of justification proposed by God, which was alone suitable for sinners, and persisted in trusting to their own imperfect works. The force of the word rendered as it were, may be explained by paraphrasing the clause thus, ' as though they supposed it could be obtained by the works of the law ;' (see 2 Cor. 3:5.2:7,)' They sought it as (being) of the works of the law.' For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone. That is, they did as it had been predicted they would do, they took offence at the Messiah and at the plan of salvation which he came to reveal.
(33) What it was they stumbled at, the apostle declares in this verse, and shows that the rejection of the Messiah by the Jews was predicted in the Old Testament. As it is written, Behold I lay in Zion a stumbling- stone and a rock of offence ,• and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. This passage is apparently made up of two, one occurring in Isa. 28 : 16, the other in Isa. 8 : 14. In both of these passages mention is made of a stone, but the predicates of this stone, as given in the latter passage, are transferred to the other, and those there mentioned omitted. This methodiDf quoting Scripture is common among all writers, especially where the several passages quoted and merged into each other, refer to the same subject. It is obvious that the writers of the New Testament are very free in their mode of quoting from the Old, giving the sense, as they, being inspired by the same Spirit could do authoritatively, without binding themselves strictly to the words. The former of the two pas- sages here referred to, stands thus, in our version, " Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-s^one, a sure foundation ; he that believeth shall not make haste," which is according to the Hebrew. The other passage, Isa. 8 : 14, is, " And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both houses of Israel."
Isaiah 28, is a prophecy against those who had various false grounds of confidence, and who desired a league with Egypt as a defence against the attacks of the Assyrians. God says he has laid a much more secure foundation for his church than any such confederacy, even a precious, tried corner-stone; those who confided on it should never be confounded. The prophets, constantly filled with the expectation of the Messiah, and, in general, ignorant of the time of his advent, were accustomed, on every threatened danger, to comfort the people by the assurance that the efforts of their enemies could not prevail, because the Messiah was to come. Until his advent, they could not, as a people, be destroyed, and when he came, there should be a glorious restoration of all things ; see Isa. 7 : 14 — 16, and elsewhere. There is, therefore, no force in the objection, that the advent of Christ was an event too remote to be available to the consolation of the people, when threatened with the immediate invasion of their enemies. This passage, therefore, is properly quoted by the apostle, because it was intended originally to apply to Christ. The sacred writers of the New Testament so understood and explain it ;