To strike
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Proskopto means to strike against, collide with, or stumble over an obstacle. It can describe a foot hitting a stone, a person stumbling while walking in darkness, Israel stumbling over Christ, or a believer being caused to stumble by another person's conduct.
Reader summary
Full entry for προσκόπτω (G4350) · Open the biblical lexicon
Proskopto means to strike against, collide with, or stumble over an obstacle. It can describe a foot hitting a stone, a person stumbling while walking in darkness, Israel stumbling over Christ, or a believer being caused to stumble by another person's conduct.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include beat against (1), he will not stumble (1), he will stumble (1), so that You will not strike (1), strike (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:6. Its strongest book concentrations include John (2), Matthew (2), Romans (2), 1 Peter (1).
Proskopto means to strike against, collide with, or stumble over an obstacle. It can describe a foot hitting a stone, a person stumbling while walking in darkness, Israel stumbling over Christ, or a believer being caused to stumble by another person's conduct. The physical picture remains concrete, but the obstacle and consequence differ. In the temptation narratives, Satan quotes protection language while urging Jesus to test God.
In John 11, Jesus contrasts walking in daylight with stumbling at night as He moves toward Lazarus and danger. Romans then uses the image for unbelief confronting Christ and for the responsibility not to place a moral obstacle before a brother or sister. The verb does not prove that every hardship is caused by sin, nor does it promise a life without suffering.
Proskopto begins with the concrete act of striking an obstacle and extends to spiritual stumbling. Scripture distinguishes presumptuous testing, walking without light, unbelief at Christ, and conduct that harms another believer.
“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
The tempter quotes protection language to urge Jesus into presumption, but Jesus refuses to test the Lord.
And they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
Luke's parallel preserves the physical image of a foot striking stone inside the same rejected temptation to test God.
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world.
Jesus answers the disciples' fear of returning to Judea with the picture of walking in available daylight.
But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.”
The contrasting night walk makes lack of light, not sincere courage, the condition for stumbling in Jesus' saying.
Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
Paul explains Israel's stumbling in relation to pursuing righteousness by works rather than faith and encountering Christ as the stumbling stone.
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.
Paul calls believers to restrain permissible conduct when its exercise would become a spiritual obstacle to another believer.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. To stumble literally or figuratively; metaphorically, to take offense or be scandalized by something.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseI stumble
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 8 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
προσκόπτω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The temptation narratives show why a promise of protection must not be turned into permission to manufacture danger. Jesus refuses to test God, even when Satan quotes Scripture about a foot not striking stone. In John 11, Jesus uses stumbling within a day-and-night saying as He moves toward Lazarus and the danger in Judea. The passage calls readers to follow His light and timing, not to confuse obedience with reckless self-confidence.
Romans then sharpens the spiritual image in two directions. Unbelief stumbles over Christ when righteousness is pursued as if by works, while Christian liberty can become an obstacle when exercised without love for another believer. Proskopto therefore warns against presumption, darkness, unbelief, and loveless conduct while directing faith toward Christ and neighbor-conscious obedience.
John.11.9
Proskopto joins the idea of movement toward or against something with striking. It may describe literal collision or extend metaphorically to moral and spiritual stumbling. The object or construction identifies the obstacle: a stone, lack of light, Christ encountered in unbelief, or another person's loveless use of liberty.
The Old Testament speaks of guarded steps, stumbling stones, straight paths, and light for walking, while also warning against testing God. The New Testament centers these images on Christ. He refuses presumptuous testing, gives light for obedient movement, becomes a stumbling stone to unbelief, and forms a people whose freedom is governed by love so that they do not place obstacles before one another.