The stone cut out by no human hand
The Old Testament
As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
Daniel 2:34
Read the full text in a modern translation BSB
Read the full text (15 verses)
In the New Testament
“Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Luke 20:18
BSB
Read the full text in a modern translation BSB
Read the full text (3 verses)
King Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay. A stone breaks loose without any human hand, smashes the statue and becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth. Daniel explains: God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
The successive metals stand for world empires; the stone for God's own kingdom, not made by human beings. Jesus links this image with the rejected cornerstone: whoever falls on that stone will be broken; on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. The verse in Matthew is missing from some old manuscripts, but it is firmly in Luke. The early church read the stone as Christ and his kingdom; in Jewish interpretation it is the kingdom of the Messiah.