Psalms 118:22

The stone [which] the builders refused,.... This is not Zerubabel, according to the sense of some Jews, as Theodoret suggests; nor the people of Israel, as Jarchi and Kimchi; nor David, as the

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

The commonwealth of Israel and the church of God are here and elsewhere in Scripture compared to a building, wherein as the people are the stones and the matter, so the princes and rulers are the builders, whose office it was to erect, and support, and improve the building, and to use their wisdom and power in choosing fit materials for the several parts and purposes of the building, and in the rejection of what was unprofitable and inconvenient. And these master-builders rejected David as an obscure, and treacherous, and rebellious person, fit to be not only laid aside and thrown away, but also to be crushed to pieces. And so their successors rejected Christ as an enemy to Moses, a friend to sinners, and a blasphemer against God, and therefore deserving death and damnation. The head stone of the corner; the chief stone in the whole building, by which the several parts of the building are upheld and firmly united and kept together. Thus David united all the tribes and families of Israel, who had been miserably distracted and divided by the civil wars between the houses of Saul and David. And thus Christ united Jews and Gentiles together, as is observed, , &c. And although David alludeth to himself and his own condition, yet it is not to be doubted but that having the prophetical Spirit, by which he foresaw the coming of Christ, and his ill usage from the Jews, of which he speaks very particularly Psalms 22, and elsewhere; and having his thoughts much taken up with Christ and the event of his kingdom, of which he speaks in divers of his Psalms, he had his eye principally fixed upon him in these and the following expressions. And therefore this place is justly expounded of Christ in the New Testament, as , compared with . And to him indeed the words agree much more properly and fully than to David.

Psalms 118:22 The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head [stone] of the corner.Ver. 22. The stone which the builders refused] David, and the Son of David were by those, who seemed to be somewhat laid aside, and slighted as abjects and refuse ones; but wisdom was ever justified of her children. Is become the head stone of the corner] Lapis diatonus sive frontatus, whereby the Church is supported, as the sides and weight of a building are by a principal binding cornerstone, against all blasts.

(22) The stone.—Better, a stone. There is no article. Israel is, of course, this stone, rejected as of no account in the political plans of those who were trying to shape the destinies of the Eastern nations at their own pleasure, but in the purpose of God destined to a chief place in the building up of history. The image is developed by Isaiah 28:16-17, and prepared, by the Messianic hope poured into it, for the use of Christ Himself and the repeated applications of it to Him by the apostles (Matthew 21:42-44; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7; Ephesians 2:20; see New Testament Commentary).

Verse 22. - 23. The stone which the builders refused] See a full elucidation of these two verses in Clarke's notes on "Matthew 21:42".

22. The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner. A metaphor from building. The ‘corner-stone’ bonding the walls together was a most important part of the structure. A large and strong stone was needed for the purpose. It is mentioned along with the foundation (Jeremiah 51:26; Job 38:6) of which it formed part (Isaiah 28:16); and so possibly the meaning here is ‘the chief cornerstone’ of the foundation. But ‘the head of the corner’ is more naturally explained to be the top-stone (Zechariah 4:7), not only bonding the walls together, but completing the building. Israel is the ‘head corner-stone.’ The powers of the world flung it aside as useless, but God destined it for the most honourable and important place in the building of His kingdom in the world. The words express Israel’s consciousness of its mission and destiny in the purpose of God. The perfect “is become” is a perfect of certainty. With the eye of faith the Psalmist sees the Divine purpose already realised. Our Lord applies the passage to Himself in His solemn warning to the Pharisees of the consequences of rejecting Him (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17). St Peter also quotes it (Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7). Comp. also Ephesians 2:20. The principle underlying this use of the words originally spoken of Israel is that Christ was the true representative of Israel, Who undertook and fulfilled the mission in which Israel had failed.

The stone which the builders refused - See the notes at Matthew 21:42-43. Compare Mark 12:10-11; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7.

20-27. These verses contain the response (Delitzsch) of the singers within the court, who receive the festal procession.