Exodus 32:9
in Exodus 32The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
KJV
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
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This verse in Exodus 32
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
behold, it is a stiffnecked people
on Exodus 32:9-10
The word stiffnecked occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and it returns at 33:3, 33:5, 34:9 and Deuteronomy 9:6. Let me alone is an odd thing to say to a man who has said nothing, and Matthew Henry reads it as leaving the door open for the intercession that follows. The offer to make of Moses a great nation is the promise given to Abram at Genesis 12:2, and it is offered a second time after the spies at Numbers 14:12.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
So these sinners undergo a contrary experience: their necks which they fatally raised against the Lord are subjected to his sweet yoke with the humility which brings salvation. We recall that this often befell persecutors, so that having earlier maintained their idols by the most …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people,....
Note, Sin exposes us to the wrath of God; and that wrath, if it be not allayed by divine mercy, will burn us up as stubble. It were just with God to let the law have its course against sinners, and to cut them off immediately in the very act of sin; and, if he should do so, it would be neither loss nor dishonour to him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down--Intelligence of the idolatrous scene enacted at the foot of the mount was communicated to Moses in language borrowed from human passions and feelings, and the judgment of a justly offended God was pronounced in terms of just indignation against the gross violation of the so recently promulgated laws.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A stiff-necked people - Probably an allusion to the stiff-necked ox, the object of their worship.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The meaning of this cannot be “ let Me alone and I will become angry,” for if His anger had not been aroused yet, why should it wax hot as soon as Moses leaves Him alone?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Now leave Me alone [ leave your prayer from before Me ] and My wrath will blaze against them and destroy them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֑ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| רָאִ֙יתִי֙ | raiti | I have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֥ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [is] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| קְשֵׁה־ | kesheh- | stiff of | H7186 → | 36 times |
| עֹ֖רֶף | ʾoref | neck | H6203 → | 33 times |
| הֽוּא׃ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֑הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
רָאִ֙יתִי֙I have seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
עַם־[is] a people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
קְשֵׁה־stiff of
kesheh-H7186 →36 times
עֹ֖רֶףneck
ʾorefH6203 →33 times
הֽוּא׃it
hu'H1931 →1879 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
Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise 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…
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Through
Isaiah 48:4For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
it leads to
- Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Zechariah 7:11–12
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Proverbs 29:1
A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Ezekiel 3:4–9
Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.
- 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.
- Acts 7:51
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 128:4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.