Deuteronomy 9:6-7

9:6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn ¹  people!

The History of Israel’s Stubbornness

9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget ²  – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. ³ 

Deuteronomy 31:27

31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. ⁴  Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! ⁵ 

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ⁶  people, with uncircumcised ⁷  hearts and ears! ⁸  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ⁹  did!

¹ tn Heb “stiff-necked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

² tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.

³ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise in the following verse with both “him” and “he”). See note on “he” in 9:3.

⁴ tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

⁵ tn Heb “How much more after my death?” The Hebrew text has a sarcastic rhetorical question here; the translation seeks to bring out the force of the question.

⁶ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

⁷ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

⁸ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”