Bible Strands
Nehemiah 9:16
But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah and the Levites address the returned community during a corporate confession, recounting the wilderness generation immediately after God supplied bread and water.
The words — The Hebrew הֵזִידוּ (he.Zi.du) literally means "they acted presumptuously," and יּקְשׁוּ (yak.Shu) means "they stiffened," both describing deliberate, physical resistance to divine instruction.
The thread — This same pattern of stiff-necked rejection appears in Nehemiah 9:29, Psalm 81:11, and Deuteronomy 31:27, where Israel repeatedly ignores explicit commands despite witnessed provision.
Why it lands — The text records a factual pattern of conscious disobedience before drawing any conclusion, requiring readers to measure their own response against stated commands rather than rely on emotional appeal.
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
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 9:29 You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
- Psalms 81:11 But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- 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!
- Nehemiah 9:10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.
- Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Hebrews 3:15 As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
- Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- Exodus 32:9 The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Deuteronomy 1:26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 5:29 If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.