Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 9:13
The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses at Mount Sinai, immediately after commanding him to descend quickly because Israel has already corrupted itself and crafted a molten image.
The words — רָאִ֙יתִי (ra.'I.ti) renders literally as “I have seen,” marking Yahweh’s direct observation of the nation’s immediate spiritual decline.
The thread — The pattern of covenant rebellion recurs in Deuteronomy 9:6, Deuteronomy 10:16, and 2 Kings 17:14, where stubborn resistance and repeated turning aside define Israel’s historical trajectory.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to confront the reality of ingrained disobedience and recognize that covenant standing demands active heart alignment rather than passive inheritance.
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
Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Cross-references
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- 2 Kings 17:14 But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
- Exodus 32:9 The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- 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!
- Genesis 11:5 Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
- Genesis 18:21 I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
- Psalms 50:7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
- Jeremiah 7:11 Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 13:27 Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields—I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”