Bible Strands
Exodus 32:9
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Moses immediately after detailing the Israelites' rapid departure into molten calf worship. The declaration occurs at the moment of divine assessment, preceding the offer to destroy the nation and start anew.
The words — רָאִ֙יתִי (ra.'I.ti) = I have seen; הָ/עָ֣ם (ha./'Am) = the people. The verb denotes direct, unmediated observation, while the noun phrase anchors the judgment to the specific group at Sinai.
The thread — Deuteronomy 9:13 repeats the identical declaration, establishing it as a recurring divine assessment. Acts 7:51 applies the phrase to spiritual resistance, while Isaiah 48:4 expands the metaphor to describe entrenched rebellion.
Why it lands — The text states God's direct observation of Israel's immediate idolatry before any inference about their nature is drawn. It requires the reader to acknowledge the documented pattern of covenant defiance and its immediate consequences.
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
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Cross-references
- Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Isaiah 48:4 For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
- Deuteronomy 9:13 The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- 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.”
- 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 34:9 “O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.