Offence, Offend
Offence, Offend
o-fens, o-fend (, mikhshol, , ‘asham, , hata’; , skandalon, , skandalzo): Offend is either transitive or intransitive As transitive it is primarily to strike against, hence, to displease to make angry, to do harm to, to affront, in Scripture, to cause to sin; intransitive it is to sin, to cause anger, in Scripture, to be caused to sin. Offence is either the cause of anger, displeasure, etc., or a sin. In Scripture we have the special significance of a stumbling-block, or cause of falling, sin, etc.
1. Old Testament Usage:
In the Old Testament it is frequently the translation of ‘asham, to be guilty, to transgress: Jer 2:3, the Revised Version (British and American) shall be held guilty; Jer 50:7, the Revised Version (British and American) not guilty; Eze 25:12, hath greatly offended; Hos 4:15, the Revised Version margin become guilty; Hos 5:15, till they acknowledge their offense, the Revised Version margin have borne their guilt; Hos 13:1, He offended in Baal, the Revised Version margin became guilty; Hab 1:11, He shall pass over, and offend, (imputing) this his power unto his god, the Revised Version (British and American) Then shall he sweep by (as) a wind, and shall pass over (margin transgress), and be guilty, (even) he whose might is his god.
In 2Ch 28:13, we have’ashmathal, literally, the offense against, the Revised Version (British and American) a trespass (margin or guilt) against Yahweh; we have also hata’, to miss the mark, to sin, to err (Gen 20:9, the Revised Version (British and American) sinned against thee; Gen 40:1, offended their lord; 2Ki 18:14; Jer 37:18, the Revised Version (British and American) sinned against thee); baghadh, to deal treacherously (Psa 73:15, offend against the generation of thy children, the Revised Version (British and American) dealt treacherously with); habhal, to act wickedly (Job 34:31); mikhshol, a stumbling block (Lev 19:14; translated in Isa 8:14, a rock of offense; compare Eze 14:3; 1Sa 25:31; Psa 119:165, nothing shall offend, the Revised Version (British and American) no occasion of stumbling; compare Isa 57:14; Jer 6:21, etc.); pasha, to be fractious, to transgress (Pro 18:19, a brother offended, the Revised Version margin injured). Offence is mikhshol (see above, 1Sa 25:31; Isa 8:14); het’, sin, etc. (Ecc 10:4, Yielding pacifleth great offenses, the American Standard Revised Version Gentleness (the English Revised Version yielding) allayeth, the American Revised Version margin Calmness (the English Revised Version gentleness) leaveth great sins undone). Offender is hatta’ (1Ki 1:21, margin Hebrew: sinners; Isa 29:21, that make a man an offender for a word, the American Standard Revised Version that make a man an offender in his cause, margin make men to offend by (their) words, or, for a word, the English Revised Version in a cause, margin make men to offend by (their) words).
2. New Testament Usage:
The New Testament usage of these words deserves special attention. The word most frequently translated offend in the King James Version is skandalizo (skandalon, offence), very frequent in the Gospels (Mat 5:29, if thy right eye offend thee; Mat 5:30; Mat 11:6; Mat 18:6, whoso shall offend one of these little ones; Mat 13:41, all things that offend; Luk 17:1, It is impossible but that offenses will come, etc.; Rom 14:21; Rom 16:17, Mark them which cause … offenses; 1Co 8:13 twice, if meat make my brother to offend, etc.). Skandalon is primarily a trap-stick, a bentstick on which the bait is fastened which the animal strikes against and so springs the trap, hence, it came to denote a snare, or anything which one strikes against injuriously (it is Septuagint’s word for mokesh, a noose or snare, Jos 23:13; 1Sa 18:21); a stumbling-block Septuagint for mikhshol (see above), Lev 19:14). For skandalizo, skandalon, translated in the King James Version, offend, offence, the Revised Version (British and American) gives cause to stumble, stumbling-block, etc.; thus, Mat 5:29, if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, i.e. is an occasion for thy falling into sin; Mat 16:23, Thou art a stumbling-block unto me, an occasion of turning aside from the right path; in Mat 26:31, Mat 26:33 twice, offended is retained, margin, Mat 26:33 twice, Greek: caused to stumble (same word in Mat 26:31); Mar 9:42, whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, to fall away from the faith, or fall into sin; Luk 17:1, It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him, through whom they come; in Rom 14:21; Rom 16:17; in 1Co 8:1-13, Paul’s language has the same meaning, and we see how truly he had laid to heart the Saviour’s earnest admonitions – weak brethren with him answering to the master’s little ones who believe; Rom 14:21, It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, i.e. is led by your example to do that which he cannot do with a good conscience; Rom 14:20, It is evil for that man who eateth with offense (dia proskommatos), so as to place a stumbling-block before his brother, or, rather, ‘without the confidence that he is doing right’; compare Rom 14:23, He that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin; so 1Co 8:13; Rom 16:17, Mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine, (margin teaching) which ye learned (Is not the teaching of Christ Himself implied here?). Everything that would embolden another to do that which would be wrong for him, or that would turn anyone away from the faith, must be carefully avoided, seeking to please, not ourselves, but to care for our brother, for whom Christ died, giving no occasion of stumbling (proskope) in anything (2Co 6:3).
Aproskopos, not causing to stumble, is translated void of offense (Act 24:16, a conscience void of offense; 1Co 10:32, the Revised Version (British and American) occasion of stumbling; Phi 1:10, void of offense); hamartano, to miss the mark, to sin, to err, is translated offended (Act 25:8, the Revised Version (British and American) sinned); hamarta, sin, error (2Co 11:7, the Revised Version (British and American) Did I commit a sin?); ptao, to stumble, fall (Jam 2:10; Jam 3:2 twice, offend, the Revised Version (British and American) stumble, stumbleth); paraptoma, a falling aside or away, is translated offence (Rom 4:25; Rom 5:15 twice, Rom 5:16, Rom 5:17, Rom 5:18, Rom 5:20, in each case the Revised Version (British and American) trespass); adikeo, to be unrighteous (Act 25:11, the Revised Version (British and American) wrongdoer, the King James Version offender).
In the Apocrypha we have offence (skandalon, Judith 12:2), the Revised Version (British and American) I will not eat thereof, lest there be an occasion of stumbling; offend (hamartano, Ecclesiasticus 7:7), the Revised Version (British and American) sin; greatly offended (prosochthzo, Ecclesiasticus 25:2); offended (skandalizo, Ecclesiasticus 32:15), the Revised Version (British and American) stumble.