Isaiah 48:4
in Isaiah 48For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
KJV
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
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This verse in Isaiah 48
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBecause I knew that thou art obstinate,.... Or "hard" (a), hard hearted, an obdurate and rebellious people, contradicting and gainsaying: and thy neck is as an iron sinew; stiffnecked, inflexible, not compliant with the will of God, and his commands; unwilling to admit his yoke, and bear it: and thy brow brass; impudent, not ashamed of sin, nor blushing at it, refusing to receive correction for it, having a whore's forehead.
This site's exposition
I foretold the former things long ago
on Isaiah 48:3-5
“I foretold the former things long ago” carries on the argument from prediction. Verse 4 gives the reason, “your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze”, the stubbornness Moses names in Israel. Verse 5 states the purpose, so that Israel could not claim, “My idol has done this”.
This site's exposition
your neck is iron
Gill reads the iron neck as people unwilling to bear the yoke of God, the bronze forehead as a face that cannot blush at sin. Barnes draws the purpose from it. The LORD foretold so much, so plainly, for a people prone to unbelief.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Instructed by this passage, the divine Stephen in his turn says to the Jews, "You stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you." And also through the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah, the God …
Behold, you have heard all things that are to come, and yet you conceal the truth in silence. I do not speak of past events, in which my power has often been proven, such as when I led the people out of Egypt, drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, gave them the promised land, and subjected various nations to you. But I announce the new things that I am going to do against Babylon, so that the impudence of your mouth may be refuted, you who claim to know what you do not know.
(Verse 3, 4 and following) I announced the former things long ago, they went out from my mouth, and I made them heard. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze. I foretold them to you long ago, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idols did these things, and my carved images and molded idols commanded them.' You have heard; see all this. And will you not declare it?
These words would not be of any help to you if you had not been already warned. Nevertheless, dwelling in my loving-kindness, I still bear witness and distinguish you from those assembled in Babylon and the Chaldeans about to attack you. Open your eyes! As you see the foretold destruction taking hold when the warriors come from Babylon, you will know with understanding that God has told you these things would happen and you can call on his help when the predicted end strikes. These things are available to you from my words.
A commentator
Gregory of NazianzusON HIS FATHER'S SILENCE, ORATION 16:11-12 · Written before 390.
proposed
Perchance he will say to me, who am not reformed even by blows, "I know that you are obstinate and your neck is an iron sinew, the heedless is heedless, and the lawless person acts lawlessly, and for nothing comes correction from heaven and the scourges." The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed, as I once reprimanded you by the mouth of Jeremiah: "The founder melted the silver in vain; your wickednesses are not melted away." … May it not be that I should ever, among other chastisements, be thus approached by him who is good, and yet by my own contrariness continue to walk against his goodness. This causes God to walk against me in fury.
3 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he sets out the reason for this, which is taken from their condition, which he sets out first: for I knew, from eternity; stubborn toward coming to your senses from evils; your neck, that is, the stiff-necked obstinacy of your own understanding; an iron …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thy brow is brass; thou art impudent and canst not blush, insolent and wilt not fear or give back, but wilt thrust on in the way of thy heart." God uses means to bring sinners to comply with him, though he knows they are obstinate.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Because I knew that thou art obstinate - I made these frequent predictions, and fulfilled them in this striking manner, because I knew that as a people, you were prone to unbelief, and in order that you might have the most full and undoubted demonstration of the truth of what was declared.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִדַּעְתִּ֕י | mida'ti | for knew I | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קָשֶׁ֖ה | kasheh | [were] stubborn | H7186 → | 36 times |
| אָ֑תָּה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וְגִ֤יד | vegid | and [was] a sinew of | H1517 → | |
| בַּרְזֶל֙ | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| עָרְפֶּ֔ךָ | ʾarepekha | neck your | H6203 → | |
| וּמִצְחֲךָ֖ | umitzchakha | and forehead your | H4696 → | |
| נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ | nechushah | [was] bronze | H5154 → |
מִדַּעְתִּ֕יfor knew I
mida'tiH3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
קָשֶׁ֖ה[were] stubborn
kashehH7186 →36 times
אָ֑תָּהyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וְגִ֤ידand [was] a sinew of
vegidH1517 →
בַּרְזֶל֙iron
barzelH1270 →76 times
עָרְפֶּ֔ךָneck your
ʾarepekhaH6203 →
וּמִצְחֲךָ֖and forehead your
umitzchakhaH4696 →
נְחוּשָֽׁה׃[was] bronze
nechushahH5154 →
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.
- Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- 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
Proverbs 29:1A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
it leads to
- Proverbs 6:15
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
- 1 Samuel 2:25
If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since…
- Proverbs 28:18
He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
- Zechariah 7:11–14
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Proverbs 6:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:33; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON HIS FATHER'S SILENCE, ORATION 16:11-12; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 15:48.4-8 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.