Exodus 32:9

Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it [is] a stiffnecked people:

Ver. 9. A stiffnecked people.] And so they are still to this very day. Jerome {a} complains that in his time they thrice a day curse {a} Christ in their synagogue, and closed up their prayers with Maledic, Domine, Nazaraeis. They are thought to advise most of that mischief which the Turk puts in execution against Christians. They counterfeit Christianity in Portugal even to the degree of priesthood, and think they may do it, either for the avoiding of danger, or increasing their substance. There are very few of them that turn Christians in good earnest: Adeo in cordibus eorum radices fixit pertinacitas. {b} So stubborn they are to this day, and stiffnecked, their necks are wholly possessed with an iron sinew.

{a} Jerome, in Isa., lib. xii. cap. 49, tom. 5, et lib. xiv. cap. 42.

{b} Rivet., Jesuita Vapul., 322.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 32:9. A stiff-necked people — Untractable, wilful, and stubborn; unapt to come under the yoke of the divine law, averse from all good, and prone to all evil, incorrigible by judgments, and obstinate to all the methods of cure.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32:9-10 God was apparently prepared to disown his people, since they had broken their covenant with him.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. A stiff-necked people] Probably an allusion to the stiff-necked ox, the object of their worship.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) It is a stiff-necked people.—This phrase, afterwards so common (Exo_33:3; Exo_33:5; Exo_34:5; Deu_9:6; Deu_9:13; Deu_10:16; 2Ch_30:8; 2Ch_36:13; Psa_75:5; Jer_17:23; Act_7:51), occurs here for the first time. It is generally explained as “obstinate,” but rather means “perverse,” the metaphor being taken from the horse that stiffens his neck against the pull of the rein, and will not be guided by the rider. The LXX. omit the verse, for no intelligible reason.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. stiffnecked] so Exo_33:3; Exo_33:5; Exo_34:9; Deu_9:6; Deu_9:13 (repeated from here)†.

9–14. Jehovah declares that He will exterminate the people: but allows Himself to be diverted from His purpose by Moses’ intercession.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people,.... He had observed their ways and works, their carriage and behaviour; he had seen them before this time; he knew from all eternity what they would be, that their neck would be as an iron sinew, and their brow brass; but now he saw that in fact which he before saw as future, and they proved to be the people he knew they would be; besides, this is said to give Moses the true character of them, which might be depended upon, since it was founded upon divine knowledge and observation:

and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people; obstinate and self-willed, resolute in their own ways, and will not be reclaimed, inflexible and not subjected to the yoke of the divine law; a metaphor taken from such creatures as will not submit their necks or suffer the yoke or bridle to be put upon them, but draw back and slip away; or, as Aben Ezra thinks, to a man that goes on his way upon a run, and will not turn his neck to him that calls him, so disobedient and irreclaimable were these people.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And again. The Septuagint omit this verse. Moses, at the first intimation of the people’s sin, fell prostrate before the Lord, to sue for pardon, and pleaded the natural weakness of an ungovernable multitude, in order to extenuate their fault. This God admits. --- I see, &c. But while he seems bent on punishing them, to try his servant, he encourages him inwardly to pray with fervour. (Salien.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Untractable, wilful, and stubborn, incorrigible by my judgments, ungovernable by mine or by any laws. A metaphor from those beasts that will not bend their necks to receive the yoke or bridle.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. A stiffnecked people — Unmanageable and perverse, like the ox that stoutly resists all efforts to guide or drive him. Comp. the same expression in Exo_33:3; Exo_33:5; Exo_34:9; Deu_9:6; Deu_9:13.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A stiffnecked people. This epithet, which becomes epitheton usitatum, is here used for the first time. It does not so much mean "obstinate" as "perverse" like a horse that stiffens the neck when the driver pulls the right or left rein, and will not go the way he is wanted to go. (Compare Exo_33:3, 5 34:9; Deu_9:6, 13 31:27; etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is a stiff-necked people - Unapt to come under the yoke of the divine law, averse to all good, and prone to evil, obstinate to the methods of cure.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I have seen this people

Here Yahweh compares knowing the people to seeing them. AT: "I know this people" (See: Metaphor)

a stiff-necked people

Yahweh speaks of the people being stubborn as if they had stiff necks. AT: "a stubborn people" (See: Metaphor)

Now then

The word "now" is used here to mark a break in what Yahweh was telling Moses. Here Yahweh tells what he will do to the people.

My anger will burn hot against them

Yahweh speaks of his anger as if it were a fire that could burn hot. AT: "My anger towards them will be terrible" or "I am extremely angry with them" (See: Metaphor)

from you

The word "you" refers to Moses. (See: Forms of You)

why does your anger burn against your people ... a mighty hand?

Moses used this question to to try to persuade Yahweh not to be so angry with his people. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "Do not let your anger burn against your people ... a mighty hand." or "Do not be so angry with your people ... a mighty hand." (See: Metaphor and Rhetorical Question)

great power ... mighty hand

These two phrases share similar meanings and are combined for emphasis. (See: Doublet)

a mighty hand

Here the word "hand" refers to the things Yahweh did. AT: "and the powerful things you did" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Yahweh

stiff-necked

anger

nation

power

might

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

קשה ערף STIFF-NECKED — They turn their stiffened necks towards those who reprove them (i e. they turn their back upon them) and refuse to listen.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.