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 yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, 3if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness. So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 5you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never 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

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 55:3Pay attention and come to me! Listen, so you can live! Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David.
• Jeremiah 3:22Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say, ‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God.
• Matthew 11:28Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• John 5:40but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
• John 6:37Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.
• John 5:26For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,
• John 6:57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me 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 replied, “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, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?
• Colossians 3:4When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.
• Isaiah 28:16Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: “Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic.
• Daniel 2:34You were watching as a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces.
• Zechariah 3:9As for the stone I have set before Joshua – on the one stone there are seven eyes. I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
• Zechariah 4:7“What are you, you great mountain? Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ because of this.”
• Psalms 118:22The stone which the builders discarded 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