Exodus 32:9

32:9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. ¹  Look ²  what a stiff-necked people they are! 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 

Deuteronomy 31:2

31:2 He said to them, “Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, ⁶  and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

Deuteronomy 30:8

30:8 You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving ⁷  you today.

Isaiah 48:4

48:4 I did this ⁸  because I know how stubborn you are.

Your neck muscles are like iron

and your forehead like bronze. ⁹ 

Ezekiel 2:4

2:4 The people ¹⁰  to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, ¹¹  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ ¹² 

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ¹³  people, with uncircumcised ¹⁴  hearts and ears! ¹⁵  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ¹⁶  did!

¹ sn This is a bold anthropomorphism; it is as if God has now had a chance to get to know these people and has discovered how rebellious they are. The point of the figure is that there has been discernible evidence of their nature.

² tn Heb “and behold” or “and look.” The expression directs attention in order to persuade the hearer.

³ sn B. Jacob says the image is that of the people walking before God, and when he called to them the directions, they would not bend their neck to listen; they were resolute in doing what they intended to do (Exodus, 943). The figure describes them as refusing to submit, but resisting in pride.

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 tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”

⁷ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I now enjoin on you.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.

¹⁰ tn Heb “sons.” The word choice may reflect treaty idiom, where the relationship between an overlord and his subjects can be described as that of father and son.

¹¹ tc Heb “stern of face and hard of heart.” The phrases “stern of face” and “hard of heart” are lacking in the LXX.

¹² tn The phrase “thus says [the Lord]” occurs 129 times in Ezekiel; the announcement is identical to the way messengers often introduced their messages (Gen 32:5; 45:9; Exod 5:10; Num 20:14; Judg 11:15).

¹³ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

¹⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”