Topic
Stumbling-Block; Stumbling-Stone
12 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Leviticus 19:14ISBE
¶ Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.
- Psalms 119:165ISBE
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
- Jeremiah 6:21ISBE
Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
- Ezekiel 7:19ISBE
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is…
- Ezekiel 14:3ISBE
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
- Ezekiel 21:15ISBE
I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
- Zephaniah 1:3ISBE
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
- Matthew 16:23ISBE
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
- Romans 9:33ISBE
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
- Romans 11:9ISBE
And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
- 1 Corinthians 8:9ISBE
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
- Galatians 5:11ISBE
And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 12 references
stum'-bling-blok, (mikhshol, makhshelah; proskomma, skandalon): These are the most important of the varied renderings of either of two cognate Hebrew words, or of two different Greek words. Sometimes the Greek word for "stone" (lithos) accompanies the principal word. There is no important difference in the meaning of the words or of their renderings. the Revised Version (British and American) generally substitutes "stumbling" for "offence" of the King James Version.
The literal meaning of the Hebrew words--an object which causes one to stumble or fall--appears in such passages as Le 19:14: "Thou shalt not .... put a stumblingblock (mikhshol) before the blind" (compare Jer 6:21). But the expression is ordinarily figurative, referring to that which causes material ruin or spiritual downfall, which were closely connected in Old Testament thought (Ps 119:165; Eze 21:15). The things that lead astray are silver and gold (Eze 7:19); idols (Eze 14:3; Ze 1:3, etc.).
One of the New Testament words, skandalon, literally means the stick of a trap to which the bait is attached, and which when touched springs the trap. Figuratively either word refers to a thing or a person that leads one to fall into error, into sin or into destruction: the cross of Christ (Ga 5:11; Ro 11:9); another's liberty (1Co 8:9); Peter in Mt 16:23; Christ, whose life and character were so different from Jewish expectation (Ro 9:33).
See also OFFENCE.
George Rice Hovey
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.