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,
• 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,
• New Living Translation (NLT)You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

Context of 1 Peter 2:4

2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts 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 55:3Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
• Jeremiah 3:22“Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God.
• Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• John 5:40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
• John 6:37All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
• John 5:26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also 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 feeds on 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 though they die;
• John 14:6Jesus answered, “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 God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
• Colossians 3:4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
• Isaiah 28:16So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
• Daniel 2:34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
• Zechariah 3:9See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
• Zechariah 4:7“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
• Psalms 118:22The stone 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