Stumble (4624) (skandalizo from skandalon= a trap = put a snare or stumbling block in way; English = scandalize = to offend the moral sense of) means to put a snare (in the way), hence to cause to stumble, to give offense. To entrap, trip up, or entice to sin, offend. So here in Mt 5:29-30 skandalizo is used in the active sense which conveys the idea to cause to do wrong, to entice to commit sin. In the passive sense it be means to be led into sin, to be caused to do wrong. In the passive some uses mean to be offended (Mt 11:6), the idea being that one is taking offense at Jesus and/or refusing to believe in Him. Finally, skandalizo can mean to furnish an occasion for some to be shocked, angered, or offended (Mt 17:27). Skandalizo is derived from skandalon which refers to stick in a trap on which the bait is placed and which springs up and shuts the trap at the touch of the careless, unwary animal. It follows that the idea is to put a stumbling block or impediment in one's way, upon which another may trip and fall. Jesus' point is that anything or anyone that morally traps us (by our senses, visual, touch, and by expansion not excluding the other senses such as hearing), and causes us to fall into sin should be eliminated, radically and quickly. If we do not make every necessary effort to control our surroundings, what we watch and read, who we keep company with and speak with, etc, then those things will control us. If you cannot control something, it needs to be "jettisoned" to keep the boat afloat so to speak. NIDNTT - In Classic Literature - The noun skandalon, from a root meaning jump up, snap shut, was originally the piece of wood that kept open a trap for animals. Outside the Bible it is not used metaphorically, though its derivative skandalethron (e.g. a trap set through questions) is so used. No non-biblical example of skandalizo has been found. The Eng. word scandal is derived from the noun via the Lat. scandalum. Carpenter - This word skandalizō means “stumbling block” or “snare.” The term refers to the trigger that springs a trap; therefore, “offend” in the New Testament means anything that hinders someone from doing what is right, causes one to sin, or causes someone to fall away from the faith. Thayer - properly, to put a stumbling-block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall; to be a stumbling-block; in the N. T. always metaphorically, (to cause or make to stumble; to offend (cause to offend)); a. to entice to sin Matt. 5:29- 30; 18:6,8f; Mark 9:42f,45,47; Luke 17:2; 1 Cor. 8:13; passive Latin offendor (to be offended), Vulgate scandalizor, Ro 14:21; 2Co 11:29 (is made to stumble). b. "to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey; to cause to fall away," and in the passive, to fall away - Jn 6:61; passive, Mt. 13:21; 24:10; 26:33; Mk 4:17; 14:29; (Jn 16:1); to be offended in one, (find occasion of stumbling in), i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority: Mt. 11:6; 13:57; 26:31; Mk 6:3; 14:27; Lk 7:23; to cause one to judge unfavorably or unjustly of another, Mt. 17:27. Since the man who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed, skandalizo means (c) to cause one to feel displeasure at a thing; to make indignant: tina, passive, to be displeased, indignant (offended), Mt. 15:12. The verb skandalizo is found neither in secular authors nor in the Septuagint Skandalizo - 29x in 27v - Usage: cause(1), cause...to stumble(2), causes(2), causes...to stumble(6), fall away(7), falls away(1), led into sin(1), makes...stumble(2), offend(1), offended(1), stumble(3), stumbling(1), take(1), take offense(1), took offense(2). Matthew 5:29 "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. MacArthur: Skandalizō basically means to cause to fall, but in its substantive form, as here (makes … stumble), it was often used of the bait stick that springs the trap when an animal touches it. Anything that morally or spiritually traps us, that causes us to fall into sin or to stay in sin, should be eliminated quickly and totally. For example, a married person’s falling in love with someone besides his or her spouse is wrong. The relationship may be mutually enjoyable and considered to be rewarding, fulfilling, and beautiful. But it is totally sinful and should be immediately severed. What is a pure and truly beautiful relationship between marriage partners is morally ugly and repulsive to God when it is shared between a man and woman if either or both are married to someone else. (MacArthur, J. Matthew. Chicago: Moody Press) Matthew 11:6 "And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." MacArthur: Stumbling is from skandalizō, which originally referred to the trapping or snaring of an animal. It was used metaphorically to signify an entrapment or stumbling block and carried the derived meaning of causing offense. Jesus’ divine messiahship and the gospel of deliverance from sin through faith in Him are great stumbling blocks to sinful, unbelieving man, and Jesus did not want John to be affected by the world’s skepticism and unbelief. Matthew 13:21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. MacArthur: Falls away is from skandalizō, which means to cause to stumble or fall and is the term from which we get scandalize. It is sometimes translated with the idea of causing offense-as in the Authorized Version of this verse. All of those meanings are appropriate here, because the superficial Christian is scandalized, offended, stumbles, and falls away when his faith is put to the test (cf. John 8:31; 1 John 2:19). Matthew 13:57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household." MacArthur: Jesus’ friends and former neighbors were offended by His claims. They were offended by His ordinary background, by the commonness of His family, the limits of His formal training, His lack of official religious status, and many other irrelevant or secondary issues. (MacArthur, J. Matthew. Chicago: Moody Press) Matthew 15:12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" Matthew 17:27 "However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me." Matthew 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. MacArthur: The verb skandalizō (to stumble) literally means “to cause to fall,” and the Lord is therefore speaking of enticing, trapping, or influencing a believer in any way that leads him into sin or in any way makes it easier for him to sin. A person who is responsible for causing a Christian to sin commits an offense against Christ Himself as well as against the Christian. Matthew 18:8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. Matthew 24:10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.' 33 But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away." MacArthur: Skandalizō (fall away) is the term from which scandal is derived and has the literal meaning of setting a trap, snare, or stumbling block. In Jesus’ day the word most often was used metaphorically, as it always is in the New Testament. Jesus predicted that the disciples would soon confront an obstacle that would make them stumble and fall away from their loyalty to Him. Mark 4:17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. Wuest: The word “offended” is the translation of skandalizō, “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way upon which one may trip or fall.” Thus, to be offended in someone is to find occasion of stumbling in him, to see in another what one disapproves of and what hinders one from acknowledging his authority. Here, those who are like seed sown on ground full of rocks, are offended at the afflictions and persecutions in the sense that they find occasion of stumbling in them since they disapprove of them. Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Mk 4:16). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. Wuest: The word is skandalizō, “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way upon which another may trip or fall, to cause a person to begin to distrust one whom he ought to trust and obey”; in a passive sense, “to find occasion of stumbling in a person, to be offended in a person, to see in another what one disapproves of and what hinders one from acknowledging his authority.” They could not explain Him, so they rejected Him. The saddest part of all was that His own brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of Mary and Joseph, disbelieved His Messianic claims. They had lived in the same home with Jesus for many years, and had been the recipients of the financial support He brought in to the family coffers by His carpenter work. His singularly beautiful life had made no effective impression upon their dull, cold hearts. Mark 9:42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. 43 "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 45 "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 47 "If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, Mark 14:27 And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, because it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.' 29 But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away, yet I will not." Luke 7:23 "Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." Luke 17:2 "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. John 6:61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble? MacArthur: Stumble translates a form of the verb skandalizō, which can mean either “to take offense” (e.g., Matt. 13:57; 15:12) or “to give up believing” (e.g., 13:21; 24:10). Both meanings are appropriate here; the false disciples took offense at Jesus’ teaching, and that caused them to abandon their superficial faith in Him. John 16:1 "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. MacArthur: Stumbling translates a form of the verb skandalizō; the related noun literally refers to the bait stick in a trap. The term here refers figuratively to the disciples’ being caught off guard like an animal ensnared in a trap. Had Jesus not warned them of the persecution they would inevitably face, the disciples might have become shocked and disillusioned so that their faith might have faltered. 1 Corinthians 8:13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. 2 Corinthians 11:29 Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? William Barclay adds this comment on the root noun skandalon (see word study)... "The word he uses for a stumbling-block is ...skandalon...a form of the word skandalethron...the bait-stick in a trap. It was the stick or arm on which the bait was fixed and which operated the trap to catch the animal lured to its own destruction. So the word came to mean anything which causes a man’s destruction. Behind it there are two pictures. First, there is the picture of a hidden stone in a path against which a man may stumble, or of a cord stretched across a path, deliberately put there to make a man trip. Second, there is the picture of a pit dug in the ground and deceptively covered over with a thin layer of branches or of turf, and so arranged that, when the unwary traveler sets his foot on it, he is immediately thrown into the pit. The skandalon, the stumbling-block is something which trips a man up, something which sends him crashing to destruction, something which lures him to his own ruin....ANYTHING which helps to seduce us to sin is to be ruthlessly rooted out of life. If there is a habit which can be seduction to evil, if there is an association which can be the cause of wrongdoing, if there is a pleasure which could turn out to be our ruin, then that thing must be surgically excised from our life." (Col 3:5, Heb 12:1 "the sin") Coming as it does immediately after the passage which deals with forbidden thoughts and desires, this passage compels us to ask: How shall we free ourselves from these unclean desires and defiling thoughts? It is the fact of experience that thoughts and pictures come unbidden into our minds, and it is the hardest thing on earth to shut the door to them. There is one way in which these forbidden thoughts and desires cannot be dealt with—and that is to sit down and to say, I will not think of these things (cp Col 2:23). The more we say, I will not think of such and such a thing, the more our thoughts are in fact concentrated on it. The outstanding example in history of the wrong way to deal with such thoughts and desires was the hermits and the monks in the desert in the time of the early Church. They were men who wished to free themselves from all earthly things, and especially of the desires of the body. To do so they went away into the Egyptian desert with the idea of living alone and thinking of nothing but God. The most famous of them all was Saint Anthony. He lived the hermit’s life; he fasted; he did without sleep; he tortured his body. For 35 years he lived in the desert, and these 35 years were a non-stop battle, without respite, with his temptations. The story is told in his biography. “First of all the devil tried to lead him away from discipline, whispering to him the remembrance of his wealth, cares for his sister, claims of kindred, love of money, love of glory, the various pleasures of the table, and the other relaxations of life, and, at last, the difficulty of virtue and the labor of it. The one would suggest foul thoughts, and the other counter them with prayers; the one fire him with lust, the other, as one who seemed to blush, fortify his body with prayers, faith and fasting. The devil one night even took upon him the shape of a woman, and imitated all her acts simply to beguile Anthony.” So for thirty-five years the struggle went on. (Daily Study Bible - online) (Bolding added) Tear out and throw are both in the aorist imperative, a command from our Lord and Master calling for urgent action. Do this now! It is critically important! Don't hesitate or delay! Deal drastically with anything that predisposes you to sin! We must quickly and ruthlessly deal with ourselves and not encourage the imagination to “feed on” the inward lustful fantasies, the inner desires that can quickly lead to the destructive sin of physical adultery. Even simple logic says that what Jesus is commanding is not a literal action. Why? Would the loss of one eye or one hand prevent lustful look or thought via the other hand or eye? Of course, not, because the problem is not the eye or the hand. They are morally neutral instruments. As Paul writes to the Romans Therefore do not let sin reign (command to stop a practice already occurring) in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting (stop an action which is already occurring) the members of your body (eyes, hands, ears, etc) to sin (refers to the old sin nature still latent in believers) as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. (see notes Romans 6:12; 6:13; 6:14) Peter gives similar advises... Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain (continually hold yourself away from = present tense, middle voice) from fleshly lusts, which wage war (present tense = continually carry on a military campaign, not just one skirmish but fleshly lusts are personified as a rebel commander carrying out a long-term guerilla campaign with the intend to capture, enslave and destroy) against the soul. (see notes 1 Peter 2:11) Tasker -"Jesus is expressing in metaphorical language the all-important truth that a limited but morally healthy life is better than a wider life which is morally depraved.” (The Gospel According to St Matthew) Commenting on 1 Peter 2:11 John MacArthur writes that... because our souls are saved and because we've received a new heart and because we've been washed and because we've been regenerated, there is a newness in us, but as we have noted in the past, it is incarcerated in our unredeemed human flesh. That's why we have a spiritual battle because the new man in us is battling the flesh. And the flesh is where lust comes from. And so we are called to, literally the Greek word is, "hold oneself away from fleshly lusts." Boy, that is tough. That is tough enough because the fleshly lusts are in us, it is especially tough in our society because we live in a pornographic society. And in a pornographic society our fleshly lusts are fed constantly by the visual images of pornography and the verbal expressions of pornography that are all around us all the time. And so for us this is a great challenge for the Holy Spirit in us to give us victory." MacArthur continues in the note (highlight "aliens" for note). FOR IT IS BETTER FOR YOU TO LOSE ONE OF THE PARTS OF YOUR BODY, THAN FOR YOUR WHOLE BODY TO BE THROWN INTO HELL: sumpherei (3SPAI) gar soi ina apoletai (3SAMS) en ton melon sou kai me olon to soma sou blethe (3SAPS) eis geennan (Mt 16:26; Proverbs 5:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:24,25) Sow a thought and reap an act. Sow an act and reap a habit. Sow a habit and reap a character. Sow a character and reap a destiny. For - Always pause and ponder this important term of explanation - it will usually force you to re-read the previous section. The Puritan William Gurnall asked... What lust is so sweet or profitable that is worth burning in hell for?