Bible Encyclopedia: Stiff-necked

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

STIFF-NECKED

stif'-nekt (qesheh `oreph, literally, "hard of neck"): As it is figuratively used, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the word means "stubborn," "untractable," "not to be led." The derivation of the idea was entirely familiar to the Jews, with whom the ox was the most useful and common of domestic animals. It was especially used for such agricultural purposes as harrowing and plowing (Judges 14:18 1 Corinthians 9:9).

The plow was usually drawn by two oxen. As the plowman required but one hand to guide the plow, he carried in the other an "ox-goad." This was a light pole, shod with an iron spike. With this he would prick the oxen upon the hind legs to increase their speed, and upon the neck to turn, or to keep a straight course when deviating. If an ox was hard to control or stubborn, it was "hard of neck," or stiff-necked. Hence, the figure was used in the Scriptures to express the stubborn, untractable spirit of a people not responsive to the guiding of their God (Exodus 32:9; Exodus 33:3 Deuteronomy 9:6 2 Chronicles 36:13 Jeremiah 17:23, etc.). See also the New Testament where sklerotrachelos, is so translated (Acts 7:51), "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit.". Compare Baruch 2:30, 33.

Arthur Walwyn Evans

Greek

4644. sklerotrachelos -- stiff-necked
... stiff-necked. From skleros and trachelos; hardnaped, ie (figuratively) obstinate --
stiffnecked. see GREEK skleros. see GREEK trachelos. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4644.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

7186. qasheh -- hard, severe
... churlish, cruel, grievous, hard((-hearted), thing), heavy, + impudent, obstinate,
prevailed, rough(-ly), sore, sorrowful, stiff((necked)), stubborn, + in ...
/hebrew/7186.htm - 6k

6203. oreph -- back of the neck, neck
... stiff-necked. From araph; the nape or back of the neck (as declining); hence, the
back generally (whether literal or figurative) -- back ((stiff-)neck((-ed). ...
/hebrew/6203.htm - 6k

Library

Stiff-Necked Idolaters and Pliable Christians
... STIFF-NECKED IDOLATERS AND PLIABLE CHRISTIANS. 'Hath a nation changed their
gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed ...
/.../stiff-necked idolaters and pliable christians.htm

The Highway of Holiness
... To be broken means to be "not I, but Christ." There is in every one of us a proud,
stiff-necked "I." The stiff neck began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/hession/the calvary road/chapter 4 the highway of.htm

John Chapter i. 32, 33
... His are those burning words: "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart and ears,
ye do always resist the Holy Spirit." Mighty impetuosity; but it is the dove ...
/.../augustine/homilies on the gospel of john/tractate vi john chapter i.htm

Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
... Not by the merit of their devotion, as Moses often hinted, did the Jews become the
people of God; they were ever stiff-necked and continually rebelled against ...
/.../luther/epistle sermons vol iii/ninth sunday after trinity carnal.htm

A Loving Call to Reunion
... up to desolation, as ye see.8. Now, be ye not stiffnecked, as your ... in a variety of
ways; namely, turning to Jehovah, not being stiff-necked, yielding selves to ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/a loving call to reunion.htm

Expositions of Holy Scripture
... THE SYMPATHY OF GOD. HOW TO MEET GOD. 'THE GOD OF THE AMEN'. STIFF-NECKED IDOLATERS
AND PLIABLE CHRISTIANS. FORSAKING JEHOVAH. A COLLOQUY BETWEEN A PENITENT AND ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/

Evans -- the Fall and Recovery of Man
... Man is a hard-hearted and stiff-necked sinner; loving darkness rather than light,
because his deeds are evil; eating sin like bread, and drinking iniquity like ...
/.../kleiser/the worlds great sermons volume 3/evans the fall and.htm

Mercy's Master Motive
... The generation following were stiff-necked and rebellious like their fathers,
and they continually went astray after false gods. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 18 1872/mercys master motive.htm

Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief.
... has been maintained. It has often been said, that they were stiff-necked
and hard-hearted beyond the rest of the world. Now, even ...
/.../newman/parochial and plain sermons vol viii/sermon vi miracles no remedy.htm

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
... But this people was stiff-necked, heedless, and unthankful, and did not do as God
had commanded by the mouth of His servants, but was continually self-willed ...
/.../vii sermon for the fourth.htm

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(a.) Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people.

Thesaurus

Stiffnecked (9 Occurrences)
... See also the New Testament where sklerotrachelos, is so translated (Acts 7:51),
"Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ...Stiffnecked (9 Occurrences). ...
/s/stiffnecked.htm - 11k

Stiff-necked (18 Occurrences)
Stiff-necked. Stiffnecked, Stiff-necked. Stiffness . Noah Webster's Dictionary ...
Stiffnecked, Stiff-necked. Stiffness . Reference Bible.
/s/stiff-necked.htm - 14k

Obstinate (12 Occurrences)
... NAS NIV). Exodus 32:9 Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and
behold, they are a stiff-necked people. (See NAS). Exodus ...
/o/obstinate.htm - 10k

Stiff (23 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 9:6 Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn't give you this good
land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people. ...
/s/stiff.htm - 14k

Stubborn (40 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 9:6 Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn't give you this good
land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people. ...
/s/stubborn.htm - 18k

Neck (97 Occurrences)
... Compare sklerotracholes, "stiffnecked" (Acts 7:51). ... God doesn't give you this good
land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people ...
/n/neck.htm - 45k

Necked (3 Occurrences)
... 1. (imp. & pp) of Neck. 2. (a.) Having (such) a neck; -- chiefly used in composition;
as, stiff-necked. 3. (a.) Cracked; -- said of a treenail. ...
/n/necked.htm - 7k

Consume (136 Occurrences)
... Exodus 33:3 to a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst
of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way ...
/c/consume.htm - 40k

Destroy (379 Occurrences)
... Exodus 33:3 Go up to that land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up
among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, for fear that I send destruction ...
/d/destroy.htm - 37k

Uncircumcised (48 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Uncircumcised (48 Occurrences). Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! ...
/u/uncircumcised.htm - 25k

Bible Concordance

Stiff-necked (18 Occurrences)

Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
(WEB WEY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 32:9 Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.
(WEB BBE DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Exodus 33:3 to a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way."
(WEB BBE DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Exodus 33:5 Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell the children of Israel,'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up into your midst for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.'"
(WEB BBE DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Exodus 34:9 He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."
(WEB BBE DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 9:6 Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn't give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people.
(WEB BBE DBY WBS NIV)

Deuteronomy 9:13 Furthermore Yahweh spoke to me, saying, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people:
(WEB BBE DBY WBS NIV)

Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.
(WEB WBS)

Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?
(See NIV)

2 Kings 17:14 And they did not give ear, but became stiff-necked, like their fathers who had no faith in the Lord their God.
(BBE NIV)

2 Chronicles 30:8 Now don't you be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves to Yahweh, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve Yahweh your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
(WEB WBS RSV NIV)

2 Chronicles 36:13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD, the God of Israel.
(See NIV)

Nehemiah 9:17 And would not do them, and gave no thought to the wonders you had done among them; but made their necks stiff, and turning away from you, made a captain over themselves to take them back to their prison in Egypt: but you are a God of forgiveness, full of grace and pity, slow to wrath and great in mercy, and you did not give them up.
(See NIV)

Nehemiah 9:29 and dost testify against them, to bring them back unto Thy law; and they -- they have acted proudly, and have not hearkened to Thy commands, and against Thy judgments have sinned, -- which man doth and hath lived in them -- and they give a refractory shoulder, and their neck have hardened, and have not hearkened.
(See NIV)

Psalms 78:8 And not be like their fathers, a stiff-necked and uncontrolled generation; a generation whose heart was hard, whose spirit was not true to God.
(BBE)

Proverbs 29:1 A man hating sharp words and making his heart hard, will suddenly be broken and will not be made well again.
(See NIV)

Jeremiah 7:26 yet they hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff; they did worse than their fathers.
(See NIV)

Jeremiah 19:15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they might not hear My words.'
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Stiff-Necked

Related Terms

Stiff-necked (18 Occurrences)

Obstinate (12 Occurrences)

Stiff (23 Occurrences)

Stubborn (40 Occurrences)

Neck (97 Occurrences)

Necked (3 Occurrences)

Consume (136 Occurrences)

Destroy (379 Occurrences)

Uncircumcised (48 Occurrences)