Deuteronomy 9:6

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!

Deuteronomy 32:20

32:20 He said, “I will reject them, ² 

I will see what will happen to them;

for they are a perverse generation,

children ³  who show no loyalty.

Exodus 32:8

32:8 They have quickly turned aside ⁴  from the way that I commanded them – they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 32:2

32:2 So Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ⁵ 

Exodus 30:8

30:8 When Aaron sets up the lamps around sundown he is to burn incense on it; it is to be a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.

Psalms 78:8

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God. ⁶ 

Isaiah 48:4

48:4 I did this ⁷  because I know how stubborn you are.

Your neck muscles are like iron

and your forehead like bronze. ⁸ 

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ⁹  people, with uncircumcised ¹⁰  hearts and ears! ¹¹  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ¹²  did!

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

² tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”

³ tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”

⁴ tn The verb is a perfect tense, reflecting the present perfect nuance: “they have turned aside” and are still disobedient. But the verb is modified with the adverb “quickly” (actually a Piel infinitive absolute). It has been only a matter of weeks since they heard the voice of God prohibiting this.

⁵ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 937-38) argues that Aaron simply did not have the resolution that Moses did, and wanting to keep peace he gave in to the crowd. He also tries to explain that Aaron was wanting to show their folly through the deed. U. Cassuto also says that Aaron’s request for the gold was a form of procrastination, but that the people quickly did it and so he had no alternative but to go through with it (Exodus, 412). These may be right, since Aaron fully understood what was wrong with this, and what the program was all about. The text gives no strong indication to support these ideas, but there are enough hints from the way Aaron does things to warrant such a conclusion.

⁶ tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).

⁷ tn The words “I did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 4 is subordinated to v. 3.

⁸ sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.

⁹ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

¹² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”