Deuteronomy 31:27

For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses speaks to the assembled Israelites while still alive, immediately before instructing Joshua and commanding the placement of the Book of the Law beside the ark. He addresses the congregation at the threshold of his death, marking the transition of leadership.

The words — מֶרְיְךָ (mer.ye.kha) literally means "your rebellion," and עָרְפְּךָ הַקָּשֶׁה ('a.re.pe.ha.qa.shêh) translates to "your stiff neck." These phrases describe a fixed, unyielding posture of defiance that resists bending to authority.

The thread — The text records this same defiance in Exodus 32:8 regarding the immediate turning aside to a molten calf, and Deuteronomy 9:24 notes their continuous rebellion since the day Moses knew them. Deuteronomy 32:20 extends the pattern by labeling them a perverse generation and announcing divine concealment as their consequence.

Why it lands — The verse states that rebellion will intensify after Moses' death, establishing the necessity of a permanent written witness. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human leadership is temporary and that obedience must be anchored in the law itself rather than in the presence of a single figure.

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 Hebrew words

King James Version

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?

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 9:24 You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you.
Deuteronomy 32:20 He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness.
Exodus 32:8 How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
Deuteronomy 9:6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
2 Chronicles 30:8 Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.
Psalms 78:8 Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Isaiah 48:4 For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.