Matthew 21:42

Did ye never read in the scriptures Psalms 118:22 (Matthew 21:25 of the same psalm is quoted above, Matthew 21:9, where see note); the psalm "was probably composed for the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the completion of the Second Temple" (Nehemiah 8:13-18). (Canon Perowne.) The original reference was to a stone used in the erection of the second Temple. The "corner stone" is the Jewish nation rejected at first, afterwards restored from captivity. Christ transfers this image to His Church, formed of Jew and Gentile alike (see Meyer), which, though despised at first, was destined to succeed to the spiritual supremacy of Israel.

In Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6, Christ Himself is the head-corner-stone; but the two applications are not inconsistent, for Christ was the Representative first of the Jewish Nation (ch. Matthew 4:15; Matthew 2:1-11 (3)), then of the Church. Cp. also Isaiah 28:16, "I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation."

The stone Rather, A stone. The builders rejected many stones.

the head of the corner The stone that connects the two walls at the top and supports the roof.