I was doing a little bit of a word study into “Kolasin” and references it may have in the Old Testament, that is, The Septuagint; and I found that the first references appear in the book of Ezekiel, except for one case which appears in Jeremiah 18:20, which is an oddity in that for some strange reason I cannot line the verse up with the Masoretic (Hebrew) text based KJV and others, even my “Apolostolic Polygot” which is also, like the Septuagint based on the Greek texts.
Jer 18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. -KJV (Masoretic)
Jer 18:20 Is evil recompensed instead of good, That they have dug a pit for my soul? Remember my standing before You to speak good of them, To turn back Your wrath from them. -CLV (Masoretic)
Jer 18:20 Shall [be recompensed for good things evils], no. For they conversed together things against my soul. Remember my standing in front of you! To speak [for them good], to turn your rage from them. -Apostolic Polygot (Without Strongs numbers) (Greek)
Jer 18:20 Forasmuch as evil is rewarded for good; for they have spoken words against my soul, and they have hidden the punishment they meant for me; remember that I stood before thy face, to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them. -Brenton’s Septuagint (Greek)
Jer 18:20 εἰ ἀνταποδίδοται ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν κακά; ὅτι συνελάλησαν ῥήματα κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μου καὶ τὴν κόλασιν αὐτῶν ἔκρυψάν μοι· μνήσθητι ἑστηκότος μου κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου τοῦ λαλῆσαι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀγαθὰ τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι τὸν θυμόν σου ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν. -The Septuagint (Greek)
But that isn’t what I’m arguing here, I only wanted to point that out as to curtain any possible misquotation “that isn’t the first time it is mentioned”; yet what I do want to talk about is the first solid presentation of it in Ezekiel 14:3-4, and applicable ideas surrounding it, as well as what it may mean, or may have meant in the mindset (difference, or similarity) between the Greek and Masoretic texts, as they present them.
In the Brenton’s English translation of The Septuagint, and in the LXX (Septuagint in Greek) it reads like this;
*Son of man, these men have conceived their devices in their hearts, and have set before their faces the punishment of their iniquities: shall I indeed answer them? Therefore speak to them, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord; Any man of the house of Israel, who shall conceive his devices in his heart, and shall set the punishment of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him according to the things in which his mind is entangled,
Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, οἱ ἄνδρες οὗτοι ἔθεντο τὰ διανοήματα αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν κόλασιν (kolasin) τῶν ἀδικιῶν αὐτῶν ἔθηκαν πρὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν· εἰ ἀποκρινόμενος ἀποκριθῶ αὐτοῖς; διὰ τοῦτο λάλησον αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς Τάδε λέγει κύριος Ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Ισραηλ, ὃς ἂν θῇ τὰ διανοήματα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν κόλασιν (kolasin) τῆς ἀδικίας αὐτοῦ τάξῃ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλθῃ πρὸς τὸν προφήτην, ἐγὼ κύριος ἀποκριθήσομαι αὐτῷ ἐν οἷς ἐνέχεται ἡ διάνοια αὐτοῦ,
In Old Testaments based on the Masoretic, or “Hebrew” manuscripts the verses tend to read like so; From the KJV which is based on the Masoretic texts;
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
When these verses are put up in ‘alignment’ we find that the word in the Greek-based texts, kolasin (punishment as rendered in the English), is matched to the word in the Masoretic-based texts, “mikshole” or as it is rendered in the English “a stumbling block”.
This is not an uncommon occurrence throughout the Old Testament usage of kolasin, and its Masoretic equivalent. Of course, “stumbling block” should not be confused with its later usage (as far as I can correctly interpret through etymology alone) in the New Testament, where what the English Bibles render as “stumbling block” is translated from the Greek word “skandalon”, rather than kolasin. Through there may be significance and cross-interpretation between them, that is for a later study for now I want to look solely at the dual-usage between kolasin and mikshole in the Old Testament.
Now, kolasin and mikshole are Greek and Hebrew words respectively, and each is a “noun” form of a verbal root.
kolasis/kolasin; meaning “correction” or “punishment” or “penalty” - which comes from the verb kolazo; meaning:
to lop or prune, as trees and wings
to curb, check, restrain
to chastise, correct, punishment
to cause to be punished
mikshole, or mikshowl; meaning "“a stumbling” or “means or occasion of stumbling” or “stumbling block” or “stumbling” or “fall”; an obstacle to cause a fall, in essence. And this word drawn from the verb; kahsal; meaning:
to stumble, stagger, totter
(Qal)
to stumble
to totter
(Niphal)
to stumble
to be tottering, be feeble
(Hiphil)
to cause to stumble, bring injury or ruin to, overthrow
to make feeble, make weak
(Hophal) to be made to stumble
(Piel) bereave
Now, kolasin and mikshole cross-equivalence as I said is a common theme throughout the book of Ezekiel where kolasin is used in the Greek and mikshole is used in the Masoretic Hebrew.
Such examples here; Masoretic KJV, Brenton’s, and LXX listed respectively:
Ezekiel 14:7
For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
For any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who shall separate himself from me, and conceive his imaginations in his heart, and set before his face the punishment of his iniquity, and come to the prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will answer him, according to the things wherein he is entangled.
διότι ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Ισραηλ καὶ ἐκ τῶν προσηλύτων τῶν προσηλυτευόντων ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ, ὃς ἂν ἀπαλλοτριωθῇ ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ καὶ θῆται τὰ ἐνθυμήματα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν κόλασιν (Kolasin) τῆς ἀδικίας αὐτοῦ τάξῃ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλθῃ πρὸς τὸν προφήτην τοῦ ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν ἐμοί, ἐγὼ κύριος ἀποκριθήσομαι αὐτῷ ἐν ᾧ ἐνέχεται ἐν αὐτῷ·
Ezekiel 18:30
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
I will judge you, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, each one according to his way: be converted, and turn from all your ungodliness, and it shall not become to you the punishment of iniquity.
ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ κρινῶ ὑμᾶς, οἶκος Ισραηλ, λέγει κύριος· ἐπιστράφητε καὶ ἀποστρέψατε ἐκ πασῶν τῶν ἀσεβειῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται ὑμῖν εἰς κόλασιν (kolasin) ἀδικίας.
And from the CLV: translated also from the Hebrew rather than the Greek;
Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Yahweh, Turn you back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block,
In Ezekiel 18:30 we see the word rendered in the KJV as “ruin” and in the CLV as “stumbling block” from Mikshole, where as the Greek uses Kolasis/n.
My question with this is, what connections can we as Evangelical/Christian Universalists draw from the equivalent use of Mikshole and Kolasis in these verses, wherein presented at its first in the Old Testament? What applications can we make etymologically? What applications can we make theologically? And most importantly, what applications, connections, and otherwise edifications can we draw soteriologically?
In otherwords; Kolasis, and Mikshole…Discuss the conclusions, connections, perceptions?
Another similar thing, is where the Greek renders the word “kolasis/n” while the Masoretic Hebrew presents it with another word, in this case; Kalam.
In Ezekiel 43:11 we see it rendered as “ashamed” in the Masoretic, while the rest follow typical suit.
Ezekiel 43:11
And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
And they shall bear their **punishment **for all the things that they have done: and thou shalt describe the house, and its entrances, and the plan thereof, and all its ordinances, and thou shalt make known to them all the regulations of it, and describe them before them: and they shall keep all my commandments, and all my ordinances, and do them.
καὶ αὐτοὶ λήμψονται τὴν κόλασιν (kolasin) αὐτῶν περὶ πάντων, ὧν ἐποίησαν. καὶ διαγράψεις τὸν οἶκον καὶ τὰς ἐξόδους αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ὑπόστασιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντα τὰ προστάγματα αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ νόμιμα αὐτοῦ γνωριεῖς αὐτοῖς καὶ διαγράψεις ἐναντίον αὐτῶν, καὶ φυλάξονται πάντα τὰ δικαιώματά μου καὶ πάντα τὰ προστάγματά μου καὶ ποιήσουσιν αὐτά·
And from the CLV: translated from the Hebrew rather than the Greek;
And since they have been ashamed of all that they have done, The form of the house, and its measurement, And its outlets, and its inlets, and all its forms, And all its statutes, even all its forms, And all its laws cause them to know, And write [it] before their eyes, And they observe all its forms, And all its statutes, and have done them.
Kalam meaning;
to insult, shame, humiliate, blush, be ashamed, be put to shame, be reproached, be put to confusion, be humiliated
(Niphal)
to be humiliated, be ashamed
to be put to shame, be dishonoured, be confounded
(Hiphil)
to put to shame, insult, humiliate, cause shame to
to exhibit shame
(Hophal)
to be insulted, be humiliated
to be put to shame, be dishonoured, be confounded
Likewise, discussion on this would be fruitful I hope.*