cause to stumble, offend

“The word ‘offend’ as a translation of the Greek skandalizó seems to cause all sorts of trouble for translators. The difficulty is that the meaning of this word covers such a wide area. The basic meaning of the Greek is ‘to cause to stumble by putting some impediment in the way.’ The present central meaning of English ‘offend’ is often quite different. In some languages there is no metaphorical value in a translation ‘to cause someone to stumble.’ If the language permits no such metaphor, the translator should not attempt to force it. In Highland Totonac, the metaphor ‘to show the wrong road to’ is used in a manner almost exactly parallel to the Greek idiom.” (Source: Nida 1947)

In San Blas Kuna the translation is “spoil the heart” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff.).

See also fall away, stumble.

millstone (illustration)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “millstone” in English is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

complete verse (Luke 17:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 17:2:

  • Noongar: “Better for him, if people tied one big stone to his neck and they threw him into the sea! Much worse for him if he makes one of these children do wrong!” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “It would be better if a sharpening stone were tied to their necks and they were thrown into the sea, than that they cause-to-fall even one person whose faith is small, until he does sins.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It would be better for him if a big stone would first be hung around his neck and he would be dropped into the sea so that he could not tempt to sin one of these who have a lowly/humble liver and trust in me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “If a large grindstone is tied to his neck and he’s thrown into the depths of the sea, that would be better than his punishment if by means of him, even one of these children sins.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It would be better if his neck were-hung-with a heavy rock and-then he were thrown into the ocean than his tempting-to-sin even one of these who are the lowest (i.e., least important) people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “It would be better for a person to be weighted with a big milling stone and just thrown in the middle of the deep water. Better than that he cause-to-fall-into-sin a humble-person who believes-in/obeys me.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 17:2

Exegesis:

lusitelei autō ei … ē hina ‘it would be better for him if … than that.’ The clause introduced by ei refers to an event, which, had it happened, would have prevented the event denoted by the clause introduced by hina.

lusitelei, impersonal, ‘it is good,’ ‘it is useful.’ Here it is used comparatively (as indicated by ē ‘than’), and the present tense denotes a supposition, hence, ‘it would be better.’

ei lithos mulikos perikeitai peri ton trachēlon autou ‘if a millstone had been placed around his neck.’

mulikos ‘belonging to a mill,’ here with lithos means ‘a millstone,’ a more general term than mulos onikos.

kai erriptai eis tēn thalassan ‘and (if) he had been thrown into the sea,’ with change of subject. A violent and gruesome death is better than causing someone to yield to temptation. riptō also 4.35.

ē hina skandalisē tōn mikrōn toutōn hena ‘than that he causes one of these little ones to stumble.’ hina is used in a weakened sense and refers to a fact. In tōn mikrōn toutōn hena the last word is emphatic by position, ‘even one.’ tōn mikrōn toutōn is best understood as referring to the disciples in the broad sense.

skandalizō (also 7.23) ‘to cause to stumble,’ ‘to entice to sin.’

Translation:

It may be necessary to change the sentence structure, e.g. ‘suppose (or, if) a millstone were to be hung round the neck of such a man, that would be good for him, for then he would not be able to cause….’

If a millstone were hung round his neck, or, ‘if his neck had-been-weighed-with a millstone’ (Balinese, specifying the aim). New English Bible and The Four Gospels – a New Translation subordinate this clause to the next one, cf. “thrown into the sea with a millstone (tied) round his neck”. The implied agent is ‘people.’ Millstone stands here for something large and heavy; some cultural equivalents are, ‘blacksmith’s stone’ (Dan), ‘supporting-stone,’ i.e. a big stone under the main pole of a house (Toraja-Sa’dan); a more generic rendering used is ‘large(-sized) stone’ (Kele, Trukese).

Cast into, or, indicating the result, ‘immersed’ (Batak Toba).

Sea, i.e. ‘ocean.’

Cause … to sin. The rendering should preferably be built on the same terms as used to render “temptation to sin” in v. 1.

Little ones is used here metaphorically in the sense of ‘weak/feeble ones,’ ‘people of humble rank.’

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.