Skip to Content
intertextual.bible
Go to Related Reading
About this book

Psalms

About this book
Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his loyal love endures. 2 Let Israel say, “Yes, his loyal love endures.” 3 Let the family of Aaron say, “Yes, his loyal love endures.” 4 Let the loyal followers of the Lord say, “Yes, his loyal love endures.” 5 In my distress I cried out to the Lord. The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place. 6 The Lord is on my side; I am not afraid. What can people do to me? 7 The Lord is on my side as my helper. I look in triumph on those who hate me. 8 It is better to take shelter in the Lord than to trust in people. 9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord than to trust in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away. 12 They surrounded me like bees. But they disappeared as quickly as a fire among thorns. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away. 13 “You aggressively attacked me and tried to knock me down, but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer.” 15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly. The Lord’s right hand conquers. 16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory; the Lord’s right hand conquers. 17 I will not die, but live, and I will proclaim what the Lord has done. 18 The Lord severely punished me, but he did not hand me over to death. 19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple. I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the Lord’s gate—the godly enter through it. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me, and have become my deliverer. 22 The stone that the builders discarded has become the cornerstone.⁠ 23 This is the Lord’s work. We consider it amazing! 24 This is the day the Lord has brought about. We will be happy and rejoice in it. 25 Please, Lord, deliver! Please, Lord, grant us success! 26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord be blessed.⁠ We will pronounce blessings on you in the Lord’s temple.⁠ 27 The Lord is God, and he has delivered us. Tie the offering with ropes to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks. You are my God and I will praise you. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good and his loyal love endures.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 118:22 and Mark 12:10 and Gospel of Thomas 66

Hebrew Bible · New Testament · Nag Hammadi

Share:

Summary

In Psalm 118, the rejected stone gains new importance. In Mark, Jesus quotes this as scripture; in the Gospel of Thomas, he asks his listeners to identify the stone, changing an appeal to an older text into a challenge.

Passages

Psalm 118:22

Hebrew Bible
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple. I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the Lord’s gate—the godly enter through it. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me, and have become my deliverer. 22 The stone that the builders discarded has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s work. We consider it amazing! 24 This is the day the Lord has brought about. We will be happy and rejoice in it.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Mark 12:10

New Testament
9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 11 This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

Gospel of Thomas 66

Nag Hammadi
65 He said, “A good man owned a vineyard and leased it to some farmers to work it and he might receive its fruit from them. He sent his servant so that the farmers might give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant, beat him, and almost killed him, and the servant returned and told his master. His master said, ‘Perhaps they did not recognize him.’ He sent another servant. The farmers beat that one as well. Then the owner sent his son and said, ‘Perhaps they will show respect to my son.’ The farmers knew that he was the heir of the vineyard. They seized him and killed him. Whoever has ears should hear.” 66 Jesus said, “Show me the stone that the builders rejected; that is the cornerstone.” 67 Jesus said, “Whoever knows all but lacks within himself lacks everything.”
135–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Thomas

References

“... On the other hand, the “ghost” of the double conclusion haunts Thomas’ reductive redaction. In a sense, we still find two endings, however much disguised. The first conclusion, the riddling “Let him who has ears hear,” replaces the clarifying conclusion that prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem. The second conclusion remains hidden in clear sight, despite its transformation into a separate saying of Jesus, a transformation that obliterates the opening rhetorical question with its citation formula (“Or have you not read this Scripture?”). As is his tendency here as elsewhere, Thomas follows Luke, who takes over from Mark only v 22 from LXX Ps 117:22–23. Of course, for Thomas there can be no question of the fulfillment of OT prophecy, let alone Jesus citing OT prophecy to show that it is fulfilled in his own life and fate. Such a prophecy-fulfillment pattern is explicitly rejected by the Thomasine Jesus in logion 52. Instead, Thomas creates a separate logion, introduced by the formulaic peje is (“Jesus said”). The prophecy becomes a riddling challenge of Jesus: “Show me the stone that the builders rejected; it is the cornerstone.” All sense that Jesus is citing an OT text is lost, intentionally so. ...”
John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016), 5:123–124.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Psalm 118:22 and Mark 12:10 and Gospel of Thomas 66

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library