διὰ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 διὰ

   di-A

   through
2. sentence🔊 μὴ ἕνεκεν βρώματος κατάλυε τὸ ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ πάντα μὲν καθαρά ἀλλὰ κακὸν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ διὰ προσκόμματος ἐσθίοντι

   MÊ HE-ne-ken BRŌ-ma-tos ka-TA-ly-e to ER-gon TOU the-OU PAN-ta men ka-tha-RA al-LA ka-KON tôi an-THRŌ-pôi tôi di-A pros-KOM-ma-tos es-THI-on-ti

   not for the sake of food tear down the work of the God all things indeed clean but evil for the person who through stumbling block eating

Exegesis

The contrastive construction panta men kathara {πάντα μὲν καθαρά | pán-ta mèn ka-tha-rá} asserts that “all things” are ritually clean, while the adversative particle alla {ἀλλὰ | al-lá} introduces the qualifier kakon tō anthrōpō tō dia proskommatos esthionti {κακὸν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ διὰ προσκόμματος ἐσθίοντι | ka-kón tō an-thrṓ-pō tō di-á pros-kóm-ma-tos es-thí-on-ti}, linking “evil” to its effect on a person who eats by causing a stumbling. The dual article tō before the participle esthionti marks it as attributive, emphasizing the one who eats in a harmful way. English translations must supply the implied verb “are,” clarify the contrast men…alla, and make explicit that the evil resides not in the food but in causing harm to another’s faith.

Root and etymology

dialogismos🔊 διαλογισμόςdelta–iota–alpha–lambda–omicron–gamma–iota–sigma–mu–omicron–sigma

“reasoning, thought, argument”

• 🔊 διαλογίζομαιdialogízomaito reason, considerLuke 5:21
• 🔊 διαλογισμόςdialogismósdebate, disputePhilippians 2:14