Ezekiel 36:26-27

36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ¹  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ²  36:27 I will put my Spirit within you; ³  I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes ⁴  and carefully observe my regulations. ⁵ 

Isaiah 48:4

48:4 I did this ⁶  because I know how stubborn you are.

Your neck muscles are like iron

and your forehead like bronze. ⁷ 

Zechariah 7:12

7:12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, ⁸  so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.

Romans 2:4-5

2:4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know ⁹  that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 2:5 But because of your stubbornness ¹⁰  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ¹¹ 

¹ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).

² sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.

³ tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.

⁴ tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.

⁵ tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.

⁶ 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.

⁷ sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.

⁸ tn The Hebrew term שָׁמִיר (shamir) means literally “hardness” and since it is said in Ezek 3:9 to be harder than flint, many scholars suggest that it refers to diamond. It is unlikely that diamond was known to ancient Israel, however, so probably a hard stone like emery or corundum is in view. The translation nevertheless uses “diamond” because in modern times it has become proverbial for its hardness. A number of English versions use “flint” here (e.g., NASB, NIV).

⁹ tn Grk “being unaware.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

¹¹ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”