4:11a

The part of 4:11a–b inside the quote marks is a quote from Psalm 118:22. You may want to include this information in a footnote or a cross-reference in your translation.

Peter quoted this Scripture to refer to Jesus. The stone is a metaphor that refers to Jesus. The Jewish leaders were like the builders who rejected the stone. They rejected Jesus, but God revealed that Jesus was the Christ, like the stone that made the building stand well.

It may be helpful to include a footnote in your translation to explain that Peter compared Jesus to the stone in this verse. Here are some example footnotes:

Jesus is like the stone because the Jewish leaders rejected him.
-or-
The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus, like the builders rejected the capstone. Jesus is also like the capstone because it is the most important stone in the building.

This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected…’: In some languages a quote from the OT is always introduced. For example:

This Jesus is, ⌊as the scriptures say,⌋ ‘the stone you builders rejected…’

In many languages, this metaphor must be translated using “like.” For example:

This Jesus is ⌊like⌋ ‘the stone that you who are like the builders rejected…’

This Jesus: This word in Greek is literally “This male (person).” Here it refers to Jesus, not the man who was lame before Peter healed him.

the stone you builders rejected: This clause in Greek is literally “the stone, the one having been rejected by you, the ones building.” In Greek, this clause is passive. Translate this in a way that is natural in your language. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

• As a passive clause. For example:

the stone which was rejected by you builders (Revised Standard Version)

• As an active clause, as the Berean Standard Bible models. For example:

‘the stone that you builders rejected (New Century Version)

the stone: The Jews used stones to construct most of their houses and other buildings. If people in your area do not use stones to build buildings, you may want to write a footnote to explain the meaning here. Here is an example footnote:

At that time the Jews cut blocks of stone from the mountains to make buildings.

An illustration that shows men building a house with stones and a stone foundation could also be helpful to readers. Because the New Testament writers often referred to Jesus as a “stone,” it is good to keep this metaphor in your translation.

you builders rejected: The builders chose only the stones that they thought were good quality. But they did not realize that they rejected the best stone.

4:11b

which has become the cornerstone: The Greek does not say how the rejected stone became the most important stone in the building. In some languages it may be necessary to add that information. If that is true in your language, you should indicate that God did it. For example:

which ⌊God⌋ has made the cornerstone

the cornerstone: This phrase in Greek is literally “(the) head of the corner.” Scholars interpret this phrase in different ways:

(1) It refers to a stone in the corner of the foundation. For example:

the cornerstone (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, God’s Word, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, New Century Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New International Version (2011))

(2) It refers to a capstone, a stone at the top center of an arched door. For example:

the capstone (New International Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). However, both interpretations indicate that the stone was a vitally important one. This was the stone that made the whole building strong. In some languages it may therefore be good to indicate that point clearly. For example:

the most important stone of all (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the stone that makes the whole building strong
-or-
the stone that supports the rest of the building

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.