Passage

Psalms 118.22

Book: Psalms · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"20. This is the gate of Jehovah; The righteous shall enter into it. 21. I will give thanks unto thee; for thou hast answered me, And art become my salvation."

"22. The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner."

"23. This is Jehovah's doing; It is marvellous in our eyes. 24. This is the day which Jehovah hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalms 118:20-24, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"20. This is the gate of Yahweh; the righteous will enter into it. 21. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me, and have become my salvation."

"22. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

"23. This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. 24. This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!" (Psalms 118:20-24, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"20. This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. 21. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation."

"22. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner."

"23. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. ^{the LORD's: Heb. from the LORD} 24. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalms 118:20-24, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"20. This [is] the gate to Jehovah, The righteous enter into it. 21. I thank Thee, for Thou hast answered me, And art to me for salvation."

"22. A stone the builders refused Hath become head of a corner."

"23. From Jehovah hath this been, It [is] wonderful in our eyes, 24. This [is] the day Jehovah hath made, We rejoice and are glad in it." (Psalms 118:20-24, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: psalmist (post-exilic Hallel tradition; Davidic attribution disputed)
Audience: worshipping Israel; Hallel-tradition pilgrim liturgy
Location: Jerusalem / Second Temple worship context
Time period: likely post-exilic compilation, c. 538-400 BC

Theological reading

The Hebrew phrase rosh pinnah ("head of the corner") names the chief cornerstone, the load-bearing stone at the angle of the foundation. The figure is one of the most-cited OT verses in the NT (Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:7), each time placed in Jesus' own mouth or the apostles' kerygma as the messianic interpretive key: the rejected stone is the exalted stone; the despised one becomes the architectural center. Jesus deploys the verse at the climax of the Parable of the Tenants, identifying Himself as the rejected son who becomes the cornerstone of God's reconstituted people. The verse is Christological prophecy and inversion-theology in one: human rejection does not thwart but accomplishes the divine architecture.

Key words

H7218 - rosh, rosh (Strong's H7218). Here in the construct rosh pinnah ("head of the corner"), the cornerstone as the chief / primary load-bearing stone.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.