Luke 17:1

It is impossible (anendekton estin). See ouk endecetai in Romans 13:33 . Alpha privative (an-) and endekto, verbal adjective, from endecomai. The word occurs only in late Greek and only here in the N.T. The meaning is inadmissible, unallowable. But that occasions of stumbling should come (tou ta skandala mh elqein). This genitive articular infinitive is not easy to explain. In Acts 10:25 there is another example where the genitive articular infinitive seems to be used as a nominative (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1040). The loose Hebrew infinitive construction may have a bearing here, but one may recall that the original infinitives were either locatives (-eni) or datives (-ai). Ta skandala is simply the accusative of general reference. Literally, the not coming as to occasions of stumbling. For skandalon (a trap) see on Matthew 5:29 ; Matthew 16:23 . It is here only in Luke. The positive form of this saying appears in Matthew 18:7 , which see.