1 PET 2:8 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–12: Christ is the cornerstone and believers are his holy people

In this section Peter used illustrations from the Old Testament to describe how important Christ was and how holy Christians should be. Christ was like the most important stone in a building. Christians belong to him and so should live holy lives.

Some other headings for this section are:

Live as God’s Chosen People (GW)

A Living Stone and a Holy People (CEV)

Paragraph 2:4–8

In this paragraph, Peter used a metaphor that compared Jesus Christ to a stone. He quoted three passages from the Old Testament that also used the metaphor of a stone to speak about the Christ whom God had promised to send:

In 2:6 Peter quoted from Isaiah 28:16.
In 2:7 Peter quoted from Psalm 118:22.
In 2:8 Peter quoted from Isaiah 8:14.

2:8

In 2:8, Peter continued to use the rock metaphor for Jesus Christ. Now the metaphor is of a rock that people fall over. Peter used this metaphor to continue his description (started at 2:7b) of the bad things that would happen to people who do not believe in Jesus Christ.

2:8a

and,

And in another place in the Scripture it says,
And God also said through Isaiah,
The prophet Isaiah wrote this about unbelievers

and: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as and marks what follows in 2:8b as another quotation from the Old Testament. Some versions such as the CEV do not translate this conjunction. You should translate it in a way that is natural for your language.

In some languages it may be helpful to follow the GNT and make this explicit:

And another scripture says, (GNT)

If your language requires you to say that this quotation is from a different writer, then you may be able to say something like:

And the prophet Isaiah wrote that to unbelievers Christ/he is

2:8b

“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

“He is like a stone that people stumble over, like a rock that they fall against.”
“This/He is a stone/rock that some people stumble over so that they fall.”
Christ/he is, “a stone in their way/path. They trip and fall over this rock.”

In this verse part Peter continued to portray Jesus Christ as a rock. The collision between unbelievers and this rock results in the downfall of the unbelievers.

A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense: 2:8b is a quotation from Isaiah 8:14, which was Hebrew poetry. In Hebrew poetry, the writer often repeated the same or similar idea but in different words. Here the same idea is stated twice.

If repeating ideas like this is unnatural in your language and might communicate a wrong meaning, or if your language has only one word for both stone and rock, then you may say something like:

He is a stone/rock that people stumble over so that they fall.

The Greek phrases that the BSB translates as A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense are literally “a stone of stumbling” and “a rock of falling.” The text does not use any verbs. As it is speaking about something that was future to the Old Testament writer, another possible translation model is:

This is the stone that will make people stumble, the rock that will make them fall. (GNT)

stone…rock: Some scholars see a difference in meaning between the two Greek words that the BSB translates as stone and rock. The word rock may refer to something larger than a stone. It could mean bedrock or a boulder or rocky crag.

If you follow the style of Hebrew poetry to translate 2:8b, you will need two words such as stone and rock. For the first, you will want a word that can mean a stone people might use for building, perhaps cut or shaped to size. For the second, you may use a word that can mean a rock that is relatively larger than the building stone.

of offense: The Greek word that the BSB translates as of offense can also be translated as:

to trip people up (NJB)

to trip over (NET)

Consider the most natural way to express this in your language.

2:8c

They stumble because they disobey the word—

These people stumble because they do not obey the message from God.
The reason that people stumble on this stone is because they refuse to obey God’s message/word.
It is because they disobey God by refusing to believe the message/word about Jesus Christ that they stumble.

They: They is a pronoun that Peter is using to refer to the people whom he mentioned at 2:7a. They were the people who did not trust/believe in Jesus Christ.

stumble: In 2:8b, Peter used the word “stumbling,” which is noun form of the Greek verb that the BSB translates as stumble here. Some English versions translate the verb here as:

trip (REB)

they disobey the word: There are two ways of understanding the Greek word that the BSB translates as disobey:

It means disobey. These people do not obey the word/message. For example:
they do not obey what God says (NCV) (BSB, NASB, CEV, KJV, NET, NIV, RSV, NCV)
It means disbelieve. These people do not believe the word. For example:
they refuse to believe the word (REB) (GW, NJB, GNT, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).The NLT is not listed because it translates both of the options: “they do not listen to God’s word or obey it.” However, Peter was probably implying that the disobedience consisted of not believing what God said about Jesus. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

they disobey God by refusing to believe the message about Jesus Christ

the word: The Greek term that the BSB translates as word had a very broad meaning. It could refer to almost anything that was said. The correct interpretation had to be understood from the context.

There are two ways of interpreting the term here:

It refers to a word or message, perhaps concerning the Good News about salvation through Jesus Christ. For example:
They stumble because they disobey the message (NIV) (BSB, NIV, CEV, NASB, NCV, NET, NLT, RSV)
It is another metaphor for Jesus Christ. This is indicated either by capitalizing the “W” of word, and/or by using the pronoun “in.” For example:
they do not believe in the Word (NJB) (GNT, NJB)

It is recommend that you follow interpretation (1) as most English versions do.

2:8d

and to this they were appointed.

This then is their fate/destiny.
Therefore, this will certainly happen to them.
God decided/determined that people who disobey the word/message will/must stumble like this.

and to this they were appointed: There are two ways of interpreting the phrase to this they were appointed:

The unbelievers were appointed to stumble because of their disobedience/unbelief.Another way to say this is: As a consequence of their disobedience to the word, the destiny of unbelievers is to stumble/fall. This is what God has in store for unbelievers in general, and for the individual unbeliever whose attitude and actions were known to God from the beginning. In other words, God planned or decided that the people who disobeyed the word would stumble. For example:
They stumble because they do not obey what God says, which is what God planned to happen to them. (NCV) (NJB, NLT, GW, NCV; probably NASB, REB)
The unbelievers were destined to disobey/disbelieve the word and therefore to stumble. For example:
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. (NET) (probably KJV, RSV, NET, CEV)

The BSB, NIV, and GNT leave both possibilities open. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), which has the support of most commentaries.

they were appointed: This is a passive clause. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb, it may be necessary to make the implied subject “God” explicit:

God destined them

God determined/decided would happen to them

God said this must certainly happen to them

Some other ways that the English versions have translated the Greek verb that the BSB translates as they were appointed include:

the fate in store for them (NJB)

the fate appointed for them (REB)

they were doomed (CEV)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-quotations

καὶ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί Λίθος προσκόμματος καί πέτρα σκανδάλου οἵ προσκόπτουσιν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπειθοῦντες εἰς ὅ καί ἐτέθησαν)

Here, and introduces a quotation of an Old Testament book ([Isaiah 8:14](../isa/08/14.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase that indicates that Peter is quoting from an important text. Alternate translation: [and Isaiah wrote in the scriptures]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

λίθος προσκόμματος, καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου

This sentence is a quotation from [Isaiah 8:14](../isa/08/14.md). It may be helpful to your readers to indicate this by setting off all of this material with quotation marks or with whatever punctuation or convention your language uses to indicate a quotation.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

λίθος προσκόμματος, καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου

Peter quotes Isaiah speaking of the Messiah as if he were a stone or rock that people tripped over. Peter means that many people would be offended by Jesus’ teachings and reject him. If your readers would not understand this, you could use a simile or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [He is like a stone of stumbling and like a rock of offense]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

λίθος προσκόμματος, καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου

Peter quotes Isaiah using the possessive form twice in this sentence to describe a stone that causes stumbling and a rock that causes offense. If this is not clear in your language, you could use express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [A stone that makes people stumble and a rock that makes people feel offended]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

λίθος προσκόμματος, καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου

These two phrases mean almost the same thing. Isaiah says the same thing twice, in slightly different ways, to emphasize that people will be offended by this stone. If stating the same thing twice might be confusing for your readers, you could combine the phrases into one. Alternate translation: [a stone or a rock over which people will surely stumble]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

τῷ λόγῳ

˱in˲_the word

Here, the word refers to the gospel message, which includes the command to repent and believe the gospel. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the message about Jesus]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

οἳ προσκόπτουσιν

Here, stumble could refer to: (1) being offended by the gospel, which is the meaning in the rest of this verse. Alternate translation: [They get offended] (2) being judged for rejecting the gospel. Alternate translation: [They are judged]

Note 8 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

οἳ προσκόπτουσιν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπειθοῦντες

Here, disobeying the word indicates the reason why they stumble. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could express this explicitly. Alternate translation: [They stumble because they disobey the word]

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τῷ λόγῳ ἀπειθοῦντες

˱in˲_the word disbelieving

Here, disobeying refers to disobeying the command to repent and believe the gospel, which is part of the gospel message. Therefore, this disobeying means refusing to believe the gospel. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: [refusing to believe the word]

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

εἰς ὃ καὶ ἐτέθησαν

to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί Λίθος προσκόμματος καί πέτρα σκανδάλου οἵ προσκόπτουσιν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπειθοῦντες εἰς ὅ καί ἐτέθησαν)

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [to which God also appointed them]

Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εἰς ὃ

Here, which refers back to the previous part of this sentence. Those who do not believe in Jesus were appointed to stumble and disobey the word. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: [To this, stumbling and disobeying the word,]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear 1 PET 2:8

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 2:1–12: Christ is the cornerstone and believers are his holy people

Paragraph 2:4–8

2:8

2:8a

2:8b

2:8c

2:8d

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

OET interlinear 1 PET 2:8

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 2:1–12: Christ is the cornerstone and believers are his holy people

Paragraph 2:4–8

2:8

2:8a

2:8b

2:8c

2:8d

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

OET interlinear 1 PET 2:8