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STUMBLING BLOCK*
Term used both literally and figuratively to refer to anything that might cause one to stumble.
The phrase is used literally in Leviticus 19:14, where the people of Israel are admonished not to “put a stumbling block before the blind,” but to “fear the Lord your God.” An isolated figurative use occurs in Jeremiah 6:21, where God promises to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel if they do not heed his warnings.
The most common OT usage, however, is found in Ezekiel, where the phrase is used to refer to idols and idolatry: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; should I let myself be inquired of at all by them?” (Ez 14:3, rsv; also 7:19; 44:12).
In the NT the term essentially retains its Hebraic meaning. Even so, the phrase is employed figuratively to speak of the difficulties encountered by many Jews in believing Jesus to be the Son of God: “But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23, rsv; see also Rom 9:31-32). In Romans 11:11-12, Paul says that this resistance is actually part of God’s plan to spread his riches to the world. Finally, 1 Corinthians 8:9 uses “stumbling block” to speak of some practices that might in themselves be appropriate but might also have the unintended effect of offending a weaker brother (see also Rom 14:13).