To stumble (כשׁל kāšal)

To stumble (כשׁל kāšal), in Hebrew this verb comes from the root kšl, which also means “to stagger”, “to be exhausted”, “to fall”, but in reality it is difficult to grasp its meaning because of the many possibilities it contains. It may be a fall of a person walking on a road, preceded by a sway, or a fall due to an obstacle, an impact, or simply being pushed. In some contexts it can express all these possibilities together, for example in the sense of “to fail”, “to faint on the way”, or “to fail to achieve, not to reach the goal”. In conjugation hifil, it means “to make someone stumble or fall” and this form clearly indicates someone’s hostile intervention. In today’s Reading (Mal 1-2), the prophet Malachi rebukes the priests responsible for the people: “But you have withdrawn from the way, and you have scandalized very many in the law (כשׁל kāšal). You have nullified the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts.” It should be noted that in the original Hebrew, under the word “you have deprived yourself of learning” there is the verb כשׁל (kāšal) in the hifil conjugation, which literally means “you caused the fall”, which the Danzig Bible translates “you were a stumbling block”. To cause mischief therefore means to throw obstacles in someone’s path so that he cannot walk, but staggers, stumbles and finally falls without reaching his goal. The prophet accuses the priests, telling them: “you have not served my ways, and you have accepted a face in the law” and adds a dramatic question: “Is there not one Father of us all?” In the Gospel (Mt 23:1-12), the Lord Jesus warns his disciples against the scribes and Pharisees who “have sat down in the chair of Moses”, i.e. they have a mandate to teach, but they do not follow what they teach: “They bind up heavy and unbearable burdens, and they impose them on men’s shoulders. But they are not willing to move them with even a finger of their own.” Worse yet, they use their teachings for vain glory and honour. Therefore, Jesus’ teaching is clear: “Therefore, all things whatsoever that they shall say to you, observe and do, but do not choose to act according to their works.” It is not easy to distinguish the teaching of Scripture from the teacher, but it is necessary if we do not want to stumble, stagger and fall on the path of faith, but reach the goal of our journey happily.