Basic HTML Version
(7)
B$
, “on behalf of,” is so rendered in 2 Cor. 7:4,
RV
(
KJV
, “of”); (8) For
$
,
“by,” see the
RV
of Matt. 1:22; 2:16; 11:27; Luke 9:7; Acts 15:4; 1 Cor. 14:24; 2 Cor.
8:19; Phil. 3:12. (9) For other prepositions, etc., see
†
, p. 1.
For
OFF
see
†
, p. 1
OFFENCE (OFFENSE)
A. Nouns.
1.
(
1
, 4625) originally was “the name of the part of a trap to
which the bait is attached, hence, the trap or snare itself, as in Rom. 11:9,
RV
,
‘stumblingblock,’ quoted from Psa. 69:22, and in Rev. 2:14, for Balaam’s device was
rather a trap for Israel than a stumblingblock to them, and in Matt. 16:23, for in Peter’s
words the Lord perceived a snare laid for Him by Satan.
“In NT
is always used metaphorically, and ordinarily of anything that
arouses prejudice, or becomes a hindrance to others, or causes them to fall by the way.
Sometimes the hindrance is in itself good, and those stumbled by it are the wicked.”*
Thus it is used (a) of Christ in Rom. 9:33, “(a rock) of offense”; so 1 Pet. 2:8; 1 Cor.
1:23 (
KJV
and
RV
, “stumblingblock”), and of His cross, Gal. 5:11 (
RV
, ditto); of the
“table” provided by God for Israel, Rom. 11:9 (see above); (b) of that which is evil, e.g.,
Matt. 13:41,
RV
, “things that cause stumbling” (
KJV
, “things that offend”), lit., “all
stumblingblocks”; 18:7,
RV
, “occasions of stumbling” and “occasion”; Luke 17:1 (ditto);
Rom. 14:13,
RV
, “an occasion of falling” (
KJV
, “an occasion to fall”), said of such a use
of Christian liberty as proves a hindrance to another; 16:17,
RV
, “occasions of
stumbling,” said of the teaching of things contrary to sound doctrine; 1 John 2:10,
“occasion of stumbling,” of the absence of this in the case of one who loves his brother
and thereby abides in the light. Love, then, is the best safeguard against the woes
pronounced by the Lord upon those who cause others to stumble. See
FALL
, B,
Note
(3).¶
Cf. the Sept. in Hos. 4:17, “Ephraim partaking with idols hath laid stumblingblocks in his
own path.”
2.
(
$
, 4348), “an obstacle against which one may dash his
foot” (akin to
, “to stumble” or “cause to stumble”;
, “to or against,”
,
“to strike”), is translated “offense” in Rom. 14:20, in v. 13, “a stumblingblock,” of the
spiritual hindrance to another by a selfish use of liberty (cf. No. 1 in the same verse); so
in 1 Cor. 8:9. It is used of Christ, in Rom. 9:32-33,
RV
, “(a stone) of stumbling,” and 1
Pet. 2:8, where the
KJV
also has this rendering.¶ Cf. the Sept. in Ex. 23:33, “these (the
gods of the Canaanites) will be an offense (stumblingblock) unto thee.”
3.
(
$
)
, 4349), like No. 2, and formed from the same combination,
occurs in 2 Cor. 6:3,
RV
, “occasion of stumbling” (
KJV
, “offense”), something which
leads others into error or sin.¶ Cf. the Sept. in Prov. 16:18, “a haughty spirit (becomes) a
stumblingblock” (i.e., to oneself).
†
Indicates that the word referred to (preposition, conjunction, or particle) is not dealt
with in this volume.
* From
Notes on Galations,
by Hogg and Vine, p. 262.