Bible Strands
Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Stephen addresses the Jewish council, concluding his historical review and immediately preceding his accusation that they have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One. The speech targets the same lineage he just condemned for persecuting the prophets.
The words — σκληροτρὲχηλοι (sklērotrachēloi) literally means stiff-necked, and ἀπερὰτμητοι (aperitmētoi) means uncircumcised. These terms describe the physical posture of stubborn refusal and the spiritual condition of unremoved fleshly barriers.
The thread — The phrase appears in Deuteronomy 10:16 and Jeremiah 4:4 as commands to remove internal resistance, while Isaiah 63:10 links grieving the Holy Spirit to rebellion. Both the old covenant commands and the prophetic warnings target the same stubborn disposition.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that external ritual cannot override persistent spiritual defiance. It requires readers to examine whether their own resistance to divine direction mirrors the pattern condemned in the passage.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”
- Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- Leviticus 26:41 and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
- Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
- Exodus 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”
- Exodus 32:9 The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Jeremiah 6:10 To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
- Exodus 33:3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”