4348. proskomma

Lexical Summary

proskomma: Stumbling block, offense, obstacle

Original Word: προσκόμμα
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: proskomma
Pronunciation: pros'-kom-mah
Phonetic Spelling: (pros'-kom-mah)
KJV: offence, stumbling(-block, (-stone))
NASB: stumbling, obstacle, offense, stumbling block
Word Origin: [from G4350 (προσκόπτω - strike)]

1. a stub
2. (figuratively) occasion of apostasy

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

offense, stumbling block

From proskopto; a stub, i.e. (figuratively) occasion of apostasy -- offence, stumbling(-block, (-stone)).

see GREEK proskopto

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from proskoptó
Definition
a stumbling, an occasion of stumbling
NASB Translation
obstacle (1), offense (1), stumbling (3), stumbling block (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 4348: πρόσκομμα

πρόσκομμα, προσκόμματος, τό (προσκόπτω), a stumbling-block, i. e. an obstacle in the way which if one strike his foot against he necessarily stumbles or falls; tropically, that over which the soul stumbles, i. e. by which it is impelled to sin: 1 Corinthians 8:9 (Sir. 17:25 (20); (Sir. 34:16); Sir. 39:24); τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τίνι, to put a stumblingblock in someone's way, i. e. tropically, to furnish one an occasion for sinning, Romans 14:13 (WH marginal reading omits); ὁ διά προσκόμματος ἐσθίων (A. V.) who eateth with offence (see διά, A. I. 2), by making no discrimination as to what he eats occasions another to act against his conscience, Romans 14:20; λίθος προσκόμματος (from Isaiah 8:14 for נֶגֶף אֶבֶן), properly, a stone against which the foot strikes (A. V. stone of stumbling), used figuratively of Christ Jesus, with regard to whom it especially annoyed and offended the Jews that his words, deeds, career, and particularly his ignominious death on the cross, quite failed to correspond to their preconceptions respecting the Messiah; hence, they despised and rejected him, and by that crime brought upon themselves woe and punishment: Romans 9:32, 33; 1 Peter 2:8 (7). (In the Sept. for מוקֵשׁ, Exodus 23:33; Exodus 34:12; (cf. Judith 8:22). a sore or bruise caused by striking the foot against any object, Athen. 3, p. 97 f.; a hindrance (?), Plutarch, mor., p. 1048 c. (i. e. de Stoic. repugn. 30, 8 at the end).)

Topical Lexicon

Overview of Meaning and Imagery

Strong’s Greek 4348 portrays any obstacle that causes a person to trip—literally on a path or figuratively on the way of faith. The term evokes the traveler on the rugged roads of the ancient Mediterranean whose progress could be halted by a hidden stone. In Scripture the image broadens to cover whatever arrests spiritual advance, whether wrong attitudes among believers or unbelief toward Christ Himself.

Occurrences in the New Testament

1. Romans 14:13; 14:20 ground the word in church life. Dietary disputes threatened unity between Jewish-background and Gentile-background Christians. Paul commands believers to “make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way” (Romans 14:13).
2. 1 Corinthians 8:9 situates the same concern in a Hellenistic setting: meats offered to idols. “Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” Liberty must yield to love.
3. Romans 9:32-33 lifts the word to a national-redemptive level. Israel, pursuing righteousness “as if it were by works,” “stumbled over the stumbling stone.” Paul weds Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16 to show that Christ Himself is the divinely placed stone—life to believers, ruin to those who refuse faith.
4. 1 Peter 2:8 echoes the same Isaianic oracle: Christ is “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word.” Peter applies the figure to persecuted congregations spread through Asia Minor, assuring them that unbelief does not thwart God’s building plan.

Old Testament Roots

Isaiah presents Yahweh laying a stone in Zion (Isaiah 28:16) that brings either salvation or ruin (Isaiah 8:14). This prophetic tension frames the New Testament use of proskomma: the stone is purposeful, placed by God; the reaction to it reveals the heart. Psalm 118:22 anticipates the same paradox—the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone.

Christological Significance

Proskomma underscores that Jesus Christ, though the ultimate provision of God, provokes antipathy in the natural heart. Both Romans 9 and 1 Peter 2 affirm that stumbling is not an accident in redemptive history but the foretold result of self-reliance meeting divine grace. The incarnation, cross, and resurrection divide humanity: those who believe are “never put to shame,” those who persist in works-righteousness collide with the very foundation of God’s saving plan.

Christian Liberty and Mutual Edification

In Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 the term governs relationships within the body of Christ. Knowledge, even when correct, must be tempered by love. Mature believers voluntarily limit permissible practices if such practices wound tender consciences. Paul’s logic is missional: the gospel’s advance is more valuable than the exercise of personal rights. A church that refuses to place proskomma before the weak manifests the self-emptying mind of Christ.

Pastoral and Missionary Applications

• Examine motives: is my conduct helping or hindering another’s walk?
• Discern cultural variances: what is harmless in one setting may scandalize in another.
• Prioritize edification over preference: “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food” (Romans 14:20).
• Present Christ faithfully: He will either be trusted or stumbled over, but altering the message removes the very stone God set in place.
• Shepherd the weak: growth is fostered, not forced; conscience is educated, not trampled.

Eschatological Perspective

Isaiah’s stone is ultimately eschatological, linked to the coming kingdom. Those who stumble now will face final judgment; those who rest on the stone will stand when “the tested cornerstone” proves immovable. Proskomma thus summons urgent evangelism and patient discipleship until the day faith becomes sight.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 4348 threads through Scripture as a warning and a promise. It calls believers to avoid becoming an obstacle to others, while also declaring that God Himself has placed an unavoidable stone—Jesus Christ—at the center of history. One either builds upon Him or falls before Him; there is no third path.

Forms and Transliterations

προσκομμα πρόσκομμα πρόσκομμά προσκόμμασιν προσκόμματι προσκομματος προσκόμματος proskomma próskomma proskommatos proskómmatos

Englishman's Concordance

Romans 9:32 N-GNS
GRK: λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμματος
NAS: They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
INT: stone of stumbling

Romans 9:33 N-GNS
GRK: Σιὼν λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ πέτραν
NAS: A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK
INT: Zion a stone of stumbling and rock

Romans 14:13 N-ANS
GRK: μὴ τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ
NAS: not to put an obstacle or
KJV: put a stumblingblock or
INT: not to put a stumbling block to the brother

Romans 14:20 N-GNS
GRK: τῷ διὰ προσκόμματος ἐσθίοντι
NAS: who eats and gives offense.
KJV: who eateth with offence.
INT: who through stumbling eats

1 Corinthians 8:9 N-NNS
GRK: ὑμῶν αὕτη πρόσκομμα γένηται τοῖς
NAS: become a stumbling block to the weak.
KJV: become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
INT: of you this an occasion of stumbling become to those

1 Peter 2:8 N-GNS
GRK: καὶ λίθος προσκόμματος καὶ πέτρα
NAS: and, A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK
KJV: And a stone of stumbling, and a rock
INT: and a stone of stumbling and a rock

Strong's Greek 4348
6 Occurrences

πρόσκομμα — 2 Occ.
προσκόμματος — 4 Occ.