Exodus 32:9
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Hebrew word · Strong H7186
What does stiff-necked mean?
Stiff-necked, in the Bible, describes people who harden themselves and refuse to be corrected by God. The Hebrew qasheh oreph means literally “hard of neck”, like an animal that will not bow its neck to the yoke. The King James, which spells it “stiffnecked”, uses it of Israel after the golden calf: “it is a stiffnecked people” (Exodus 32:9).
The Hebrew behind “stiffnecked”
קָשֶׁה
qâsheh · transliteration · kaw-sheh' · pronunciation
- In Strong’s lexicon
- severe (in various applications)
- In the King James
- hard5
- roughly5
- stiffnecked4
- cruel3
- grievous3
- Appears in
- 36 verses
See the full H7186 entry →Also in the lexicon: H6203 עֹרֶף · G4644 σκληροτράχηλος
The meaning of stiff-necked in the Bible
The phrase is born at Sinai. While Moses received the law, the people made the golden calf, and God said: “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people” (Exodus 32:9). Moses did not deny it; he asked forgiveness for it: “for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin” (Exodus 34:9). Stubbornness is not a lack of information — it is a refusal to bow.
That is why the remedy the Bible gives is inward: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” (Deuteronomy 10:16). Stephen repeats the charge in the New Testament with the Greek word sklerotrachelos: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost” (Acts 7:51). And Hebrews turns it into an appeal: “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).
Where the Bible speaks of it
Exodus 34:9
And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Isaiah 48:4
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
Proverbs 29:1
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Acts 7:51
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Frequently asked questions
- What does “stiff-necked people” mean?
- A people “hard of neck”: they will not bow their head, like an animal resisting the yoke — a people unwilling to be led by God. That is what God calls Israel after the golden calf (Exodus 32:9).
- How does someone stop being stiff-necked?
- The Bible answers with today: “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Stubbornness grows with time — “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed” (Proverbs 29:1) — which is why the invitation is for now.
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