The quotation comes from Isaiah 8:14. King Ahaz and the people of Judah had rejected the Lord in favour of entrusting their well being to the care of ungodly nations around them (Isaiah 8:6). So the Lord promised to flood their land with ungodly forces (Isaiah 8:7–8). In that context the Lord warned the prophet Isaiah that he would be one of two things to the people of Israel: either a sanctuary
(refuge) or a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling
(Isaiah 8:14). He added that in fact many
will trip over this stone, implying that few would see him as a refuge.
Peter now quotes this passage in relation to the context of his readers in the Dispersion. Many have heard the gospel; some believed it, others did not believe it (1 Peter 2:7a). Those who did not believe the good news of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and hence his placement as cornerstone caught their foot on Jesus and stumbled. It’s this picture of stumbling that Peter awakens in the minds of his readers through the quotation from Isaiah 8:14.
8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.