Sample Topic: Stumbling Block

Red highlighted material is based upon commentaries. Blue highlighted material is based upon articles located in the ATLA database. I have used two commentaries and three articles. You may find that you need to consult many more commentaries than I have to make sense of the passages you find.

Introduction

Suggestion. Begin with a contrast between our experience of the object and use of the metaphor as a cliche followed by a statement about the significance of the object in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean life. Then provide an overview of the metaphoric uses.

We usually use the term "stumbling block" as an impediment that someone places in our path to success. A stone in our path would not be considered a "stumbling block." Our thick soled shoes and the fact that we rarely use our arms to carry loads while walking, make a rock on the road insignificant, but in the ancient world where one wore open toed sandals and balanced large water jugs or other burdens, even a small rock in the path could cause one to trip, fall, hurt oneself and spill one's load. Leviticus 19:14 warns, "You shall not curse the deaf nor place a stumbling block (mikshol) before the blind; you shall fear your God - I am your Lord." The Torah makes the act of playing a practical on someone with a disability a sin. Perhaps taking their cue from Lev 19:14, many biblical writers use the metaphor to refer to a person who causes another to stumble in his or her spiritual path. The nature of the obstacle and the particular character of the path varies from book to book. The Hebrew Bible uses two words to refer to a stumbling block: mikhshol and makhshelah. The New Testament uses two Greek words, proskomma and skandalon. Sometimes the stumbling block is a sin, in particular idolatry, that causes one to fall away from true worship. In the New Testament, it refers to other sorts of obstacles to following the way of Jesus: ambiguous acts, fear or honor. Paradoxically God himself can become the stumbling block when one is called to trust in the Lord during times of severe trial. Jesus, himself, can become a stumbling block to those whose expectations for the Messiah have been disappointed by his crucifixion.

Organize your analysis thematically and chronologically as much as possible.

Surprisingly, the use of stumbling block to refer explicitly and solely to an object of sin is infrequent. Ezekiel the stumbling block to refer to idolatry, the false worship or worship of a false god that constitutes a violation of the covenant:

They shall fling their silver into the streets, their gold shall be treated as unclean.
Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. They shall not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block (mikshol) of their iniquity. From their beautiful ornament, in which they took pride, they made their abominable images, their detestable things; therefore I will make of it an unclean thing to them. Ezekiel 7:19-20 (cf. 14:3-4, 7; 44:12)

Ezekiel links silver and gold with idolatry to point to the way people misplace trust in the trappings of power (Lind 71). Matthew also uses the metaphor on one occasion to refer unambiguously to that which tempts one to violate a commandment: "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin [literally all stumbling blocks] and all evildoers" Matt 13:41. Here he uses it in an eschatological image. At the end of times, the temptations of this world will pass away and the obstacles that keep us from God will vanish.

Isaiah and Ezekiel both play with the polyvalent potential of the metaphor of the stone to signify something that causes one to stumble and something that provides protection or the raw material to build a sanctuary. Isaiah extends the metaphor so that the act of fall leads not only to sin but to the physically injury to the body of Israel. Israel itself shall be broken:

But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over (eben negeph)--a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken. Isaiah 8:13-14

Later in the book, Isaiah picks up the image of the stone again and links it more clearly to Zion:

See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone,
a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
"One who trusts will not panic." Isaiah 28:16

The translation of 28:16 masks Isaiah's multi-faceted use of the metaphor. The stone as cornerstone refers to God's dwelling or sanctuary in much the same way as the rock is used to refer to God as savior in many of the psalms. The stone can also become a stumbling block insofar as it serves as a test of Israel's faithfulness. Will they trust in the Lord or will they succumb to the temptation to resist the Assyrian invasion through power politics or military aggression. Ezekiel uses the same metaphor in the context of the Babylonian invasion:

Again, if the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block (mikshol) before them, they shall die; because you have not warned them, they shall die for their sin, and their righteous deeds that they have done shall not be remembered; but their blood I will require at your hand. Ezekiel 3:20

The stumbling block in this passage is clearly metaphoric, but to what it points is not altogether clear. Like Isaiah 28:16, it refers to some sort of test or temptation for which the Israelites will be punished if they fail or succumb. Here it seems to be the Babylonian invasion and exile. Will the Israelites be tempted to abandon their faith in the face of such a compelling show of power? The accent in this passage, however, is not upon the failings of the Israelites; temptation and sin are a problem, but failure belongs to Ezekiel as the prophet who does not warn the people (Lind, 43).

In the New Testament, both Matthew and Paul seem to rely upon the prophetic tradition for the way they construct imagery using the metaphor of the stumbling block and then add a Christological layer. The path becomes a more significant element in the metaphor because it points to the way to fellowship in the body of Christ. Rather than God, the rock now comes to signify Jesus. In virtually all of the New Testament texts, the crucifixion as a path and as a stumbling block add variety to the use of the metaphor.

Paul's christologizing of Isaiah's metaphor is clearest in Romans 9:30-33:

What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone (proskommatos), as it is written,"See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble (proskommatos), a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." [Isaiah 28:16; 8:14]

In this passage, Jesus is the cornerstone, the architectural reference to the corner stone of God's dwelling, and the stumbling stone. In this passage, a stumbling block is not a test or temptation but some sort of hindrance, extra labor, that may deter a person from following the way of Jesus. John Paul Heil insists that Paul does not refer to the Jews' rejection of Jesus as the Christ (Heil 489). Paul also refers to the humiliation of the crucifixion as a stumbling block:

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block (skandalon) to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 22

But my friends, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. Galatians 5: 11

In Romans, Paul quotes Ps 69:22-23 from the Septuigent to refer to the Jews' failure to accept Jesus. Here Jesus is not the stumbling block. It is their loyalty to the Sinai covenant that excludes Gentiles from table fellowship:

And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block (skandalon) and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and keep their backs forever bent." So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (Romans 11: 9-11)

At other times, Paul refers not to a sinful action but an action that can be interpreted by one with weak understanding as a stumbling block. He draws, no doubt, from the Hebrew tradition of calling idolatry a stumbling block. Here it is the appearance of idolatry or false worship and not idolatry itself that is the stumbling block:

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8"Food will not bring us close to God."a We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block ( proskomma) to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling,d I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of theme to fall. 1 Cor 8: 7-12

In its context in the letter to the Corinthians, the stumbling block seems to be the superior understanding of some members of the community who know that meat sacrificed to idols cannot be unclean because no other God's exist. Richard B. Hayes suggests that Paul warns that "those who see to flex their spiritual muscles ("this exousia of yours") n this way should watch out to see what effect it will have on others" and ties this to the Jesus' tradition found in Matt 18:6-7 (Hays 141).

Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block (proskomma) or hindrance in the way of another. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. Romans 14:13

In its context in Romans, the stumbling block metaphor seems to refer broadly to both misuse of the freedom in Christ that his followers enjoy and to the demands that Gentiles be held accountable to the demands of the Sinai covenant.

Matthew uses stones in figurative ways on many occasions. John the Baptist proclaims, "Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." (Matt 3:9). Satan tries to tempt Jesus by saying, "Command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4:3. Jesus refers to his kingdom as one built upon a rock in the parable of two houses (7:24), and Peter is the rock (Petros/Petra Cephas/Kepha) upon which Jesus will build his church/house (16:15-31 ). Ironically Peter can also be a stumbling block. Bruce Dahlberg argues that Matthew bases 16:13-13 upon Jeremiah 1:4-19 and that he is comparing Peter to Jeremiah. Both are faint hearted in spite of their authority and have two sided characters ( Dahlberg 80). Like the prophet, Peter the disciple's character has two sides. Jeremiah When Peter tries to prevent children from approaching Jesus (9:13-15), he becomes the kind of stumbling block of which Jesus earlier warns:

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks (kandalon)! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block (skadala) comes! 18:6-7

When Jesus reveals his intention to go to Jerusalem and to suffer at the hands of the temple authorities and be killed, Peter protests and Jesus says to him, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." (Matt. 16: 23). Here Peter is not a stumbling block to Jesus' followers but to Jesus himself. Jack Suggs suggests that Peter's personality his own stumbling block. Peter stumbles at the transfiguration when he tries to set up booths and at Jesus' arrest when he denies him. (Suggs 294)

The last use of the metaphor of the stumbling block in the canon adds no new twist to its use. Instead it coins a new metaphor to complement the tradition upon which it builds: In 1 Peter we find the passage that refers to Jesus as a living stone:

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:
"See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
"The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,"
and
"A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall."
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people,c in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:1-10

In this passage, the stumbling block is behind the audience.

Suggested conclusion: Contextualize the metaphor within Biblical thought. Is this a significant metaphor? Does it fit into a complex of other metaphors?

Bibliography:

Dahlberg, Bruce T. "Typological use of Jeremiah 1:4-19 in Matthew 16:13-23." Journal of Biblical Literature 94 (1975) Pp. 73-80.

Hays, Richard B. First Corinthans. Interpretation: A Biblical Commentary of Teaching and Preaching. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1997.

Heil, John Paul. "Christ, the termination of the law (Romans 9:30-10:8)." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 63 (2001) Pp. 484-498.

Lind, Millard, Ezekiel. Believers Church Bible Commentary; Scottdale and Waterloo, Ont.: Herald Press, 1996.

Suggs, M Jack. "Matthew 16:13-20." Interpretation 39 (1985) 291-295.