Isaiah 28:16 - Exposition

Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone . In contrast with the insecure refuge and false ground of confidence whereon the nobles relied, the prophet puts forward the one sure "Rock" on which complete dependence may be placed—which he declares that Jehovah is laying, or "has laid," in Zion as a tried stone, a precious corner stone , a sure foundation. The imagery is, no doubt, drawn from the practice of Oriental kings, and notably Solomon, to employ foundation-stones of enormous size and weight at the corners of buildings. Some of those uncovered at the corners of Solomon's temple by the Palestine Exploration Fund are more than thirty-eight feet long, and weigh above a hundred tons. But the reference cannot, of course, be to the material structure of the temple as Israel's true refuge. Rather, Jehovah himself would seem to be the Rock ( Isaiah 26:4 ; Isaiah 30:29 , etc.) intended; and hence the application to Christ by the writers of the New Testament ( Romans 9:33 ; Ephesians 2:20 ; 1 Peter 2:6-8 ) was natural and easy. But it may be questioned whether the passage was to Isaiah himself "Messianic," or meant more than that God had set his Name and his presence at Jerusalem from the time that the temple was built there, and that it was a mistake to look elsewhere titan to him for deliverance or security. He that believeth shall not make haste . The LXX . have "He that believeth shall not be ashamed " or "confounded;" and St. Paul ( Romans 9:33 ) follows this rendering. It is conjectured that the Hebrew had originally yabish instead of yakhish .