1 Peter 2:8
“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →To the disobedient, Christ becomes a stone of stumbling, the appointed consequence of rejecting the word.
What Does 1 Peter 2:8 Mean?
Peter completes the picture: the same stone that holds up believers trips those who will not obey. They stumble not by accident but at the word itself, refusing what it asks.
The closing phrase looks hard, that they were appointed to this. Peter ties the appointment to their disobedience: those who reject the word meet the stumbling that rejection brings. The text does not say they were made to disobey, but that stumbling is the settled outcome for those who do. The stone itself is unchanged; what differs is whether one builds on it or trips over it.
In the Original Language
proskomma (πρόσκομμα), 'stumbling' -- an obstacle one strikes against and falls over.