SCANDAL, Scandalum. This Word in antient Greek Authors, according to Pollux, signifies that Part of a Mouse-trap, that is suspended by the Noose; or the bended Piece of Wood that supports what they call the Hammer, according to the Scholiast of Aristophanes. In general, according to Hesychius, Scandalum signifies a Snare, an Incumbrance. In Scripture and in Ecclesiastical Authors, Scandal is put for Levit. xix. 14. apud 70.any thing that a Man finds in his Way, that may occasion him to fall. Thus Moses forbids to put a Stumbling-block (or Scandal) before the Blind; that is, neither Wood, Stone, nor any thing else, that may Ex. xxiii. 33.make him stumble or fall. Elsewhere he forbids the Israelites to make a Covenant with the Canaanites, for fear they should be pervertedto Idolatry, which would be a great Snare or Scandal to them. Saul gave David his Daughter Michal in Marriage, hoping this Match might prove a Snare and Scandal to 1 Reg. xviii. 21.him. Ut fiat ei in scandalum. The Lord shall be the Happiness and the Sanctification of those that fear him; but for a Stone of stumbling, and for a Rock of Offence (a Scandal) to both the Houses of Israel; for a Gin, and for a Snare to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jesus If. viii. 14.Christ says to St. Peter, when he would persuade him against his Passion; Get thee behind Matt. xvi. 23.me, Satan, thou art an Offence unto me. Lastly, he says of himself; Blessed is he whosoever Matt. xi. 6.shall not be offended (or scandalized) in me; or for whom I shall not be an Occasion of Scandal; to whom my Life, my Poverty, my Birth, my Death, my Cross, shall not give or administer Scandal.
The Greek Word Scandal a answers to the Hebrew Mashcul, which comes from the Root Shacal, to fall, to tumble; and in the Conjugation Hiphil signifies, to make to fall, to overthrow, to lay Snares, &c. In a moral Sense, there is an active and a passive Scandal. The first is that which we afford others by our Words or Actions; and the second is that which we receive from others, by seeing their evil Actions, or by hearing their pernicious Discourses. Jesus Christ in his Gospel affirms, It must needs be that Offences come, or Scandals Matt. xviii. 7.must of necessity arise. But he adds, Woe to that Man by whom the Offence cometh. If your Hand or Foot are a Cause of Scandal to you, cut them off, and cast them from you; you had better enter into the Kingdom of God without Hand or Foot, than be cast into outward Darkness with all your Limbs intire. He says moreover, Have a Care of offending (or scandalizing) one of these little ones that Mark ix. 41.believe in me; it were better for him that gives the Scandal that a Mill-Stone were hung about his Neck, and he were cast into the Sea, than that he should administer an Occasion of Scandal. Jesus Christ, in respect of the Jews, was a Scandal and Rock of Offence, against which they struck, and upon which they have fallen, and are broken.
Rom. ix. 33. 1 Pet. ii. 8.In the Latin Vulgate, the Word Scandalum is often used in different Senses, which it may be convenient to explain here. UsquequExod. x. 7.ò patiemur hoc Scandalum? How long shall Moses be a Snare to us? How long shall he pursue us, as a Fowler pursues his Game? Or else, How long shall we suffer the Israelites to continue among us, who are a stumbling Block to us? Or, more plainly, How long shall we suffer these Misfortunes that thus overwhelm us? Pax multa diligentibus legem Psal. cxviii. 165.tuam, & non est illis scandalum.Ezek. vii. 19. They enjoy profound Peace, without Misfortune, without Discontent. Scandalum iniquitatis eorum factum est. They are fallen into those Disasters which their Iniquities deserved. They have undergone the Punishment of their Crimes. Ne ponas scandalum Prov. xxii. 25.animæ tuæ. Do not expose yourself to the Fury of a passionate Man, for fear it should be as much as your Life is worth. The Humiliation of Jesus Christ, his Cross and Sufferings, are, as it were, for a Stone of Stumbling, and for a Rock of Offence to both the Houses of Israel, for a Gin and for a Snare to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem1, because they could not be convinced, that such humble Qualifications could belong to the Messiah they expected.
Eccl. xxiii. 7. Eccl. xxxii. 19.The Author of Ecclesiasticus generally takes the Verb to scandalize, in the Sense of exposing one’s self to Danger. Ne fueris hypocrita, & non scandalizeris in labiis tuis2. Forbear to use Hypocrisy and Dissimulation, and let not your Lips expose you to the Danger of passing for a double Heart. The Greek says, Form not yourself upon the Words of Men, and give no Attention to their Discourse. Reckon not upon every Thing that Men may say of you, nor upon what they may say to you. Their Discourse ought not to be the Rule of your Conduct. And elsewhere, Doctrinam oris audite, filii, qui custodierit illam ----- non scandalisabitur in operibus pessimi. He that will hear my Instructions, shall not fall into criminal Actions: Or rather, shall not be overturned, as a Man that hits against a Stone, and he shall not be seen to commit criminal Actions. And again, Qui insidiose agit scandalisabitur in ea (sapientia). He that seeks not Wisdom sincerely, instead of finding it, shall fall into a Snare, and be overthrown.
The Mountain of Scandal, Mons offensionis, was the Mountain of Olives, upon which Solomon built Temples, and erected Altars to his false Gods, to please the strange Wives he had taken. See 1 Kings xi. 4. 2 Kings xxiii. 13.
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