21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 1
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 2
1 tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.
sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.
2 sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.
3 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.
4 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
5 sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in
6 tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”
7 tc ‡ αὐτό (auto, “it”) is found after ἔθηκεν (eqhken, “placed”) in the majority of witnesses, including many important ones, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is read by א L Θ Ë13 33 892 pc). Regardless of which reading is original (though with a slight preference for the shorter reading), English style requires the pronoun. NA27 includes αὐτό here, no doubt due to the overwhelming external attestation.
8 tn That is, cut or carved into an outcropping of natural rock, resulting in a cave-like structure (see L&N 19.25).
9 tn Or “to the door,” “against the door.”