Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Isaiah 28:16

There are 20 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 140, footnote 11 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Barnabas (HTML)

The Epistle of Barnabas (HTML)

Chapter VI.—The sufferings of Christ, and the new covenant, were announced by the prophets. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1496 (In-Text, Margin)

... the commandment, what saith He? “Who is he that will contend with Me? let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to the servant of the Lord.” “Woe unto you, for ye shall all wax old, like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up.” And again the prophet says, “Since as a mighty stone He is laid for crushing, behold I cast down for the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, a corner-stone, honourable.” Next, what says He? “And he who shall trust[Isaiah 28:16] in it shall live for ever.” Is our hope, then, upon a stone? Far from it. But [the language is used] inasmuch as He laid his flesh [as a foundation] with power; for He says, “And He placed me as a firm rock.” And the prophet says again, “The stone ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 453, footnote 5 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Irenæus (HTML)

Against Heresies: Book III (HTML)

Chapter XXI.—A vindication of the prophecy in Isa. vii. 14 against the misinterpretations of Theodotion, Aquila, the Ebionites, and the Jews. Authority of the Septuagint version. Arguments in proof that Christ was born of a virgin. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3725 (In-Text, Margin)

... means, that His coming into this world was not by the operation of human hands, that is, of those men who are accustomed to stone-cutting; that is, Joseph taking no part with regard to it, but Mary alone co-operating with the pre-arranged plan. For this stone from the earth derives existence from both the power and the wisdom of God. Wherefore also Isaiah says: “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I deposit in the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, the chief, the corner-one, to be had in honour.”[Isaiah 28:16] So, then, we understand that His advent in human nature was not by the will of a man, but by the will of God.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 49, footnote 1 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)

Book Third.—Similitudes (HTML)

Similitude Ninth. The Great Mysteries in the Building of the Militant and Triumphant Church. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 367 (In-Text, Margin)

... all these things are great and glorious, and difficult for man to understand.” “Listen,” he said: “the name of the Son of God is great, and cannot be contained, and supports the whole world. If, then, the whole creation is supported by the Son of God, what think ye of those who are called by Him, and bear the name of the Son of God, and walk in His commandments? do you see what kind of persons He supports? Those who bear His name with their whole heart. He Himself, accordingly, became a foundation[Isaiah 28:16] to them, and supports them with joy, because they are not ashamed to bear His name.”

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 165, footnote 10 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Apologetic. (HTML)

An Answer to the Jews. (HTML)

Concerning the Passion of Christ, and Its Old Testament Predictions and Adumbrations. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1324 (In-Text, Margin)

And, of course, it had been meet that the mystery of the passion itself should be figuratively set forth in predictions; and the more incredible (that mystery), the more likely to be “a stumbling-stone,”[Isaiah 28:16] if it had been nakedly predicted; and the more magnificent, the more to be adumbrated, that the difficulty of its intelligence might seek (help from) the grace of God.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 172, footnote 6 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Apologetic. (HTML)

An Answer to the Jews. (HTML)

Conclusion. Clue to the Error of the Jews. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1450 (In-Text, Margin)

... how to bear infirmity:” to wit as having been set by the Father “for a stone of offence,” and “made a little lower” by Him “than angels,” He pronounces Himself “a worm, and not a man, an ignominy of man, and the refuse of the People.” Which evidences of ignobility suit the First Advent, just as those of sublimity do the Second; when He shall be made no longer “a stone of offence nor a rock of scandal,” but “the highest corner-stone,”[Isaiah 28:16] after reprobation (on earth) taken up (into heaven) and raised sublime for the purpose of consummation, and that “rock”—so we must admit—which is read of in Daniel as forecut from a mount, which shall crush and crumble the image of secular kingdoms. ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 439, footnote 19 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book V. Wherein Tertullian proves, with respect to St. Paul's epistles, what he had proved in the preceding book with respect to St. Luke's gospel. Far from being at variance, they were in perfect unison with the writings of the Old Testament, and therefore testified that the Creator was the only God, and that the Lord Jesus was his Christ. As in the preceding books, Tertullian supports his argument with profound reasoning, and many happy illustrations of Holy Scripture. (HTML)
The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Pauline Salutation of Grace and Peace Shown to Be Anti-Marcionite. The Cross of Christ Purposed by the Creator.  Marcion Only Perpetuates the Offence and Foolishness of Christ's Cross by His Impious Severance of the Gospel from the Creator. Analogies Between the Law and the Gospel in the Matter of Weak Things, and Foolish Things and Base Things. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5414 (In-Text, Margin)

... us the Scriptures which we use, it follows that the apostle, when treating of the Creator, (as Him whom both Jew and Gentile as yet have) not known, means undoubtedly to teach us, that the God who is to become known (in Christ) is the Creator. The very “stumbling-block” which he declares Christ to be “to the Jews,” points unmistakeably to the Creator’s prophecy respecting Him, when by Isaiah He says: “Behold I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.” This rock or stone is Christ.[Isaiah 28:16] This stumbling-stone Marcion retains still. Now, what is that “foolishness of God which is wiser than men,” but the cross and death of Christ? What is that “weakness of God which is stronger than men,” but the nativity and incarnation of God? If, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 442, footnote 3 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book V. Wherein Tertullian proves, with respect to St. Paul's epistles, what he had proved in the preceding book with respect to St. Luke's gospel. Far from being at variance, they were in perfect unison with the writings of the Old Testament, and therefore testified that the Creator was the only God, and that the Lord Jesus was his Christ. As in the preceding books, Tertullian supports his argument with profound reasoning, and many happy illustrations of Holy Scripture. (HTML)
The Divine Way of Wisdom, and Greatness, and Might. God's Hiding of Himself, and Subsequent Revelation. To Marcion's God Such a Concealment and Manifestation Impossible.  God's Predestination. No Such Prior System of Intention Possible to a God Previously Unknown as Was Marcion's. The Powers of the World Which Crucified Christ. St. Paul, as a Wise Master-Builder, Associated with Prophecy.  Sundry Injunctions of the Apostle Parallel with the Teaching of the Old Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5458 (In-Text, Margin)

... divine discipline by the same title, “I will take away from Judah the cunning artifi cer,” etc. And was it not Paul himself who was there foretold, destined “to be taken away from Judah”—that is, from Judaism—for the erection of Christianity, in order “to lay that only foundation, which is Christ?” Of this work the Creator also by the same prophet says, “Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a precious stone and honourable; and he that resteth thereon shall not be confounded.”[Isaiah 28:16] Unless it be, that God professed Himself to be the builder up of an earthly work, that so He might not give any sign of His Christ, as destined to be the foundation of such as believe in Him, upon which every man should build at will the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 51, footnote 11 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Hippolytus. (HTML)

The Refutation of All Heresies. (HTML)

Book V. (HTML)
Naasseni Ascribe Their System, Through Mariamne, to James the Lord's Brother; Really Traceable to the Ancient Mysteries; Their Psychology as Given in the “Gospel According to Thomas;” Assyrian Theory of the Soul; The Systems of the Naasseni and the Assyrians Compared; Support Drawn by the Naasseni from the Phrygian and Egyptian Mysteries; The Mysteries of Isis; These Mysteries Allegorized by the Naasseni. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 370 (In-Text, Margin)

The expression “rock,” he says, he uses of Adam. This, he affirms, is Adam: “The chief corner-stone become the head of the corner.”[Isaiah 28:16] For that in the head the substance is the formative brain from which the entire family is fashioned. “Whom,” he says, “I place as a rock at the foundations of Zion.” Allegorizing, he says, he speaks of the creation of the man. The rock is interposed (within) the teeth, as Homer says, “enclosure of teeth,” that is, a wall and fortress, in which exists the inner man, who thither has fallen from Adam, the primal man above. And he ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 522, footnote 7 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
That Christ also is called a Stone. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4039 (In-Text, Margin)

In Isaiah: “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I place on the foundations of Sion a precious stone, elect, chief, a corner stone, honourable; and he who trusteth in Him shall not be confounded.”[Isaiah 28:16] Also in the cxviith Psalm: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is done by the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save therefore, O Lord, direct therefore. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.” Also in Zechariah: “Behold, I bring forth my servant. The ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 387, footnote 5 (Image)

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius

Methodius. (HTML)

Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna On the Day that They Met in the Temple. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3036 (In-Text, Margin)

... adore; Thou art our holy Temple, and in Thee we pray; Thou art our Lawgiver, and Thee we obey; Thou art God of all things the First. Before Thee was no other god begotten of God the Father; neither after Thee shall there be any other son consubstantial and of one glory with the Father. And to know Thee is perfect righteousness, and to know Thy power is the root of immortality. Thou art He who, for our salvation, was made the head stone of the corner, precious and honourable, declared before to Sion.[Isaiah 28:16] For all things are placed under Thee as their Cause and Author, as He who brought all things into being out of nothing, and gave to what was unstable a firm coherence; as the connecting Band and Preserver of that which has been brought into being; ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 498, footnote 2 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Acts of Philip. (HTML)

Of the Journeyings of Philip the Apostle. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2165 (In-Text, Margin)

And when Nicanora, standing before the door, heard these things, she took courage before all, crying out, and saying: I am a Hebrew, and a daughter of the Hebrews; speak with me in the language of my fathers. For, having heard the preaching of my fathers, I was straightway cured of the disease and the troubles that encompassed me. I therefore adore the goodness of God who has caused you to be spoiled even to this city, on account of His true stone[Isaiah 28:16] held in honour, in order that through you we may receive the knowledge of Him, and may live with you, having believed in Him.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 309, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

On the Catechising of the Uninstructed. (HTML)

Of the Mission of the Holy Ghost Fifty Days After Christ’s Resurrection. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1483 (In-Text, Margin)

... God) could not readily serve God in the way of selling and distributing their possessions, they should make offerings for the poor brethren among the saints who were in the churches of Judea which had believed in Christ. In this manner the doctrine of the apostle constituted some to be, as it were, soldiers, and others to be, as it were, provincial tributaries, while it set Christ in the centre of them like the corner-stone (in accordance with what had been announced beforetime by the prophet),[Isaiah 28:16] in whom both parties, like walls advancing from different sides, that is to say, from Jews and from Gentiles, might be joined together in the affection of kinship. But at a later period heavier and more frequent persecutions arose from the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 56, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter I. 34–51. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 176 (In-Text, Margin)

... that Christ is the Anointed. For Jacob did not place the stone, the anointed stone, that he might come and adore it: otherwise that would have been idolatry, not a pointing out of Christ. What was done was a pointing out of Christ, so far as it behoved such a pointing out to be made, and it was Christ that was pointed out. A stone was anointed, but not for an idol. A stone anointed; why a stone? “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.”[Isaiah 28:16] Why anointed? Because Christus comes from chrisma. But what saw he then on the ladder? Ascending and descending angels. So it is the Church, brethren: the angels of God are good preachers, preaching Christ; this is the meaning of, “they ascend and ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 345, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXXIV (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3340 (In-Text, Margin)

... Judge; the first time to call, afterwards to sever. He will come, because He hath come, and that He will come is evident; but hereafter from above He will come. Before thee He was, O Israel. Thou wast bruised because thou didst stumble against Him lying down: that thou mayest not be ground to powder, observe Him coming from above. For thus it was foretold by the prophet: “Whoever shall stumble upon that stone shall be bruised, and upon whomsoever it shall have come, it shall grind him to powder.”[Isaiah 28:16] He doth bruise when little, He shall grind to powder when great. Now thy signs thou seest not, now there is no prophet: and thou sayest, “and us He will not know as yet:” because yourselves know not Him as yet. “No longer is there a prophet; and us ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 201, footnote 19 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Eustochium. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2853 (In-Text, Margin)

13. It would be tedious were I tell of the valley of Achor, that is, of ‘trouble and crowds,’ where theft and covetousness were condemned; and of Bethel, ‘the house of God,’ where Jacob poor and destitute slept upon the bare ground. Here it was that, having set beneath his head a stone which in Zechariah is described as having seven eyes and in Isaiah is spoken of as a corner-stone,[Isaiah 28:16] he beheld a ladder reaching up to heaven; yes, and the Lord standing high above it holding out His hand to such as were ascending and hurling from on high such as were careless. Also when she was in Mount Ephraim she made pilgrimages to the tombs of Joshua the son of Nun and of Eleazar the son of Aaron ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 58, footnote 3 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the Clause, and in One Lord Jesus Christ, with a Reading from the First Epistle to the Corinthians. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1131 (In-Text, Margin)

... men, but indicating as it were by the title His kingly, and stedfast, and confident nature: a Lion He is also called in opposition to the lion our adver sary, who roars and devours those who have been deceived. For the Saviour came, not as having changed the gentleness of His own nature, but as the strong Lion of the tribe of Judah, saving them that believe, but treading down the adversary. He is called a Stone, not a lifeless stone, cut out by men’s hands, but a chief corner-stone[Isaiah 28:16], on whom whosoever believeth shall not be put to shame.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 271, footnote 7 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

On the Great Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3282 (In-Text, Margin)

... Ishmael, fainting from her thirst for the truth, needed to be given to drink, or, like Elijah, to be refreshed from the brook, when the land was parched by drought; and, when but faintly breathing, to be restored to life and left as a seed to Israel, that we might not become like Sodom and Gomorrah, whose destruction by the rain of fire and brimstone is only more notorious than their wickedness. Therefore, when we were cast down, a horn of salvation was raised up for us, and a chief corner stone,[Isaiah 28:16] knitting us to itself and to one another, was laid in due season, or a fire to purify our base and evil matter, or a farmer’s fan to winnow the light from the weighty in doctrine, or a sword to cut out the roots of wickedness; and so the Word finds ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 24, footnote 11 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

On the Duties of the Clergy. (HTML)

Book I. (HTML)
Chapter XXIX. Justice should be observed even in war and with enemies. This is proved by the example of Moses and Elisha. The ancient writers learnt in turn from the Hebrews to call their enemies by a gentler term. Lastly, the foundation of justice rests on faith, and its symmetry is perfect in the Church. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 211 (In-Text, Margin)

142. The foundation of justice therefore is faith, for the hearts of the just dwell on faith, and the just man that accuses himself builds justice on faith, for his justice becomes plain when he confesses the truth. So the Lord saith through Isaiah: “Behold, I lay a stone for a foundation in Sion.”[Isaiah 28:16] This means Christ as the foundation of the Church. For Christ is the object of faith to all; but the Church is as it were the outward form of justice, she is the common right of all. For all in common she prays, for all in common she works, in the temptations of all she is tried. So he who denies himself is indeed a just man, is indeed worthy of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 347, footnote 11 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Aphrahat:  Select Demonstrations. (HTML)

Of Faith. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 663 (In-Text, Margin)

... Prophet:— He was building a wall of partition, but they were shaking it, that it might fall. And again it is written:— I sought amongst them a man who was closing the fence and standing in the breach over the face of the land, that I might not destroy it and I did not find. And furthermore Isaiah also prophesied beforehand with regard to this stone. For he said:— Thus saith the Lord, Behold I lay in Zion a chosen stone in the precious corner, the heart of the wall of the foundation.[Isaiah 28:16] And he said again there:— Every one that believeth on it shall not fear. And whosoever falleth on that stone shall be broken, and every one on whom it shall fall, it will crush. For the people of the house of Israel fell upon Him, and ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 347, footnote 12 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Aphrahat:  Select Demonstrations. (HTML)

Of Faith. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 664 (In-Text, Margin)

... might fall. And again it is written:— I sought amongst them a man who was closing the fence and standing in the breach over the face of the land, that I might not destroy it and I did not find. And furthermore Isaiah also prophesied beforehand with regard to this stone. For he said:— Thus saith the Lord, Behold I lay in Zion a chosen stone in the precious corner, the heart of the wall of the foundation. And he said again there:— Every one that believeth on it shall not fear.[Isaiah 28:16] And whosoever falleth on that stone shall be broken, and every one on whom it shall fall, it will crush. For the people of the house of Israel fell upon Him, and He became their destruction for ever. And again it shall fall on the image ...

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs