Acts 7:51
in Acts 7You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
KJV
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
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This verse in Acts 7
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ye stiff-necked - The discourse of Stephen has every appearance of having been interrupted by the clamors and opposition of the Sanhedrin. This verse has no immediate connection with what precedes, and appears to have been spoken in the midst of opposition and clamor. If we may conjecture in this case, it would seem that the Jews saw the drift of his argument; that they interrupted him; and that when the tumult had somewhat subsided, he addressed them in the language of this verse, showing them that they sustained a character precisely similar to their rebellious fathers.
This site's exposition
stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears
on Acts 7:51-53
Stephen turns the recital into direct address, ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye, language drawn from Moses's own rebuke of Israel in Exodus and Deuteronomy rather than invented against them. His charge, which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted, and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers, is a prophet's indictment spoken from within Israel's own story, the same form Isaiah and Jeremiah used against the leaders of their own day. The charge falls on this council and that generation's rulers by name, in the very words their own Scriptures had already used of unfaithful leadership, and is not read by the bench as a verdict on the Jewish people as a whole.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
For what reason, when he had yet been speaking gently, does he now use a harsh tone? Because he saw that they were not paying attention with their minds to the things that were being said.
"You always resist the Holy Spirit." He did not say, "you resist God," but, "the Holy Spirit." Therefore he recognizes no distinction, since the Spirit is also God, even if he does not appear so to the godless. Therefore you always, he says, resist God. …
It shows the evil descending from above into them. So did Christ. Since great things were always being prayed for on behalf of the fathers.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoTRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.3.1-4 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Therefore when he sent the Holy Spirit, he manifested him visibly in two ways, as a dove and as fire; as a dove upon the baptized Lord, as fire upon the assembled disciples.… Here we saw a dove upon the Lord; there parted tongues upon the assembled disciples; in the one, simplicity is shown, in the other, fervor. For there are those who are said to be simple, and they are indolent; they are called simple, but they are lazy. Not such a one was Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit. He was simple, because he harmed no one; he was fervent, because he reproached the impious. For he did not keep silence before the Jews; his are those fiery words, "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you have always resisted the Holy Spirit." Great vehemence! He rages, but as a dove without bile. For, in order that you may know that he raged without bile, they who were ravens, when they heard these words, immediately ran for stones [to use] against the dove. Stephen began to be stoned; and he, who but a little before was raging and boiling spirit, as if he had attacked his enemies, and as if he had assailed them with violence by those fiery and blazing words as you have heard, "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears," so that he who heard these words might think that Stephen, if he were allowed, wished them immediately annihilated—when the rocks were coming on him from their hands, on his knees he said, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." He adhered to the unity of the dove. For earlier his master, on whom the dove descended, had done that; hanging on the cross, he said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
What is the reason that at this point he speaks in the tone of invective? Great was his boldness of speech, when at the point to die: for in fact I think he knew that this was the case. "Ye stiffnecked," he says, "and uncircumcised in heart and ears." This also is from the prophets: nothing is of himself. "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." When it was not His will that sacrifices should be, ye sacrifice: when it is His will, then again ye do not sacrifice: when He would not give you commandments, ye drew them to you: when ye got them, ye neglected them. Again, when the Temple stood, ye worshipped idols: when it is His will to be worshipped without a Temple, ye do the opposite.
7 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
Observe, he says not, "Ye resist God," but, "the Spirit:" so far was he from knowing any difference between Them. And, what is greater: "As your fathers did," he says, "so do ye." Thus also did Christ (reproach them), forasmuch as they were always boasting much of their fathers.
What is more manifest than the mystery of this "wood,"-that the obduracy of this world had been sunk in the profundity of error, and is freed in baptism by the "wood" of Christ, that is, of His passion; in order that what had formerly perished through the "tree" in Adam, should be restored through the "tree" in Christ? while we, of course, who have succeeded to, and occupy, the room of the prophets, at the present day sustain in the world that treatment which the prophets always suffered on account of divine religion: for some they stoned, some they banished; more, however, they delivered to mortal slaughter, -a fact which they cannot deny.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. He shows them that the circumcision of the foreskin, in which they gloried against the grace of the Gospel, is of no avail for salvation, who were proven to have unclean thoughts …
Why does he who until now had been speaking to the people gently here use harsh words? Because he saw that they were paying no attention to what was being said. "You always resist the Holy Spirit" – not only now. By this he shows …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Act vii, 57 So far were they from receiving the word of God into their hearts, that they would not hear it even with their ears. Ye - And your fathers, always - As often as ever ye are called, resist the Holy Ghost - Testifying by the prophets of Jesus, and the whole truth. This is the sum of what he had shown at large.
Ye stiffnecked,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye stiff-necked - Σκληροτραχηλοι. A metaphor taken from untoward oxen, who cannot be broken into the yoke; and whose strong necks cannot be bended to the right or the left. Uncircumcised in heart and ears - This was a Jewish mode of speech, often used by the prophets. Circumcision was instituted, not only as a sign and seal of the covenant into which the Israelites entered with their Maker, but also as a type of that purity and holiness which the law of God requires; hence there was an excision of what was deemed not only superfluous but also injurious; and by this cutting off, the propensity to that crime which ruins the body, debases the mind, and was generally the forerunner of idolatry, was happily lessened. It would be easy to prove this, were not the subject too delicate. Where the spirit of disobedience was found, where the heart was prone to iniquity, and the ears impatient of reproof and counsel, the person is represented as uncircumcised in those parts, because devoted to iniquity, impatient of reproof, and refusing to obey. In Pirkey Eliezer, chap. 29, “Rabbi Seira said, There are five species of uncircumcision in the world; four in man, and one in trees. Those in man are the following: - “1. Uncircumcision of the Ear. Behold, their Ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken, Jer 6:10. “2. The uncircumcision of the Lips. How shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised Lips? Exo 6:12. “3. Uncircumcision of Heart. If then their uncircumcised Hearts be humbled, Lev 26:41. Circumcise therefore the Foreskin of Your Heart, Deu 10:16; Jer 4:4. For all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the Heart, Jer 9:26. “4. The uncircumcision of the Flesh. Ye shall circumcise the Flesh of your Foreskin, etc., Gen 17:11.” Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost - 1. […]
The words behind it
20 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| σκληροτράχηλοι | sklerotracheloi | Stiff-necked | G4644 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀπερίτμητοι | aperitmetoi | uncircumcised | G564 → | |
| καρδίαις | kardiais | hearts | G2588 → | 156 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τοῖς | tois | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὠσίν, | osin | in ears, | G3775 → | 36 times |
| ὑμεῖς | humeis | you yourselves | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἀεὶ | aei | always | G104 → | |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πνεύματι | pneumati | Spirit | G4151 → | 378 times |
| τῷ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἁγίῳ | hagio | Holy | G40 → | 220 times |
| ἀντιπίπτετε, | antipiptete | resist, | G496 → | |
| ὡς | hos | as | G5613 → | 500 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πατέρες | pateres | fathers | G3962 → | 410 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὑμεῖς· | humeis | you; | G4771 → | 2973 times |
σκληροτράχηλοιStiff-necked
sklerotracheloiG4644 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀπερίτμητοιuncircumcised
aperitmetoiG564 →
καρδίαιςhearts
kardiaisG2588 →156 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τοῖς<the>
toisG3588 →19766 times
ὠσίν,in ears,
osinG3775 →36 times
ὑμεῖςyou yourselves
humeisG4771 →2973 times
ἀεὶalways
aeiG104 →
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
πνεύματιSpirit
pneumatiG4151 →378 times
τῷ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
ἁγίῳHoly
hagioG40 →220 times
ἀντιπίπτετε,resist,
antipipteteG496 →
ὡςas
hosG5613 →500 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
πατέρεςfathers
pateresG3962 →410 times
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὑμεῖς·you;
humeisG4771 →2973 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 4:30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Do not extinguish the Spirit.
- Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Ephesians 1:13–14
And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- Genesis 6:6
And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Through
Jeremiah 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…
it leads to
- Romans 2:28–29
A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 2:11
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Romans 2:28–29
Through
Deuteronomy 10:16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 30:6
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Acts; Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.3.1-4; Bede, Retractions on Acts; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 17; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.