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1Co 3:16; 6:19 2Co 6:16 Eph 2:20-22 Heb 3:6 Re 3:12

Verse 5. Ye also, as lively stones] liqoi zwntev? Living stones; each being instinct with the principle of life, which proceeds from him who is the foundation, called above liqon zwnta, a living stone.

The metaphor in this and the following verse is as bold as it is singular; and commentators and critics have found it difficult to hit on any principle of explanation. In all metaphors there is something in the natural image that is illustrative of some chief moral property in the thing to be represented. But what analogy is there between the stones of a building and a multitude of human beings? We shall soon see. The Church of Christ, it is true, is represented under the figure of a house, or rather household; and as a household or family must have a place of residence, hence, by a metonymy, the house itself, or material building, is put for the household or family which occupies it, the container being put for the contained. This point will receive the fullest illustration if we have recourse to the Hebrew: in this language, tyb beith signifies both a house and a family; b ben a son; tb bath a daughter; and ba eben a stone. Of all these nouns, hnb banah, he built, is, I believe, the common root. Now as tyb beith, a house, is built of �ynba abanim, stones, hence hnb banah, he built, is a proper radix for both stones and building; and as tyb beith, a family or household (Psa. lxviii. 6) is constituted or made up of �ynb banim, sons, and twnb banoth daughters, hence the same root hnb banah, he built, is common to all; for sons and daughters build up or constitute a family, as stones do a building. Here, then, is the ground of the metaphor: the spiritual house is the holy or Christian family or household, this family or household is composed of the sons and daughters of God Almighty; and hence the propriety of living stones, because this is the living house or spiritual family. As a building rests upon a foundation, and this foundation is its support; so a family or household rests on the father, who is properly considered the foundation or support of the building. But as every father is mortal and transitory, none can be called a living stone, foundation, or support, but He who liveth for ever, and has life independent; so none but Jesus, who hath life in himself, i.e. independently, and who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, can be a permanent foundation or support to the whole spiritual house. And as all the stones-sons and daughters, that constitute the spiritual building are made partakers of the life of Christ, consequently, they may with great propriety be called living stones, that is, sons and daughters of God, who live by Christ Jesus, because he lives in them. Now, following the metaphor; these various living stones become one grand temple, in which God is worshipped, and in which he manifests himself as he did in the temple of old. Every stone-son and daughter, being a spiritual sacrificer or priest, they all offer up praise and thanksgiving to God through Christ; and such sacrifices, being offered up in the name and through the merit of his Son, are all acceptable in his sight.

This is the true metaphor, and which has not, as far as I know, ever been properly traced out. To talk of "stones being said to be alive as long as they are not cut out of the quarry, but continue to partake of that nourishment which circulates from vein to vein," is as unsatisfactory as it is unphilosophical; the other is the true metaphor, and explains every thing.

Ver. 5. Ye also, as lively stones , etc.] Saints likewise are compared to stones; they lie in the same quarry, and are the same by nature as the rest of mankind, till dug out and separated from thence by the powerful and efficacious grace of God, when they are hewn, and made fit for the spiritual building; where both for their ornament, beauty, and strength, which they receive from Christ, they are compared to stones, and are lasting and durable, and will never perish, nor be removed out of the building: and because of that life which they derive from him, and have in him, they are called �lively�, or �living stones�; the spirit of life having entered into them, a principle of life being implanted in them, and coming to Christ, the living stone, they live upon him, and he lives in them; and his grace in them is a well of living water, springing up into eternal life. It was usual with poets and philosophers to call stones, as they lie in the quarry before they are taken out of it, �living� ones: so Virgil f43 , describing the seats of the nymphs, says, �intus aquae dulces vivoque sedilia saxo, nympharum domus�, etc. but here the apostle calls such living stones, who were taken out from among the rest: the stones which Deucalion and Pyrrha cast over their heads after the flood are called zwoyentev liyoi , �quickened stones�, they becoming men, as the fable says. �Are built up a spiritual house�; these living stones being laid, and cemented together, in a Gospel church state, become the house of God in a spiritual sense, in distinction from the material house of the tabernacle, and temple of old, to which the allusion is; and which is built up an habitation for God, by the Spirit, and is made up of spiritual men; such as have the Spirit of God, and savour the things of the Spirit, and worship God in Spirit and in truth; among whom spiritual services are performed, as prayer, praise, preaching, and hearing the word, and administering ordinances. Some read these words in the imperative, as an exhortation, �be ye built up as lively stones; and be ye spiritual temples and holy priests�, as the Syriac version. A synagogue with the Jews is called ygjwr tyb , �a spiritual house� f45 ; and so is the third temple which the Jews expect in the times of the Messiah; of which one of their writers thus says: �it is known from the ancient wise men, that the future redemption, with which shall be the third ynjwr , �spiritual� sanctuary, is the work of God, and will not be as the former redemptions: �I will fill this house with glory�; this is ynjwr , �a spiritual� one, for even the walls shall be �yynjwr , �spiritual� � for even all this �house� shall be �spiritual�; for that which was then built, which is the second, shall be turned into another a �spiritual� one:� and which has been already done, and is what the apostle means here, the church, under the Gospel dispensation, or the Gospel church state, in opposition to the worldly sanctuary, and carnal worship of the Jews. An holy priesthood ; in allusion to the priests under the law, who were set apart, and sanctified for that office; but now, under the Gospel, all the saints are priests unto God, and are all appointed and directed to offer up spiritual sacrifices ; their whole selves, souls, and bodies, as a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice; their prayers and praises, and all good works done in faith, and from love, and to the glory of God; particularly acts of kindness and beneficence to poor saints; these are called spiritual, in distinction from legal sacrifices, and because offered in a spiritual manner, under the influence, and by the assistance of the Spirit of God, and with their spirits. So the Jews speak of spiritual sacrifices, as distinct from material ones: �the intellectual sacrifice (they say f47 ) is before the material sacrifices, both in time and excellency. � Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the earth, and behold the intellectual attention did not agree with it, which is ynjwrh �brq , �the spiritual sacrifice�.�

Now such are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ ; through whom they are offered up; for it is through him the saints have access to God, present themselves to him, and their services; and both persons and services are only accepted in Christ, and for his sake, and in virtue of his sacrifice, which is always of a sweet smelling savour to God.

To offer up (anenegkai). The usual Old-Testament (Septuagint) term for offering of sacrifice. Lit., to bring up to the altar. Compare Heb. xiii. 15. The force of ajna, up, appears in the fact of the altar being raised. The word is often used of carrying from a lower to a higher place. Thus Matt. xvii. 1; Luke xxiv. 51. In this sense ver. 24 of this chapter is suggestive, where it is said that Christ bare (anhnegken) our sins: carried them up to the cross. See note there.