skandalon

What it means

Originally the trigger of a trap, the thing that springs it. In the New Testament it's a stumbling block, something that trips a person up in following God. Peter becomes one for Jesus when he tries to talk him out of the cross, and Paul later says the cross itself is a stumbling block to many.

Range of meaning

• Trap triggerThe part of a trap that snaps shut.
• Stumbling blockSomething that makes a person fall.
• OffenseA cause of taking offense.

In Matthew

• Chapter 16

  Peter becomes a stumbling block to Jesus (16:23).

• Chapter 17

  "So that we don't offend them" (17:27, the related verb).

• Chapter 18

  Causing a little one to stumble, and stumbling blocks in the world (18:6-9, the related verb and noun).