Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Mark 12:10 - 12:10

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Mark 12:10 - 12:10


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

10. οὐδὲ τὴν γραφὴν ταύτην ἀν. Have ye not read even this scripture? (R.V.). “Did ye never read” occurs Mar 2:25; Mat 21:16; cf. Mat 19:4; Mat 22:31. Ἡ γραφή in N.T. commonly means a particular passage; the O.T. as a whole is αἱ γραρφί (Mar 12:24). See on Joh 2:22.

Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν. Attraction to the relative. From the vineyard in Isaiah 5 we pass to the equally familiar builders in Psalms 118, part of which had been sung by the multitude at the triumphal entry; and the quotation is as exact from the LXX. as the LXX. from the Hebrew. Just as the vine-dressers reject the messengers, so the builders reject the stone, and with equally fatal result (Mt. and Lk.). Perhaps we ought to translate “A stone” rather than “The stone.” The builders rejected many stones, and one of the rejected stones became “head of the corner.” But “The stone” may be right, if Λίθος was a name for the Messiah (Justin, Try. 34, 36). For ἀποδοκιμάζω see on Mar 8:31. Γίνομαι εἰς occurs in Lk. and Acts, and is freq. in quotations from LXX. The change of picture from the vineyard to the builders makes allusion to the Resurrection possible; the slain son could not be revived in the story, but the rejected stone can be promoted.

κεφαλὴν γωνίας. A corner-stone uniting two walls; but whether at the base or at the top is not certain. Some think that it means the highest stone in the building; cf. Zec 4:7. The expression occurs nowhere but in Psalms 118 and the quotations from it here, Act 4:11, and 1Pe 2:7, where see Hort. The Psalm is probably connected with the dedication of the second Temple, in the building of which some such incident may have occurred. Perowne on Psalms 118.