What Does Matthew 15:12 Mean?
Then his disciples came and said to him, Do you know that the separated ones were made to stumble when they heard this word?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?THE KEY
Here, “offended” carries the image of a stumble: what Jesus says becomes the place where the hearer’s footing falters.
THE MEANING
The verse makes a present reaction visible: a saying can become a stumbling point for the people who hear it. The disciples ask whether Jesus perceives that the Pharisees take offense at what he has said. Their question places the hearer’s response beside the saying itself.
THE ROOT
ἐσκανδαλίσθησαν
eskandalisthēsan
GROWS FROM
σκάνδαλον
skándalon
A snare or stumbling block; the related verb σκандαλίζω (skandalizō) means to cause to stumble or take offense.
“were made to stumble” in this verse is eskandalisthēsan. The KJV’s “offended” preserves the reaction, while the Greek verb also carries the image of stumbling. That image shifts attention from hurt feelings alone to the way what is heard can unsettle a person’s footing, without deciding from this verse alone why the Pharisees react as they do.
ALSO GROWS
skándalon: Snare; stumbling block.
σκάνδαλον
The saying becomes a point of stumbling in the hearers’ response.
skandalizō: Cause to stumble; take offense.
σκανδαλίζω
This is the verb family behind “were offended,” linking offense with the loss of footing.
γινώσκεις
ginōskeis
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
To know or perceive.
“Knowest thou” in this verse is ginōskeis. The disciples ask whether Jesus perceives the Pharisees’ reaction. The question brings that response into view as something to be noticed alongside the saying that prompted it.
ALSO GROWS
ginōskō: Know; perceive.
γινώσκω
This is the verb used in the disciples’ question.
epiginōskō: Recognize; come to know.
ἐπιγινώσκω
The related form emphasizes recognition, echoing the question of whether the reaction is perceived.
THE PATTERN
What is a sanctuary and foundation to one hearer can become a stumbling point to another, revealing how the encounter is received.
And flourishing is the one who is not made to stumble over me.And he shall be for a set-apart place; but for a stone of striking and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to those who settle in Jerusalem.And a stone to strike against, and a rock that springs the trap, to those who strike against the word and will not yield, and to this they were also set.THE THREAD
And flourishing is the one who is not made to stumble over me.Matthew uses the same skandalizō word family when naming the possibility of stumbling over Jesus. Beside this verse, it shows that offense can arise at the encounter with Jesus himself, not only at a particular saying.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us