Isaiah 48:4
2 who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
3 I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
5 Therefore I declared it to you long ago; I announced it before it came to pass, so that you could not claim, ‘My idol has done this; my carved image and molten god has ordained it.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
- KJV
- Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
- WEB
- Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;
- ASV
- Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
- DARBY
- Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass,
- BLB
- From my knowing that you [are] obstinate, and your neck [is] an iron sinew, and your forehead bronze,
- ÅB
- Fordi jeg visste at du er hård, og din nakke en jernsene, og din panne av kobber,
- OTB
- Fordi Jeg visste hvor sta du er, din nakke er en jernsene og din panne bronse,
- B1930
- Fordi jeg visste at du er hård, og din nakke en jernsene, og din panne av kobber,
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Read in contextExodus 32:9
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
Read in contextZechariah 7:11–12
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
Read in contextProverbs 29:1
A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
Read in contextEzekiel 3:4–9
Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.
Read in contextRomans 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.
Read in contextJeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
Read in contextJeremiah 19:15
“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”
Read in context