Proverbs 29:1

29:1 The one who stiffens his neck ¹  after numerous rebukes ² 

will suddenly be destroyed ³  without remedy. ⁴ 

Isaiah 1:5

1:5 ⁵ Why do you insist on being battered?

Why do you continue to rebel? ⁶ 

Your head has a massive wound, ⁷ 

your whole body is weak. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ⁹ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ¹⁰ 

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ¹¹ 

They refuse to change their ways. ¹² 

Ezekiel 24:13-14

24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. ¹³ 

I tried to cleanse you, ¹⁴  but you are not clean.

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness ¹⁵ 

until I have exhausted my anger on you.

24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment ¹⁶  is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! ¹⁷  I will judge you ¹⁸  according to your conduct ¹⁹  and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

[29:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “healing” (NRSV).

[1:5]  ⁵ sn In vv. 5-9 Isaiah addresses the battered nation (5-8) and speaks as their representative (9).

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “Why are you still beaten? [Why] do you continue rebellion?” The rhetorical questions express the prophet’s disbelief over Israel’s apparent masochism and obsession with sin. The interrogative construction in the first line does double duty in the parallelism. H. Wildberger (Isaiah, 1:18) offers another alternative by translating the two statements with one question: “Why do you still wish to be struck that you persist in revolt?”

[1:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the head is ill”; NRSV “the whole head is sick”; CEV “Your head is badly bruised.”

[1:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and all the heart is faint.” The “heart” here stands for bodily strength and energy, as suggested by the context and usage elsewhere (see Jer 8:18; Lam 1:22).

[5:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ¹² tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[24:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”

[24:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.

[24:13]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”

[24:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”

[24:14]  ¹⁸ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”

[24:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “ways.”