Lukas 20:17-18

20:17 But Jesus ¹  looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? ²  20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, ³  and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ⁴ 

[20:17]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:17]  ² tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[20:17]  sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.

[20:18]  ³ tn On this term, see BDAG 972 s.v. συνθλάω.

[20:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

[20:18]  sn This proverb basically means that the stone crushes, without regard to whether it falls on someone or someone falls on it. On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.