Deuteronomy 31:27

31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. ¹  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! ² 

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, ³  and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

Deuteronomy 1:13

1:13 Select wise and practical ⁴  men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.”

Proverbs 29:1

29:1 The one who stiffens his neck ⁵  after numerous rebukes ⁶ 

will suddenly be destroyed ⁷  without remedy. ⁸ 

Isaiah 48:4

48:4 I did this ⁹  because I know how stubborn you are.

Your neck muscles are like iron

and your forehead like bronze. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 7:26

7:26 But your ancestors ¹¹  did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate ¹²  and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”

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 ¹³  that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 2:5 But because of your stubbornness ¹⁴  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ¹⁵ 

Hebrews 3:7-8

Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith

3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ¹⁶ 

“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ¹⁷ 

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

[31:27]  ¹ tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

[31:27]  ² 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.

[31:2]  ³ tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”

[1:13]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).

[29:1]  ⁵ tn The idiom “to harden the neck” (מַקְשֶׁה־עֹרֶף, maqsheh-’oref) is the idea of resisting the rebukes and persisting in obstinacy (e.g., Exod 32:9). The opposite of a “stiff neck” would be the bending back, i.e., submission.

[29:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew construction is אִישׁ תּוֹכָחוֹת (’ish tokhakhot, “a man of rebukes”), meaning “a man who has (or receives) many rebukes.” This describes a person who is deserving of punishment and who has been given many warnings. The text says, then, “a man of rebukes hardening himself.”

[29:1]  ⁷ sn The stubborn person refuses to listen; he will suddenly be destroyed when the calamity strikes (e.g., Prov 6:15; 13:18; 15:10).

[29:1]  ⁸ tn Or “healing” (NRSV).

[48:4]  ⁹ 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.

[48:4]  ¹⁰ sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.

[7:26]  ¹¹ tn Or “But your predecessors…”; Heb “But they….” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25-26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21-22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b-24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22-24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.

[7:26]  ¹² tn Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “being unaware.”

[2:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[3:7]  ¹⁶ sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.

[3:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”