1 Peter 2:4

1 Peter 2:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
• New International Version (NIV)As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—
• English Standard Version (ESV)As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

Context of 1 Peter 2:4

2Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation. 3Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good! You are coming to Christ, the living stone who was rejected by humans but was chosen as precious by God. 5You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ. 6That is why Scripture says, “I am laying a chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion, and the person who believes in him will never be ashamed.”

1 Peter 2:4 word by word

πρὸς ὃν προσερχόμενοι λίθον ζῶντα, ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων μὲν ἀποδεδοκιμασμένον παρὰ δὲ θεῷ ἐκλεκτὸν ἔντιμον,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Toπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• comingπροσέρχομαιproserchomai · to come near/agreeG4334
• a livingζάωzaō · to liveG2198
• stoneλίθοςlithos · stoneG3037
• disallowedἀποδοκιμάζωapodokimazō · to rejectG593
• indeedμένmen · on the other handG3303
• ofὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
• menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• butδέde · thenG1161
• chosenἐκλεκτόςeklektos · selectG1588
• ofπαράpara · from/with/besideG3844
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• preciousἔντιμοςentimos · valued/honoredG1784

Cross-references for 1 Peter 2:4

• Isaiah 55:3Open your ears, and come to me! Listen so that you may live! I will make an everlasting promise to you— the blessings I promised to David.
• Jeremiah 3:22“Come back, you rebellious people, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful.” Here we are! We have come to you because you are the Lord our God.
• Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.
• John 5:40Yet, you don’t want to come to me to get ⌞eternal⌟ life.
• John 6:37Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me.
• John 5:26The Father is the source of life, and he has enabled the Son to be the source of life too.
• John 6:57The Father who has life sent me, and I live because of the Father. So those who feed on me will live because of me.
• John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die.
• John 14:6Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me.
• Romans 5:10If the death of his Son restored our relationship with God while we were still his enemies, we are even more certain that, because of this restored relationship, the life of his Son will save us.
• Colossians 3:4Christ is your life. When he appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.
• Isaiah 28:16This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am going to lay a rock in Zion, a rock that has been tested, a precious cornerstone, a solid foundation. Whoever believes ⌞in him⌟ will not worry.
• Daniel 2:34While you were watching, a stone was cut out, but not by humans. It struck the statue’s iron-and-clay feet and smashed them.
• Zechariah 3:9“Look at the stone I have set in front of Joshua. That one stone has seven eyes. I am engraving an inscription on it,” declares the Lord of Armies. “I will remove this land’s sin in a single day.
• Zechariah 4:7What a high mountain you are! In front of Zerubbabel you will become a plain. He will bring out the topmost stone with shouts of ‘Blessings, blessings on it!’ ”
• Psalms 118:22The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Commentaries on 1 Peter 2:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4To whom coming, as unto a living stone - This is a reference to Isaiah 28:16; : Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. Jesus Christ is, in both the prophet and apostle, represented as the foundation on which the Christian Church is built, and on which it must continue to rest: and the stone or foundation is called here living, to intimate that he is the source of life to all his…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4To whom coming - To the Lord Jesus, for so the word “Lord” is to be understood in 1 Peter 2:3. Compare the notes at Acts 1:24. The idea here is, that they had come to him for salvation, while the great mass of people rejected him. Others “disallowed” him, and turned away from him, but they had seen that he was the one chosen or appointed of God, and had come to him in order to be saved. Salvation is often represented as corning to Christ. See Matthew…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight: This refers to Psalm 118:22, which is quoted in 1 Peter 2:7.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. coming--drawing near (same Greek as here, He 10:22) by faith continually; present tense: not having come once for all at conversion. stone--Peter (that is, a stone, named so by Christ) desires that all similarly should be living stones BUILT ON Christ, the true foundation-stone; compare his speech in Ac 4:11. An undesigned coincidence and mark of genuineness. The Spirit foreseeing the Romanist perversion of Mt 16:18 (compare Mt 16:16, "Son of the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Peter 2:4

• Jesus Continued
• Stones

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Bishop
• Chosen
• Cloke
• Disallow
• Fleshly
• Offer
• Sincere
• Spiritual

Commentaries on 1 Peter 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings