stumbling
mikh.shol denotes an obstacle or occasion of falling, often linked with iniquity or placed before someone’s path.
The term most often denotes an obstacle associated with iniquity, idols, or wrongdoing; it also names an impediment set before people or removed from their way, and in several clauses marks an occasion or cause of falling.
Senses in use
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Obstacle associated with iniquity or idols · dominant
In Ezekiel 14:3, Ezekiel 14:4, and Ezekiel 14:7, the construct form occurs in the clause about setting idols in the heart and placing an obstacle of iniquity before the face. Ezekiel 18:30 calls for turning from transgressions so that iniquity will not become such an obstacle, while Ezekiel 44:12 connects ministering before idols with becoming an obstacle of iniquity for Israel.
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Impediment placed in or removed from a way · common
Leviticus 19:14 prohibits putting one before a blind person, and Jeremiah 6:21 describes obstacles placed before the people over which fathers and sons stumble. Isaiah 57:14 calls for its removal from the way of the people; Ezekiel 3:20 places one before a righteous person who turns to injustice.
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Occasion or cause of falling · occasional
In 1 Samuel 25:31, the construct form occurs in the assurance that an action will not become a cause of heart-failure for the lord. Isaiah 8:14 places it alongside a rock in a clause concerning Israel, and Psalm 119:165 says that those loving instruction have no cause of falling. Ezekiel 21:20 has a plural absolute form, but the APB’s military-direction clause does not isolate its contribution.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the verses, the APB commonly uses “stumbling block,” “stumbling blocks,” or “cause for stumbling”; in Isaiah 57:14 it renders the clause as removing the obstacle from the way. Ezekiel 21:20 does not make the term’s specific English rendering clear.