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

2and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, 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 spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”

1 Peter 2:4 word by word

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

• And comingπροσέρχομαιproserchomai · to come near/agreeG4334
• to Him as to a livingζάωzaō · to liveG2198
• stoneλίθοςlithos · stoneG3037
• rejectedἀποδοκιμάζωapodokimazō · to rejectG593
• by peopleἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• choiceἐκλεκτόςeklektos · selectG1588
• and preciousἔντιμοςentimos · valued/honoredG1784
• inπαράpara · from/with/besideG3844
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316

Cross-references for 1 Peter 2:4

• Isaiah 55:3Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.
• Jeremiah 3:22“Return, you faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.
• Matthew 11:28“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• John 5:40and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
• John 6:37Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out.
• John 5:26For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
• John 6:57Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
• John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies,
• John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
• Romans 5:10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
• Colossians 3:4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
• Isaiah 28:16Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone, A precious cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. The one who believes in it will not be disturbed.
• Daniel 2:34You continued watching until a stone was broken off without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
• Zechariah 3:9For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘and I will remove the guilt of that land in one day.
• Zechariah 4:7‘What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”
• Psalms 118:22A stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief 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