Romans 9:33

Yet paradoxical as this may seem, it agrees with the words of Scripture. The quotation is a mixture of Isaiah 28:16; Isaiah 8:14 : and it is interesting to remark that the same passages are quoted in conjunction, though they are not mixed as here, in 1 Peter 2:6-8. The original reference of them is not exactly Messianic. The stone laid in Zion (Isaiah 28:16) is indeed interpreted by Delitzsch of the kingdom of promise as identified with its Sovereign Head, but the stone of stumbling (Isaiah 8:14) is unequivocally God Himself: all who do not give Him honour are broken against His government as on a stone, or caught in it as in a snare. Paul inserts ἐπʼ αὐτῷ after ὁ πιστεύων (as Peter also does), and applies the figure of the stone in both cases to Christ, and to the contrary relations which men may assume to Him. Some stumble over Him (as the Jews, for the reasons just given); others build on Him and find Him a sure foundation, or (without a figure) put their trust in Him and are not put to shame. Cf. Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:20.