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מִכְשׁוֹל

𐤌𐤊𐤔𐤅𐤋

mikshôwl

H4383 noun

SILEX Entry

Root כשׁל to stumble, totter, fail

Definition

Object or circumstance that causes someone to trip, stumble, or fall—either physically or figuratively. In extension, anything that serves as an obstacle or hindrance, and by metaphor a cause for moral or spiritual downfall. Used of literal impediments to walking, as well as of situations, events, or practices that can provoke failure, sin, or ruin.

Semantic Range

physical stumbling-block or obstacle, hindrance, cause of tripping or falling, means or cause of moral or spiritual downfall, figurative occasion of sin or ruin, enticement to error

Root / Etymology

מִכְשׁוֹל is derived from the root כשׁל (k-š-l), meaning 'to stumble, totter, fail.' The noun form takes the mem- prefix (standard for Hebrew nouns denoting means or instrumentality) and indicates 'that which causes stumbling' or 'means of stumbling.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, מִכְשׁוֹל is used both concretely (for physical obstacles placed in a path, e.g., a stone or object that causes tripping) and metaphorically (for actions, circumstances, or objects that lead to moral or spiritual downfall). In prophetic and legal texts, it often denotes actions or influences leading to sin, apostasy, or social calamity. For example, Ezekiel frequently uses מִכְשׁוֹל for anything (including idols and unwise leadership) that causes Israelites to fall away from YHWH’s commandments. Some English versions gloss it as 'offence,' 'ruin,' or 'thing offered,' but these miss the nuance that the core idea is always an occasion or means of fall or failure, whether physical or moral. The term is concentrated in more didactic and literary passages (Psalms, Proverbs, Prophets), less so in straightforward narrative. It is distinct from פַּח (pach, 'snare') and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, 'trap'), which focus more on entrapment than stumbling. The translation 'idol' in some texts reflects the polemic that idol worship is seen as a principal cause of Israelite spiritual failure, and not a separate lexical sense. In later tradition, the word helped shape the metaphor of 'stumbling block' in Jewish and Christian interpretative history; however, in ancient Israelite contexts, it referred more generally to any cause of ruin or disastrous failure.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

or מִכְשֹׁל; masculine from כָּשַׁל; a stumbling-block, literally or figuratively (obstacle, enticement (specifically an idol), scruple); caused to fall, offence, [idiom] (no-) thing offered, ruin, stumbling-block.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

כשׁל (k-š-l) — to stumble, totter, fail

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H3782 כָּשַׁל you caused to stumble

Word Forms

6 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H4383-03 מִכְשֹׁ֑ל mikheshol HNcmsa stumbling block stumbling cause 6
H4383-06 וּ/מִכְשׁ֣וֹל umikheshol HC/Ncmsc and a stumbling block and stumbling-cause of 3
H4383-02 לְ/מִכְשׁ֖וֹל lemikheshol HR/Ncmsc for a stumbling block stumbling cause 2
H4383-05 וּ/לְ/מִכְשׁ֨וֹל ulemikheshol HC/R/Ncmsc or for an offense and for a stumbling-cause of 1
H4383-01 הַ/מִּכְשֹׁלִ֔ים hamikhesholim HTd/Ncmpa the stumbling blocks the stumbling-causes 1
H4383-04 מִכְשֹׁלִ֑ים mikhesholim HNcmpa stumbling blocks stumble-causes 1

Occurrences in Scripture

14 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H4383-03 Leviticus 19:14 מִכְשֹׁ֑ל mikheshol HNcmsa stumbling block stumbling cause
H4383-05 1 Samuel 25:31 וּ/לְ/מִכְשׁ֨וֹל ulemikheshol HC/R/Ncmsc or for an offense and for a stumbling-cause of
H4383-03 Isaiah 8:14 מִכְשׁ֜וֹל mikheshol HNcmsa of-offense stumbling cause
H4383-03 Isaiah 57:14 מִכְשׁ֖וֹל mikheshol HNcmsa the stumblingblock stumbling cause
H4383-04 Jeremiah 6:21 מִכְשֹׁלִ֑ים mikhesholim HNcmpa stumbling blocks stumble-causes
H4383-03 Ezekiel 3:20 מִכְשׁ֛וֹל mikheshol HNcmsa stumbling-block stumbling cause
H4383-03 Ezekiel 7:19 מִכְשׁ֥וֹל mikheshol HNcmsc stumbling block stumbling cause
H4383-06 Ezekiel 14:3 וּ/מִכְשׁ֣וֹל umikheshol HC/Ncmsc and the stumbling block and stumbling-cause of
H4383-06 Ezekiel 14:4 וּ/מִכְשׁ֤וֹל umikheshol HC/Ncmsc and-stumbling-block and stumbling-cause of
H4383-06 Ezekiel 14:7 וּ/מִכְשׁ֣וֹל umikheshol HC/Ncmsc and a stumbling block and stumbling-cause of
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