Dictionaries :: Offence

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Offence:

(1.) An injury or wrong done to one (1Sa 25:31; Rom 5:15).

(2.) A stumbling-block or cause of temptation (Isa 8:14; Mat 16:23; 18:7). Greek skandalon, properly that at which one stumbles or takes offence. The "offence of the cross" (Gal 5:11) is the offence the Jews took at the teaching that salvation was by the crucified One, and by him alone. Salvation by the cross was a stumbling-block to their national pride.

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

Offence: Occasions Of, Must Arrive

Mat 18:7

Offence: Occasions Of, Forbidden

1Cr 10:32; 2Cr 6:3

Offence: Persecution, a Cause Of, to Mere Professors

Mat 13:21; 24:10; 26:31

Offence: The Wicked Take, At

The low station of Christ

Isa 53:1-3; Mat 13:54-57

Christ, as the corner-stone

Isa 8:14; Rom 9:33; 1Pe 2:8

Christ, as the bread of life

Jhn 6:58-61

Christ crucified

1Cr 1:23; Gal 5:11

The righteousness of faith

Rom 9:32

The necessity of inward purity

Mat 15:11,12

Offence: Blessedness of Not Taking, at Christ

Mat 11:6

Offence: Saints Warned against Taking

Jhn 16:1

Offence: Saints Should

Be without

Phl 1:10

Be cautious of giving

Psa 73:15; Rom 14:13; 1Cr 8:9

Have a conscience void of

Act 24:16

Cut off what causes, to themselves

Mat 5:29,30; Mar 9:43-47

Not let their liberty occasion, to others

1Cr 8:9

Use self-denial rather than occasion

Rom 14:21; 1Cr 8:13

Avoid those who cause

Rom 16:17

Reprove those who cause

Exd 32:21; 1Sa 2:24

Offence: Ministers Should

Be cautious of giving

2Cr 6:3

Remove that which causes

Isa 57:14

Offence: All things that cause, shall be gathered out of Christ's

Mat 13:41

Offence: Denunciation against Those Who Cause

Mat 18:7; Mar 9:42

Offence: Punishment for Occasioning

Eze 44:12; Mal 2:8,9; Mat 18:6,7

Offence: Exemplified

Aaron

Exd 32:2-6

Balaam, &c

Num 31:16; Rev 2:14

Gideon

Jdg 8:27

Sons of Eli

1Sa 2:12-17

Jeroboam

1Ki 12:26-30

Old prophet

1Ki 13:18-26

Priests

Mal 2:8

Peter

Mat 16:23

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Offence:

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 Mat 16:23, for in Peter's words the Lord perceived a snare laid for Him by Satan.

"In NT skandalon 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 1Pe 2:8; 1Cr 1:23 (AV 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., Mat 13:41, RV, "things that cause stumbling" (AV, "things that offend"), lit., "all stumblingblocks;" Mat 18:7, RV, "occasions of stumbling" and "occasion;" Luk 17:1 (ditto); Rom 14:13, RV, "an occasion of falling" (AV, "an occasion to fall"), said of such a use of Christian liberty as proves a hindrance to another; Rom 16:17, RV, "occasions of stumbling," said of the teaching of things contrary to sound doctrine; 1Jo 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). Cp. the Sept. in Hsa 4:17, "Ephraim partaking with idols hath laid stumblingblocks in his own path."

Offence:

"an obstacle against which one may dash his foot" (akin to proskopto, "to stumble" or "cause to stumble;" pros, "to or against," kopto, "to strike"), is translated "offense" in Rom 14:20, in Rom 14:13, "a stumblingblock," of the spiritual hindrance to another by a selfish use of liberty (cp. No. 1 in the same verse); so in 1Cr 8:9. It is used of Christ, in Rom 9:32, 33, RV, "(a stone) of stumbling," and 1Pe 2:8, where the AV also has this rendering. Cp. the Sept. in Exd 23:33, "these (the gods of the Canaanites) will bean offense (stumblingblock) unto thee."

Offence:

like No. 2, and formed from the same combination, occurs in 2Cr 6:3, RV, "occasion of stumbling" (AV, "offence"), something which leads others into error or sin. Cp. the Sept. in Pro 16:18, "a haughty spirit (becomes) a stumblingblock" (i.e., to oneself).

Notes:

(1) In the AV of Rom 4:25; 5:15 (twice), 16-18, 20, paraptoma, "a trepass," is translated "offense."
See TRESPASS.

(2) In 2Cr 11:7, AV, hamartia, a sin, is translated "an offence."
See SIN.

Offence:

akin to A, No. 3, with a, negative, prefixed, is used

(a) in the Active sense, "not causing to stumble," in 1Cr 10:32, metaphorically of "refraining from doing anything to lead astray" either Jews or Greeks or the church of God (i.e., the local church), RV, "no occasion of stumbling" (AV, "none offence");

(b) in the Passive sense, "blameless, without stumbling;" Act 24:16, "(a conscience) void of offence;" Phl 1:10, "void of (AV, without) offence." The adjective is found occasionally in the papyri writings.