What Does 1 Peter 2:7 Mean in the King James?
Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The builders’ rejection is a verdict on the stone, not its final place.
THE MEANING
For you who trust, the stone carries honor and worth. Those who refuse persuasion reject it, yet it becomes the head of the corner. Their judgment does not determine where the stone belongs.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that what powerful builders reject must be worthless or out of place.
THE ROOT
ἀπειθοῦσιν
apeithousin
GROWS FROM
πειθ-
peith-
Persuade, prevail upon; be persuaded.
The verse sets those who trust against those who refuse persuasion. “Disobedient” carries a relational shade: a refusal to be convinced or to trust, not merely a failure to follow an order.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: Persuade, convince; be persuaded.
πείθω
This verb exposes the persuasion beneath the verse’s contrast between trust and refusal.
pistis: Trust, reliance.
πίστις
The word belongs to the trust family behind “believe”; the verse places trusting and refusing persuasion side by side.
ἀπεδοκίμασαν
apedokimasan
GROWS FROM
δοκιμ-
dokim-
Test, examine, approve.
“disallowed” in this verse is apedokimasan. The builders do more than overlook the stone: the verb describes rejecting it after assessment. Their examination reaches a verdict, but that verdict does not decide the stone’s place in the structure.
ALSO GROWS
dokimazō: Test, examine, approve.
δοκιμάζω
The shared stem makes the builders’ rejection an act of evaluation.
dokimos: Approved, tested, proven.
δόκιμος
Its opposite sense sharpens the reversal: what builders reject is established as the structure’s head.
τιμή
timē
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
tim-
Honor, value, price.
“precious” in this verse is timē. The Greek word holds honor and value together. The stone’s worth is more than a feeling about it: the verse speaks of its recognized value, even while builders reject it.
ALSO GROWS
timaō: Honor, value.
τιμάω
This verb shows that the root concerns assigning or recognizing worth.
entimos: Honored, valuable, precious.
ἔντιμος
The same value language describes the stone in the preceding verse, linking its worth with the honor held by those who trust.
THE PATTERN
Human rejection does not settle a stone’s place; the rejected one becomes the cornerstone.
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?THE THREAD
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,“Disallowed” in both verses comes from the same Greek verb: the stone is rejected by people, yet chosen by God. The preceding verse also calls it “precious,” echoing the honor-and-value word in this verse.
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