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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Pe_2:4-8
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed." 7This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone," 8and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
1Pe_2:4 "And coming to Him" This is a present middle (deponent) participle. NKJV, NRSV and TEV translate this as an imperative. Note the continual coming and personal element, "to Him." The gospel is primarily a person to welcome, to trust, and to emulate. This term may have the connotation of approaching God, as a priest or worshiper (cf. Heb_4:16; Heb_7:25; Heb_10:1; Heb_10:22; Heb_11:6). Peter changes his metaphor from milk in 1Pe_2:2-3, to construction metaphors in 1Pe_2:4-8 (believers as living stones and Jesus as the cornerstone). This is possibly a continuing allusion to Psa_34:4 from the Septuagint.
▣ "as to a living stone" In the OT God's stability, strength, and perseverance are often described by using the analogy of rock as a title (cf. Deu_32:4; Deu_32:15; Deu_32:18; Deu_32:30; Psa_18:2; Psa_18:31; Psa_18:46; Psa_28:1; Psa_31:3; Psa_42:9; Psa_71:3).
The metaphor of Jesus as a stone is found in
1. a rejected stone (Psa_118:22)
2. a building stone (Psa_118:22; Isa_28:16)
3. a stone to stumble over (Isa_8:14-15)
4. an overcoming and conquering stone (kingdom), (Dan_2:45)
Jesus used these passages to describe Himself (cf. Mat_21:40; Mar_12:10; Luk_20:17).
▣ "which has been rejected by men" This is a perfect passive participle. This may be an allusion to 1Pe_2:7, which is from the Septuagint of Psa_118:22. The stone is disapproved by "the builders," which may refer to the Jewish leadership, but in Peter it is widened to all unbelieving humans. This term, from apo and dokimazô, means the testing of someone or something to find if it is genuine. The Jews continued to reject Jesus as the Messiah and this rejection became a state of spiritual blindness (cf. Mar_8:31; Mat_6:23).
▣ "but is choice and precious in the sight of God" This is in direct contrast to the previous phrase. The term "choice" is literally "elect" in the sense of "foreordained" (cf. 1Pe_1:2; 1Pe_1:20). A rejected (crucified or unreceived) Messiah has always been God's only plan of redemption (cf. Luk_22:22; Act_2:23; Act_3:18; Act_4:28; Act_13:29; Eph_1:11).
1Pe_2:5 "as living stones" The NT uses several corporate metaphors to describe the church.
1. a vine (Joh_15:5)
2. a flock (Joh_10:16)
3. a bride (i.e., a family, cf. Eph_5:27; Rev_19:7; Rev_21:9)
4. a body (Eph_1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12)
5. a family (Rom_8:15-17; 1Ti_3:15)
6. a city (Heb_11:10; Heb_11:16; Heb_12:22; Heb_13:14; Rev_2:2; Rev_2:10)
7. here, a temple (cf. 1Co_3:9; 1Co_3:16; 1Co_6:19)
▣ "are being built up as a spiritual house" This is probably a Present passive indicative, although in form it could be a present passive imperative. This is the same verb used in Mat_16:18 to describe the church being built on the rock of personal faith (i.e., Peter as an example). The entire context is continuing to develop the metaphor of 1Pe_2:4. Jesus is the new Temple (cf. Joh_2:18-22). Believers in Christ are the true priesthood. The unbelieving Jews have stumbled over (cf. 1Pe_2:7-8) the very stones on which YHWH built His spiritual Temple—(1) Jesus and (2) the Church (cf. 1Ti_3:15). Only those who have faith in Christ can function in God's spiritual temple, offering spiritually acceptable sacrifices (i.e., holy self-giving lives, cf. 1Pe_1:14-16; Rom_12:1-2).
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▣ "for a holy priesthood" Peter is using the names of God's OT people, Israel, to describe the church (cf. Exo_19:5; 1Pe_2:9-10; Rev_1:6). In the OT YHWH promised through Eve's offspring to redeem all mankind (cf. Gen_3:15). YHWH called Abram (cf. Gen_12:1-3) to call a kingdom of priests (cf. Exo_19:5-6) to reach all the world (cf. Gen_12:3 and Exo_19:5). Israel failed in this task (cf. Eze_36:27-38). Therefore, God appointed a new people of faith (cf. Jer_31:31-34; Eze_36:22-38) to reach the world (cf. Mat_28:19-20; Luk_24:47 Act_1:8; 1Pe_2:9).
Martin Luther used the authority of the Bible and the Pauline truth of justification by grace through faith to reject the traditions of the Catholic Church. He coined the phrase "the priesthood of the believer" (singular). Western individualism has taken this slogan and turned it to a license for personal freedom in belief and lifestyle. But this concept is corporate, not individual (i.e., notice the plural pronouns in 1Pe_2:5; 1Pe_2:7; 1Pe_2:9). It is gospel-proclamation focused, not personal-freedom focused. Believers have been given Israel's world-wide evangelistic assignment (cf. Rom_15:16; Heb_13:15-16). To view the priesthood as meaning that we have direct access to God through Christ is true, but this is not the purpose of the metaphor. A priest stands between a needy people and a holy God. He advocates not his own position, but the needs of the people. The NT affirms the priesthood of believers (plural, corporate) as they bring a lost world to faith in Christ.
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▣ "to offer up spiritual sacrifices" After the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70, the Jews accentuated the OT passages which advocate non-animal sacrifices (cf. Psa_50:14, 51:27, Psa_69:30-31; Psa_107:22; Psa_141:2; Hos_14:2). Heb_13:5 reflects this type of Christian sacrifice. In context this refers to believers living holy and self-giving lives from 1 Peter 1 (esp. 1Pe_2:14-16; Heb_13:15-16).
1Pe_2:6 "A choice stone, a precious corner stone" This is a quote from Isa_28:16. This concept of the Messiah as a rock or stone is recurrent in the OT (cf. Psa_118:22; Dan_2:34-35; Isa_8:14; Isa_28:16). These OT passages are often quoted in the NT (cf. Mat_21:42; Mar_12:10; Luk_20:17; 1Co_10:4; Eph_2:22; 1Pe_2:6-8) to refer to Jesus as God's promised One. Peter also used it in his sermon in Act_4:11. See note at 1Pe_2:4 b. See Special Topic: Cornerstone at Mar_12:10.
NASB "and he who believes in him will not be disappointed"
NKJV "and he who believes on him will by o means be put to shame"
NRSV "and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame"
TEV "whoever believes in Him will never be disappointed"
NJB "no one who relies on this will be brought to disgrace"
This phrase is from the LXX of Isa_28:16. Notice the invitation is open to all (cf. Joh_1:12; Joh_3:16; Rom_10:9-13; 1Ti_2:4; 2Pe_3:9). This is a double negative, "never, no never, be disappointed" or "ashamed." For "believes" see Special Topic at Mar_1:15.
F. F. Bruce, answers to Questions (p. 158) points out the difference between the Septuagint and the Masoretic Hebrew texts.
1. The LXX – "will not be disappointed" (NASB) or "brought to disgrace" (NJB) is the verb yçbôsh
2. The MT – "will not be disturbed" (NASB, margin), "in a hurry" is the verb yahish
On page 157 Bruce comments that NT authors probably quoted the version in common use in the early church unless they had a special theological reason to depart from it and use another one. The general thrust of a passage is the key to the concept of inspiration, not a fight over each and every individual word. Humans have been given a trustworthy revelation!
1Pe_2:7 "the builders" The Jewish Targums (Aramaic translation with commentary) use this term as a title for the Scribes. This is a quote from Psa_118:22. Jesus uses this same OT quote in His parable of the wicked tenant farmers in Mat_21:42. This parable described the Jewish leadership of Jesus' day. It is uncertain whether Jesus' strong words of judgment related to (1) His rejecting the concept of non-Aaronic Jewish leadership (i.e., Annas and Caiaphas) who purchased their positions from Rome or (2) His rejecting all Jewish people (i.e., Israel) who refuse to believe in Him (cf. Romans 9-11).
1Pe_2:8 "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" This is a quote from Isa_8:14. It is also quoted in Rom_9:32, where it refers to Jesus. The special stone has been rejected and becomes the object of destruction!
▣ "they are disobedient" This is a present active participle. They (unbelievers of Peter's day, both Jews and Gentiles) continue to be disobedient because they reject Jesus as the Suffering Messiah. They have rejected both Jesus' preaching and that of His Apostles (cf. 1Pe_1:24-25). They have rejected the eternal word (i.e., the gospel, cf. 1Pe_1:22 to 1Pe_2:2).
NASB "and to this doom they were also appointed"
NKJV "to which they also were appointed"
NRSV "as they were destined bo do"
TEV "such was God's will for them"
Calvinists use this verse and Rom_9:22; 1Th_5:9 to assert that God chose some to salvation and some to damnation. However, verses like Joh_3:16; 1Ti_2:4; 2Pe_3:9 show this cannot be true. God's election is primarily for holiness (cf. Eph_1:4; Eph_2:10); for Christlikeness (cf. Rom_8:29).
This verse reminds me of Isa_6:9-13. God's covenantal people had the light they needed to respond appropriately to Him, but they would not. This continual rejection issued in hard hearts that could not respond. Only judgment was possible. The God of time and history knows what humans will do but allows them to do it and then He affirms and recognizes the consequences of their temporal/eternal choices.
It must have been very hard for these Jewish believers to deal with the Jewish rejection of Jesus. How could this happen? These early believers began to read the Scriptures for clues to this surprising unbelief.
1. Isa_6:9-10; Isa_8:14-15; Isa_43:8
2. Jer_5:21; Jeremiah 7
3. Mat_21:33-44; Mar_12:1-12
4. Luk_2:34; Luk_20:9-18
5. Romans 9-11
6. 1Co_1:23
The following quote is from F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, pp. 196-197, about "election" vs. "selection."
"Are 'election to salvation' and 'election to damnation' correlative terms?
In certain theological systems they are, but it is important to test all theological systems by Scripture, and to remember that, when the teaching of Scripture is systemized, something is usually left out in the process. The term 'election' has become so involved in theological controversy that the sense of the Biblical teaching on the subject might be better grasped if we used a non-theological word like 'selection' in its place. Christ selected twelve men to be apostles (Luk_6:13); He selected Saul of Tarsus to be a 'chosen vessel' (Act_9:15); but His selection of these men for a special purpose implies no disparagement of others who were not so selected. God selected Israel from among the nations (Act_13:17)—to the great benefit of the other nations, not to their disadvantage. When the election of the people of God in this age is in question, it is not so much their 'election to salvation' as their election to holiness that is emphasized. This is so, for example, in Eph_1:4 and 1Pe_1:1 f; and similarly, in Rom_8:29, the purpose for which God foreordained those whom He foreknew was that they should be 'conformed to the image of his Son.' In none of these places is there any suggestion of 'election to damnation' as a correlative. We should beware of generalizing from such particular references as those in Rom_9:22 ('vessels of wrath made for destruction') and 1Pe_2:8 'they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do'). The general analogy of Biblical teaching on this subject indicates that some are chosen or selected by God—not in order that others, apart from them, may be left in perdition, but in order that others, through them, may be blessed."