is a stumblingblock which above all other things stands in the way of some; they are drawn away, because not only the common people despise and reject Christ, but also those who are high in dignity and honor, and seem to excel others. This evil has almost ever prevailed in the world, and at this day it prevails much; for a great part of mankind judge of Christ according to the false opinion of the world. Moreover, such is the ingratitude and impiety of men, that Christ is everywhere despised. Thus it is, that while they regard one another, few pay him his due honor. Hence Peter reminds us of what had been foretold of Christ, lest the contempt or the rejection of him should move us from the faith.

Now, the first passage, which he adduces, is taken from Isa 28:16; where the Prophet, after having inveighed against the desperate wickedness of his own nation, at length adds,

“

Your perfidy shall not prevent God from restoring his church, which now through you lies wholly in a ruinous state.” (Isa 28:16)

The manner of restoration he thus describes, “I will lay in Sion a stone.” We hence learn that there is no building up of the Church without Christ; for there is no other foundation but he, as Paul testifies, (1Co 3:11.) This is no matter of wonder, for all our salvation is found only in him. Whosoever, then, turns away from him in the least degree, will find his foundation a precipice.

Therefore the Prophet not only calls him a corner-stone, which connects the whole edifice, but also a stone of trial, according to which the building is to be measured and regulated; and farther, he calls him a solid foundation, which sustains the whole edifice. He is thus, then, a corner-stone, that he might be the rule of the building, as well as the only foundation. But Peter took from the words of the Prophet what was especially suitable to his argument, even that he was a chosen stone, and in the highest degree valuable and excellent, and also that on him we ought to build. This honor is ascribed to Christ, that how much soever he may be despised by the world, he may not be despised by us; for by God he is regarded as very precious. But when he calls him a corner-stone, he intimates that those have no concern for their salvation who do not recumb on Christ. What some have refined on the word “corner,” as though it meant that Christ joins together Jews and Gentiles, as two distinct walls, is not well founded. Let us, then, be content with a simple explanation, that he is so called, because the weight of the building rests on him.

We must further observe, that the Prophet introduces God as the speaker, for he alone forms and plans his own Church, as it is said in Psa 78:69, that his hand had founded Sion. He, indeed, employs the labor and ministry of men in building it; but this is not inconsistent with the truth that it is his own work. Christ, then, is the foundation of our salvation, because he has been ordained for this end by the Father.

And he says in Sion, because there God’s spiritual temple was to have its beginning. That our faith, therefore, may firmly rest on Christ, we must come to the Law and to the Prophets. For though this stone extends to the extreme parts of the world, it was yet necessary for it to be located first in Sion, for there at that time was the seat of the Church. But it is said to have been then set, when the Father revealed him for the purpose of restoring his Church. In short, we must hold this, that those only rest on Christ, who keep the unity of the Church, for he is not set as a foundation-stone except in Sion. As from Sion the Church went forth, which is now everywhere spread, so also from Sion our faith has derived its beginning, as Isaiah says,

“

From Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isa 2:3.)

Corresponding with this is what is said in the Psalms,

“

The scepter of thy power will the Lord send forth from Sion.” (Psa 110:2.)

He that believeth The Prophet does not say in him, but declares generally, “He that believeth shall not make haste.” As, however, there is no doubt but that God sets forth Christ there as the object of our faith, the faith of which the Prophet speaks must look on him alone. And, doubtless, no one can rightly believe, but he who is fully convinced that in Christ he ought wholly to trust.

But the words of the Prophet may be taken in two ways, either as a promise or as an exhortation. The future time is referred to, “He shall not make haste;” but in Hebrew the future is often to be taken for an imperative, “Let him not make haste.” Thus the meaning would be, “Be ye not moved in your minds, but quietly entertain your desires, and check your feelings, until the Lord will be pleased to fulfill his promise.” So he says in another place,

“

In silence and in quietness shall be your strength,” (Isa 30:15.)

But as the other reading seems to come nearer to Peter’s interpretation, I give it the preference. Then the sense would not be unsuitable, “He who believeth shall not waver” or vacillate; for he has a firm and permanent foundation. And it is a valuable truth, that relying on Christ, we are beyond the danger of falling. Moreover, to be ashamed ( pudefieri ) means the same thing. Peter has retained the real sense of the Prophet, though he has followed the Greek version. (22)

(20) Several copies have ἡ γραφὴ instead of ἐν τὣ γραφὴ; and this reading Calvin has followed. But the verb περιέχω is used by Josephus and others in a passive sense. — Ed.

(21) The quotation is not exactly either from the Hebrew or from the Sept. The Apostle seems to have taken what was suitable to his purpose. — Ed.

(22) As to this verb he has, but in the previous parts he comes nearer to the Hebrew than to the Sept. Paul quotes this sentence twice, Rom 9:33, and follows the Sept. as Peter does. Indeed, the difference between יחיש he shall make haste, and יבש, he shall be ashamed, is very small; and further, the former verb admits of a similar meaning with the latter. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(6) Wherefore also.The mention of Jesus Christ brings the writer back again to his theme, viz., that the whole system to which his readers belong has undergone a radical change, and is based on Jesus and His fulfilment of the sufferings and glories of the Messiah. The right reading here is not wherefore also, but becausei.e., the quotations are introduced in the same way as in 1Pe. 1:16; 1Pe. 1:24, as justifying the foregoing expressions.

It is contained in the scripture.In the original the phrase is a curious one. The scripture never means the Old Testament as a whole, which would be called the Scriptures, but is always the particular book or passage of the Old Testament. Literally, then, our present phrase runs, because it encloses or contains in that passage. Thus attention is drawn to the context of the quotation, and in this context we shall again find what made St. Peter quote the text.

Behold, I lay.The sentence is taken from Isa. 28:16, and, like the last, is adapted to the occasion out of both Hebrew and LXX. Gesenius on that passage gives evidence to show that the early Jewish explanation, current in our Lords time, referred it to the Messiah; the later Rabbinical expositors, probably by way of opposition to the Christians, explained it to mean Hezekiah. In order to gain a clear conception of St. Peters aim in the quotation, it is necessary to glance over the whole section contained in the 28th and 29th chapters of Isaiah. The prophecy here cited, says Archbishop Leighton, if we look upon it in its own place, we shall find inserted in the middle of a very sad denunciation of judgment against the Jews. Besides our present text, which is quoted also in Rom. 9:33, our Lords prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem is an amplification of Isa. 29:3-4; His sharp censure of the corrupt traditions which had superseded the law of God (Mat. 15:7-9) is taken from Isa. 29:13; St. Pauls image of the potter changing his purpose with the lump of clay (Rom. 9:21), comes from Isa. 29:16. Like one bright spot in the sad picture appears our verse, but only as serving to heighten the general gloom. St. Peters quotation here, therefore, calling attention as it does to the context, is at least as much intended to show his Hebrew readers the sweeping away of the carnal Israel as to encourage them in their Christian allegiance. In the original passage the sure foundation is contrasted with the refuge of lies which the Jewish rulers had constructed for themselves against Assyria, scorning this sure foundation as a piece of antiquated and unpractical religionism. Ngelsbach (in his new commentary on Isaiah) seems to be right in interpreting the refuge of lies to mean the diplomatic skill with which Ahaz and the Jewish authorities flattered themselves their treaty with Egypt was drawn up, and the sure foundation opposed to it is primarily Gods plighted promise to the house of David, in which all who trusted would have no cause for flight. In the Messianic fulfilment, those promises are all summed up in the one person of Jesus Christ (Act. 13:33; 2Co. 1:20); and the refuge of lies in which the Jewish rulers had trusted was the wicked policy by which they had tried to secure their place and nation against the Romans (Joh. 11:48).

In Sion.In Isaiah it means that the people have not to look for any distant external aid, such as that of Pharaoh: all that they need is to be found in the city of David itself. Here, it seems to impress upon the Hebrew Christians that they are not abandoning their position as Hebrews by attaching themselves to Jesus Christ. It is they who are really clinging to Sion when the other Jews are abandoning her.

Shall not be confounded (or, ashamed).Our version of Isaiah translates the Hebrew original by the unintelligible shall not make haste. It really means, shall not flee. While all the Jewish rulers, who had turned faithless and trusted in their finesse with Egypt, would have to flee from the face of the Assyrians, those who preserved their faith in God would be able to stand their ground. This, of course, did not come literally true in the first instance, where a common temporal overthrow came upon faithful and faithless alike, from Babylon, though not from Assyria. In the Messianic fulfilment, however, the faith or unbelief of the individual makes all the difference to him: the overthrow of the many does not affect the few. St. Peter adds to believe the words on Him or on it. which are found in neither the Hebrew nor the Greek of Isaiah, such an addition being quite in keeping with the Rabbinic method of quotation, which frequently alters words (comp. Mat. 2:6) to bring out the concealed intention more fully. The general quality of faith of which the prophet spoke, i.e., reliance on the promises of God, becomes faith in Him in whom the promises are fulfilled. For a like cause St. Peter prefers the LXX. be ashamed to the Hebrew flee away, there being (except at the Fall of Jerusalem) no opportunity for actual flight. It comes to the same thing in the end: shall not find his confidence misplaced.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. Wherefore Better, because. Isa 28:16.

Zion Jerusalem; not Rome.

Believeth Man’s essential part in the work of building.

Confounded Put to shame or disappointment, for Christ shall never fail him.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Because it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: And he who believes on him will not be put to shame.’

Peter then cites Isa 28:16 as ‘Scripture’, that is as the written word of God. (Peter often drops the article when others would include it). Here in Isaiah the coming King (promised in Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:1-4; Isa 32:1-4) can be seen as the chief cornerstone of His people, chosen by God and precious, and as the One in Whom all can put their trust without fear of their being confounded or proved to be foolish. The cornerstone was the initial stone, often laid as a foundation stone around which the whole building was built up. Having initially been laid, everything was lined up with it, and in a sense the whole building rested on it. It was the central focus of the building. Elsewhere Jesus is also described as the foundation (1Co 3:11), and, as here, is to be seen as the substratum of the whole, the unique stone on which, and around which, the whole building is built.

‘And he who believes on him will not be put to shame.’ And this living cornerstone is such that whoever relies on Him will not have reason to regret it.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

1Pe 2:6. Whereforeit is contained, &c. St. Peter has given us the sense of Isa 28:16 but not exactly the words, either according to the Hebrew or the LXX.; which was a common way of quoting among the ancients. See the notes on Isa

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Pe 2:6 gives the ground for the exhortation contained in 1Pe 2:4-5 by a quotation of the passage, Isa 28:16 , to which reference was already made in 1Pe 2:4 .

] cf. 1Pe 1:24 .

] an uncommon construction, yet not without parallel, see Joseph. Antt . xi. 7: , ( i.e. ) ; indeed is more than once used to denote the contents of a writing, see Act 23:25 ; Joseph. Antt . xi. 9: . Either (or ) must, with Wahl, be supplied here as subject; or better, must be taken impersonally as equal to, continetur; cf. Winer, p. 237 [E. T. 316]; Buttmann, p. 126.

The words of the passage in the O. T. (Isa 28:16 ) are quoted neither literally from the LXX. nor exactly according to the Hebrew text. In the LXX. it is: , (instead of which we have here, exactly as in Rom 9:33 : , ) (this adject. here omitted) (these two words here transposed) (the last two words here left out) ( added) (Rom 9:33 : ). Whatever may be understood by the stone in Zion, whether the theocracy, or the temple, or the house of David, or the promise given to David, 2Sa 7:12 ; 2Sa 7:16 (Hofmann), this passage, which certainly has a Messianic character, inasmuch as the thought expressed in it should find, and has found, its fulfilment in Christ, is not here only, but by Paul and the Rabbis (see Vitringa, ad Jes. I. p. 217), taken to refer directly to the Messiah, who also, according to Delitzsch (cf. in loc .), is directly meant by the stone (“this stone is the true seed of David, manifested in Christ”). Luther, following Oecumenius and Theophylactus, assumes that Christ is called . because He has united Jew and Gentile together, and out of both collected the one church; this Calvin, not entirely without reason, calls a subtilius philosophari. In the words: . . ., corresponds to , 1Pe 2:4 . does not refer to the glory which consists for the believer in this, “that he, as a , will form part of the .” (Wiesinger), but to “the final glory of salvation which is the aim of the present ” (Schott); cf. 1Pe 2:2 : . [120]

[120] Hofmann is wrong in asserting that it is here said “that is meant to call back to mind the in ver. 2.”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2393
THE SECURITY OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST

1Pe 2:6. It is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

THE Scriptures universally speak the same language with respect to Christ: in every part he is represented as the only Saviour, and the all-sufficient help of sinful man. In this respect the Old Testament prepares us for what is contained in the New, and the New reflects light upon the Old; and thus they mutually illustrate and confirm each other. This observation naturally arises from the frequent appeals made by the Apostles to the prophetic writings; and particularly from the manner in which St. Peter introduces the passage before us: he seems to intimate not only that the prophet had been inspired to declare the same truth, but that this prophecy had been given of God on purpose to prepare the way for the more direct injunctions of the Gospel. His words declare to us,

I.

The excellency of Christ

Christ is often spoken of as a foundation, because he supports the spiritual temple of God; but here he is represented as a corner-stone laid by the hands of God himself
[The excellency of the chief corner-stone, which lies also at the foundation, consists in this, that while it supports the building, it also connects the different parts of it together. Now Christ has united together, not only Jews and Gentiles, but men and angels, in one spiritual building: and while they all derive their strength from him, they all feel, through him, an union with each other [Note: Eph 2:14; Eph 2:20-22.]. For this purpose God laid him in Sion from the beginning; he laid him, I say, in types and prophecies, and declarations, and promises; and he requires all hoth in heaven and earth to honour him as the one source of their strength, and the one bond of their union.]

In this view he is elect and precious in the eyes of God
[God has appointed him to execute this office from all eternity, and determined that there shall be no other name whereby any shall be saved. And, as qualified for it, as discharging it in every respect, and as saving man in perfect consistency with the honour of the Divine perfections, God esteems him precious; He declares that in this his beloved Son He is well-pleased; and He acquiesces fully in the salvation of all who shall approve of this appointment.]
Nor will he be less precious in our eyes, if we consider,

II.

The security of those who believe in him

To believe in him, is, to feel an entire dependence on him ourselves, and to have such an union with him as produces a correspondent union with all the other parts of his spiritual temple. They who thus believe in him shall never be confounded,
Here
[Much there is in their experience, which might well confound them, and which nothing but their union with him could enable them to support. How should they endure a sense of guilt, or bear up against their indwelling corruptions? How should they sustain the fiery trial of persecution, or stand composed in the near prospects of death? These are things which disconcert and confound others; and drive them like a ship from its moorings. But they have an anchor both sure and steadfast. They are not agitated, and driven to hasty conclusions, or ill-advised methods of deliverance [Note: Compare the text with the passage from whence it is taken, Isa 28:16.]. Their heart standeth firm, trusting in the Lord. Being justified by faith, they have peace with God. The promise that sin shall not have dominion over them, encourages their hope. Their present consolations, and future prospects of reward, soften all their trials, and enable them to glory in tribulations. And, knowing in whom they have believed, the sting of death is taken away, and they are delivered from their bondage to the fear of death.]

Hereafter
[Terrible indeed must be the apprehensions of an unbeliever, when first dismissed from the body and carried into the presence of a holy God; and at the day of judgment how will he stand appalled! But the believer will go as a child into the presence of his Father, with love, and joy, and confidence. He will not be confounded at the glory of the Divine Majesty, because he is washed in the Redeemers blood, and clothed in his righteousness. Even Mary Magdalen, or the dying thief, know no terror in the presence of their God, because they are complete in Christ: it is on this account that they shall have confidence before him at his coming, and great boldness in the day of judgment [Note: 1Jn 2:28; 1Jn 4:17.]. Nor is this the privilege of a few only, who are strong in faith, but of all that believe, whether their faith be strong or weak.]

Infer
1.

How great is the difference between believers and unbelievers!

[The world perhaps may not in some instances discern much difference; but God, who sees the heart, gives this glorious promise to the one, while there is no such promise in all the sacred oracles to the other. Let us then believe on Christ; and make him all our salvation and all our desire.]

2.

How unreasonable is the unbelief of sinful men!

[God has laid his Son for a chief corner-stone in Sion, and declared him to be precious to himself in that view: why then should he not be elect and precious unto us also? Have we found a better foundation, or a surer bond of union? Or can we produce one instance wherein any person that believed in him was finally confounded? O let us consider what confusion will probably seize us here, and certainly hereafter, if we continue to reject him. And let us without delay flee for refuge to the hope set before us.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (7) 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, (8) And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

I need not tell the Reader what scripture the Apostle hath gathered this beautiful passage from, Isaiah was directed, ages before, to proclaim Christ to the Church under this strong figure, Isa 28:16 . But indeed, the whole book of God is full of the same glorious truth. See Deu 32:4 ; 2Sa 23:3 ; Psa 118:22-23 ; Eph 2:20 . But what I particularly beg the Reader to observe is the beauty and fulness of the similitude, and his Church, his Zion is founded by Jehovah. It is the Lord in his three-fold character of Person, which hath founded it, Isa 14:32 . Hence, Christ in his union of God and Man in One Person, is the foundation, on which the whole building rests. He is also the whole strength which unites, and keeps the building together. Believers are said to be rooted and built up in him, Col 2:7 . And he is also the finisher, in whom, and by whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth to an holy temple in the Lord, Eph 2:19 to the end. And, if the Reader will pause but for a moment, and consider how very fully this is proved, as it relates to all the points of the spiritual building in Christ, he will discover the blessedness of the whole.

First. In Christ’s Person. All temporal, spiritual, eternal blessings are centered in Christ’s Person. Hence his people, in him, are brought into a communion and fellowship by their union with him, into the enjoyment of those things; and, without which, there can be no blessing in either department, in the life that now is, or that which is to come.

Secondly. In Christ’s offices. His obedience and death; his law fulfilling, and law-satisfying sacrifice; his surety-ship, engagements, and sin-atoning offering; his death, resurrection, ascension, and unceasing priesthood; all these, and every other which Christ wrought on earth, and is now carrying on in heaven, make him the whole foundation of his Church to rest upon, for all the purposes of time and eternity.

And, lastly, to mention no more: In Christ’s relations to his people, he becomes the first and the last, to include all and everyone of the tenderest relationship, which constitute the Father, Husband, Brother, and the Friend; so as to fill all, and perform the part of all, yea, infinitely nearer than all, being the Head of his body the Church, the fulness that filleth all in all, to the members of his body, his flesh, and his bones.

Reader! pause over the view; and look one moment longer before you quit this beautiful portion of the Word of God, and consider the different reception this Holy One finds in God the Father’s esteem, his people, and the world. In God the Father’s esteem, he is declared to be the chief corner stone, elect, precious. Yea, God speaks of him as One in whom his soul delighteth! And so great, and holy, and gracious, that he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. In his people’s esteem, he is so precious and se highly beloved, as to he the altogether lovely, and the fairest among ten thousand. But to the world, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence. He is despised and rejected of men. His Person, his offices, his humble birth, his obscure life, his mean death; yea, all that relates to him as the Savior of sinners, renders him an object of scorn. Oh! thou precious Lord of thy people! how is it that I was made to believe in thee, while thousands reject the counsel of God against their own souls!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Ver. 6. Wherefore it is contained ] The Jews were so well versed in Scripture, that in quoting of texts there was need to say no more to them than, It is written, It is contained, , they could tell where to turn to the place presently; and this was a great furtherance to the conversion of many of them, by the preaching of the apostles. Many among us are better seen in Sir Philip than in St Peter: in Monsieur Balzack’s letters than in St Paul’s Epistles; like that bishop of Dunkelden in Scotland, they know little or nothing either of the Old or New Testament; and therefore one may preach riff raff, Popery, or any error unto them, and they know not how to disprove it.

Shall not be confounded ] The Hebrew text hath it, “shall not make haste,” Isa 28:16 . Haste makes waste, as we say, and often brings confusion. Children pull apples before they are ripe, and have worms bred of them.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 .] The exhortation of the previous verses is substantiated in its form and its assertions by O. T. prophecy . Because (q. d. the aforesaid is so, on the ground of Scripture) it is contained (reff.: and for the impersonal sense, Jos. Antt. xi. 4. 7, ( ) . Hence , the contents or argument of a book or portion of a book, in later Greek) in Scripture ( , in its technical sense, anarthrous: not so found in the Gospels, but Rom 1:2 ; Rom 16:26 ; 2Pe 1:20 ), Behold, I place in Zion a chief corner-stone, chosen, had in honour (the citation is a free one: representing , the epithet being omitted, and and transposed): and he that believeth on Him (or, ‘ it :’ is not in the LXX-B., but is found in [5] [6] ) shall not be ashamed (it is remarkable, that St. Paul in citing the same prophecy, Rom 9:33 , has in common with St. Peter the two divergences from the LXX, the , and the insertion (?) of . On , see ref. Eph. note. Here, whatever may be the case there, can hardly be any idea of the ‘lapis summangularis’ joining the two walls, Jewish and Gentile, together, as some (e. g. c.) have thought).

[5] The MS. referred to by this symbol is that commonly called the Alexandrine, or CODEX ALEXANDRINUS. It once belonged to Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Alexandria and then of Constantinople, who in the year 1628 presented it to our King Charles I. It is now in the British Museum. It is on parchment in four volumes, of which three contain the Old, and one the New Testament, with the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. This fourth volume is exhibited open in a glass case. It will be seen by the letters in the inner margin of this edition, that the first 24 chapters of Matthew are wanting in it, its first leaf commencing , ch. Mat 25:6 : as also the leaves containing , Joh 6:50 , to , Joh 8:52 . It is generally agreed that it was written at Alexandria; it does not, however, in the Gospels , represent that commonly known as the Alexandrine text, but approaches much more nearly to the Constantinopolitan, or generally received text. The New Testament, according to its text, was edited, in uncial types cast to imitate those of the MS., by Woide, London, 1786, the Old Testament by Baber, London, 1819: and its N.T. text has now been edited in common type by Mr. B. H. Cowper, London, 1861. The date of this MS. has been variously assigned, but it is now pretty generally agreed to be the fifth century .

[6] The CODEX SINAITICUS. Procured by Tischendorf, in 1859, from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Codex Frederico-Augustanus (now at Leipsic), obtained in 1844 from the same monastery, is a portion of the same copy of the Greek Bible, the 148 leaves of which, containing the entire New Testament, the Ep. of Barnabas, parts of Hermas, and 199 more leaves of the Septuagint, have now been edited by the discoverer. A magnificent edition prepared at the expense of the Emperor of Russia appeared in January, 1863, and a smaller edition containing the N.T. &c., has been published by Dr. Tischendorf. The MS. has four columns on a page, and has been altered by several different correctors, one or more of whom Tischendorf considers to have lived in the sixth century. The work of the original scribe has been examined, not only by Tischendorf, but by Tregelles and other competent judges, and is by them assigned to the fourth century . The internal character of the text agrees with the external, as the student may judge for himself from the readings given in the digest. The principal correctors as distinguished by Tischendorf are: A, of the same age with the MS. itself, probably the corrector who revised the book, before it left the hands of the scribe, denoted therefore by us -corr 1 ; B (cited as 2 ), who in the first page of Matt. began inserting breathings, accents, &c., but did not carry out his design, and touched only a few later passages; C a (cited as 3a ) has corrected very largely throughout the book. Wherever in our digest a reading is cited as found in 1 , it is to be understood, if no further statement is given, that C a altered it to that which is found in our text; C b (cited as 3b ) lived about the same time as C a , i.e. some centuries later than the original scribe. These are all that we need notice here 6 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Pe 2:6 . , it is contained in Scripture . The formula occurs in Josephus (Ant. xi. 7, [ ] ) and is chosen for its comprehensiveness. is intransitive as the simple verb and other compounds often are; cf. , contents , Act 8:32 . . being a technical term, has no article. , formal quotation of Isa 28:16 , preceding quotation from Psalms, as prophets always precede the writings. The LXX has (unique expansion of normal = of Heb., cf. . below; Targum, I will appoint ) ( . duplicate of ; Heb., a stone a stone ; Targum, a king a king ; pointing to Jewish Messianic interpretation) . . ( a foundation a foundation , Heb.) (+ [148] AQ) (= for of Heb. = shall not make haste ; Targum, when tribulation come shall not be moved ). The chief difference is that St. Peter omits all reference to the foundation , and substitutes ; LXX is conflate, being the original reading and . added by some purist to preserve the meaning of the Hebrew root. This omission may be due to the fact that Christians emphasised the idea that the stone was a corner stone binding the two wings of the Church together (Eph 2:20 ) and regarded this as inconsistent with .

[148] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Wherefore also. The texts read “Because”, as 1Pe 1:16.

contained. Greek. periecho. Only here; Luk 5:9. Act 23:25.

Behold. App-133.

chief corner. See Eph 2:20.

believeth on. App-150.

confounded = put to shame. Greek. kataischuno. See Rom 5:5. Quoted from Isa 28:16. App-107.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

6.] The exhortation of the previous verses is substantiated in its form and its assertions by O. T. prophecy. Because (q. d. the aforesaid is so, on the ground of Scripture) it is contained (reff.: and for the impersonal sense, Jos. Antt. xi. 4. 7, ( ) . Hence , the contents or argument of a book or portion of a book, in later Greek) in Scripture (, in its technical sense, anarthrous: not so found in the Gospels, but Rom 1:2; Rom 16:26; 2Pe 1:20), Behold, I place in Zion a chief corner-stone, chosen, had in honour (the citation is a free one: representing ,-the epithet being omitted, and and transposed): and he that believeth on Him (or, it: is not in the LXX-B., but is found in [5] [6]) shall not be ashamed (it is remarkable, that St. Paul in citing the same prophecy, Rom 9:33, has in common with St. Peter the two divergences from the LXX, the , and the insertion (?) of . On , see ref. Eph. note. Here, whatever may be the case there, can hardly be any idea of the lapis summangularis joining the two walls, Jewish and Gentile, together, as some (e. g. c.) have thought).

[5] The MS. referred to by this symbol is that commonly called the Alexandrine, or CODEX ALEXANDRINUS. It once belonged to Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Alexandria and then of Constantinople, who in the year 1628 presented it to our King Charles I. It is now in the British Museum. It is on parchment in four volumes, of which three contain the Old, and one the New Testament, with the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. This fourth volume is exhibited open in a glass case. It will be seen by the letters in the inner margin of this edition, that the first 24 chapters of Matthew are wanting in it, its first leaf commencing , ch. Mat 25:6 :-as also the leaves containing , Joh 6:50,-to , Joh 8:52. It is generally agreed that it was written at Alexandria;-it does not, however, in the Gospels, represent that commonly known as the Alexandrine text, but approaches much more nearly to the Constantinopolitan, or generally received text. The New Testament, according to its text, was edited, in uncial types cast to imitate those of the MS., by Woide, London, 1786, the Old Testament by Baber, London, 1819: and its N.T. text has now been edited in common type by Mr. B. H. Cowper, London, 1861. The date of this MS. has been variously assigned, but it is now pretty generally agreed to be the fifth century.

[6] The CODEX SINAITICUS. Procured by Tischendorf, in 1859, from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Codex Frederico-Augustanus (now at Leipsic), obtained in 1844 from the same monastery, is a portion of the same copy of the Greek Bible, the 148 leaves of which, containing the entire New Testament, the Ep. of Barnabas, parts of Hermas, and 199 more leaves of the Septuagint, have now been edited by the discoverer. A magnificent edition prepared at the expense of the Emperor of Russia appeared in January, 1863, and a smaller edition containing the N.T. &c., has been published by Dr. Tischendorf. The MS. has four columns on a page, and has been altered by several different correctors, one or more of whom Tischendorf considers to have lived in the sixth century. The work of the original scribe has been examined, not only by Tischendorf, but by Tregelles and other competent judges, and is by them assigned to the fourth century. The internal character of the text agrees with the external, as the student may judge for himself from the readings given in the digest. The principal correctors as distinguished by Tischendorf are:-A, of the same age with the MS. itself, probably the corrector who revised the book, before it left the hands of the scribe, denoted therefore by us -corr1; B (cited as 2), who in the first page of Matt. began inserting breathings, accents, &c., but did not carry out his design, and touched only a few later passages; Ca (cited as 3a) has corrected very largely throughout the book. Wherever in our digest a reading is cited as found in 1, it is to be understood, if no further statement is given, that Ca altered it to that which is found in our text; Cb (cited as 3b) lived about the same time as Ca, i.e. some centuries later than the original scribe. These are all that we need notice here6.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Pe 2:6. , it is contained) Used here as an impersonal verb.-, behold) See Rom 9:33, note.-, , elect, precious) Elect, has special reference to the stone; precious, to the chief corner-stone. In Hebrew , a stone of searching out, a corner-stone of preciousness, most firmly laid. The term elect is also used of believers, 1Pe 2:9. From the word precious is derived the word , the preciousness, the price, 1Pe 2:7.- , he that believeth) From this is derived the word believing [unto you who believe], 1Pe 2:7- , shall not be put to shame) He shall experience that the preciousness of Christ abounds towards him (whilst) believing.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

it: Dan 10:21, Mar 12:10, Joh 7:38, Act 1:16, 2Ti 3:16, 2Pe 1:20, 2Pe 3:16

Behold: 1Pe 2:4, Isa 28:16, Zec 10:4, Rom 9:32, Rom 9:33, Eph 2:20

elect: Psa 89:19, Isa 42:1, Mat 12:18, Luk 23:35, Eph 1:4

shall: Psa 40:14, Isa 41:11, Isa 45:16, Isa 45:17, Isa 50:7, Isa 54:4

Reciprocal: Deu 32:4 – the Rock 1Ki 5:17 – costly stones 1Ki 8:1 – out of the city Psa 2:12 – Blessed Psa 22:5 – and were Psa 25:2 – O Psa 36:7 – excellent Psa 71:1 – do I Psa 119:116 – and let me Psa 119:165 – nothing shall offend them Pro 9:1 – builded Son 5:16 – most Isa 46:13 – salvation Isa 49:23 – for they Jer 12:17 – if Joe 2:27 – and my Zep 3:11 – shalt thou Luk 23:42 – Lord Act 4:11 – the stone Rom 10:11 – Whosoever 1Co 3:11 – General Jam 2:23 – the scripture

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1Pe 2:6. The apostle now quotes from Isa 28:16 to show that even while the Mosaic service was in force. the Lord was planning on another one to come and made predictions concerning the same. Lay in Sion (or Zion). This literally refers to the city of Jerusalem as a whole. and some- times to a particular portion of the city designated as the “city of David.” The church was started in the city of Jerusalem and hence it is often re- ferred to as “Mount Zion” (Heb 12:22). A conclusion is given us therefore that the foundation stone (Christ) was to be laid in the church. Chief corner stone. The corner stone of a building was imnortant because it served to unite the walls into one structure. Christ is called the elect because the word means “pointed or picked out. chosen.” God chose his Son to be the chief corner stone of the final building to be erected in the Christian Dispensation. It is a pre-cious stone because of the valuable benefits it will furnish those who will accent them. To he confounded is defined by Thaver “To be put to shame.” On the day of judgement The Lord Jesus Christ will put to shame all those who refused to believe in Him in this world, since that unbelief in-dicates they are ashamed of Him (Luk 9:26).

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

1Pe 2:6. Because it la also contained in Scripture (or, in a scripture). The passage in Peters mind is the section of Isaiah (Isa 28:16) in which the prophets stern declaration of the fate of Samaria and unsparing invective against the official classes of Judah break suddenly into words full of gentle seriousness and hope (Ewald) addressed to the pious, and assuring them of the security which will justify their faith, even as the permanence of the temple-building verifies the solidity of the foundation (Cheyne). The formula by which the passage is introduced (not wherefore also, but, as the best authorities read, because) is the same as has been found twice already in similar connections (1Pe 1:16; 1Pe 1:24). It indicates that Peter is not making an express quotation in order to establish, by the authority of the Old Testament, what he has just stated, but is rather giving in familiar Old Testament terms which come naturally to his pen, a reason for the case being as he has stated it to be. This is confirmed by the indefinite and impersonal phrase, it is contained in Scripture, or, in a scripture (the reading in the Scripture is doubtful), as well as by the fact that the words are given neither exactly as they stand in the Hebrew text nor exactly as the LXX. Version renders them, but (as is also the case with Pauls use of them in Rom 9:33) with a number of significant variations. The point of the passage, therefore, seems to be this: the reason why they are to be built up into a spiritual house with the view to being a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices, lies in its having been Gods will, as that is expressed in Scripture, to make Christ the foundation of His Church with that object (cf. Hofmann, Schott, etc.).

Behold, I lay in Zion, So Paul, too (Rom 9:33), gives it, instead of Isaiahs more explicit statement, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation (literally, I am He that hath founded), or, as the LXX. puts it, Behold, I lay to the foundations of Zion. The object that is thus laid is, according to Isaiah, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. But instead of introducing the object simply as a stone, and then defining that by a series of compound epithets (which Ewald and Delitzsch agree in rendering rather, a tried precious corner-stone of firmest foundation), Peter names the object at once a chief corner-stone, and then defines it by two simple epithets, transforming Isaiahs order, and omitting some of his terms. Paul, again (Rom 9:33), seems to take the object not from Isa. 18:16, but from Isa 8:14.

a chief corner-stone, elect (or, chosen), honourable. The corner-stone is that stone in the foundation on which the angle of the building rests, and which is all-important to the stability of the building and the coherence of its parts. There is no reference here, however, to the union effected through Christ between Jew and Gentile (as Luther supposes), far less to Christ as the connecting link of the Old and New Testaments (Fronmller).

and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. The Hebrew text gives simply, he that believeth, leaving the object unnamed. The phrase on him (or, as it may also be, on it) which Peter introduces (as also does Paul, Rom 9:33) is found, however, in some MSS. of the LXX. The clause which appears at once in Peter, in Paul, and in the LXX. as shall not be confounded (or rather, put to shame), stands in the Hebrew text as shall not make haste, or shall not flee in trepidation, i.e shall stand firm. The clause, therefore, is not a mere parallel to the previous grow unto salvation, pointing to security in the final judgment (Schott), but gives a general assurance expressive of the confidence of those to whom the prophetic promise is fulfilled in Christ. The passage as it stands in Isaiah is set over against the Egyptian alliance which was sought at the time, and against the hurt and shame which are declared in the same connection (e.g. Isa 30:1-7) to be destined for those who lean on Egypt instead of Jehovah. If this was in Peters mind, the words would suggest the difference (confidence for the one, disappointment and shame to the other) between those who hold by Christ and those who cling to old national connections, and would appeal with peculiar force to those Christians who were in danger of yielding to the power of social surroundings in times of peril. In any case, the passage was admitted by the Rabbis to be of direct Messianic import. But whether the stone immediately in Isaiahs view is to be identified with Jehovah Himself, with the Davidic King, with the theocracy, with the Temple, or with the promise made to David and his house (2Sa 7:12; 2Sa 7:16), in Peter it is Christ Himself who is that Son of David in whom the kingdom was to reach its final glory, and in whom that promise is fulfilled. In both connections faith is specified. But while in the prophet it is faith in the sense of confidence, or in the sense of belief in the future fulfilment of a promise, in the apostle it is faith in the sense of personal reliance on Him who was promised and had appeared. In both cases, too, an assurance is attached to the faithin Isaiah, that the Israelite who remains faithful instead of seeking secretly to Egypt shall not need to flee: in Peter, that the Christian who relies on Christ shall not be put to real shame, however scornfully handled.The best interpreters are practically at one in recognising the doctrinal bearings of this brief but important section. Peter here expresses what Bishop Lightfoot (Comm. on Philip, 1Pe 1:17) holds Pauls language also to express, the fundamental idea of the Christian Church, in which a universal priesthood has supplanted the exclusive ministrations of a select tribe or class. Neander concludes that when the apostles applied the Old Testament idea of priesthood to Christianity, this was done invariably for the simple purpose of showing that no such visible particular priesthood could find place in the new community. And Huther affirms the idea which is here expounded to be opposed not only to the catholic doctrine of a particular priesthood, but to all teaching with regard to the office of the administration of word and sacrament which in any way ascribes to its possessors an importance in the Church, resting on Divine mandate, and necessary for the communication of salvation (i.e priestly importance).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

1Pe 2:6-8. Wherefore also To which purpose; it is contained in the Scripture In Isa 28:16, the passage before referred to. Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone To support and hold together the whole building. This, as explained Eph 2:21, signifies the union of Jews and Gentiles in one faith, baptism, and hope, so as to form one church or temple for the worship of God through the mediation of Christ. And he that believeth on him With a lively faith, a faith productive of love and obedience; shall not be confounded In time or in eternity. To you therefore who believe With such a faith; he is precious Highly esteemed by you, and of infinite advantage to you. Or, as we read in the margin, he is an honour. The clause may also be rendered, To you who believe in this honour; the honour of being built on Christ, the foundation, or chief corner-stone of the new temple of God. But unto them which be disobedient Who disbelieve and disobey the gospel, the words of the psalmist are accomplished; the stone which the builders disallowed Namely, the Jewish chief-priests, elders, and scribes, called builders, because it was their office to build up the church of God among the Jews. See on Psa 118:22. But they rejected the stone here spoken of, and would give it no place in the building; the same is made the head of the corner And all their opposition to it is vain. It is not only placed at the foot of the corner, to support the two sides of the building erected upon it, but at the head of the corner, to fall upon and grind to powder those that reject it; and, as the same prophet elsewhere speaks, a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence Namely, to the unbelieving and disobedient. Thus Simeon, (Luk 2:34;) This child is set for the fall as well as the rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against; a prediction awfully fulfilled. Even to them which stumble, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed This translation of the clause seems to imply that those who are disobedient were appointed to be so; but the original does not convey that sense, but is literally rendered, Who, disobeying the word, stumble, to which also they were appointed: that is, those who disobey the word are appointed to stumble, namely, at the stone of stumbling here spoken of, according to the prediction of Isaiah, Isa 8:14-15; He shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling, &c., to both the houses of Israel; that is, to those that are unbelieving and disobedient; and many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and snared, and taken. This is what God has appointed, that they who reject Christ shall stumble at him, and fall into misery and ruin: or, that he who believeth not shall be damned: the unalterable decree of the God of heaven. Or the words may, with equal propriety, be rendered, Unto which stumbling they were disposed; those who disbelieve and disobey the gospel; being, through blindness of mind and perverseness of will, disposed to reject Christ, stumble at him, and fall into eternal ruin.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Verse 6

Elect; chosen.

1 Peter 2:7,8. The head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, &c. The meaning is, that the stone, being placed prominently and conspicuously at the corner, was at the same time a chief support of the building, and also an exposed projection, against which the careless would be most in danger of coming into collision, as it were; that is, a rock which they run against.–Whereunto; that is, to the destruction above described. (See Luke 22:22. Rom. 9:17-19.)

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

2:6 {6} Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

(6) He proves it by the testimony of the prophet Isaiah.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

3. Building on Christ 2:6-8

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Before going on, however, Peter elaborated on the foundation of this building, the church. "Zion" here refers to the heavenly Jerusalem, that larger eschatological entity of which the church will be a part (cf. Rev 21:14). The "corner stone" refers to the main stone on which the building rests. It does not refer to a modern corner stone or to the last stone the mason put at the top of the building, the keystone (Isa 28:16; cf. Eph 2:20). In view of this, it seems that the rock (Gr. petra, a large stone) to which Jesus referred in Mat 16:18 was not Peter (Gr. Petros, a small stone) but Himself. Jesus, not Peter, much less Judaism, is the foundation upon which God has promised to build the church (cf. 1Co 3:11).

Isaiah promised that those who believe on the Stone will never (Gr. ou me, the strongest negative) be disappointed.

Peter clarified two relationships of the believer in these verses (4-6). He rests on Christ as a building rests on its foundation. Furthermore he relates to every other believer as the stones of a building under construction relate to one another. We need each other, should support each other, and should work together to build the church in the world.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)