Amplified Bible
Acts 7:51
51“You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.
Acts 7:51 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
- New International Version (NIV)“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
- English Standard Version (ESV)"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
Context of Acts 7:51
49‘Heaven is My throne, And the earth is the footstool for My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord, ‘Or what place is there for My rest? 50Was it not My hand that made all these things?’ “You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did. 52Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53you who received the law as ordained and delivered to you by angels, and yet you did not obey it!”
Read all of Acts 7Acts 7:51 word by word
σκληροτράχηλοι καὶ ἀπερίτμητοι καρδίαις καὶ τοῖς ὠσίν, ὑμεῖς ἀεὶ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἀντιπίπτετε, ὡς οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ ὑμεῖς·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Yeσύsu · youG4771
- stiffneckedσκληροτράχηλοςsklērotrachēlos · stiff-neckedG4644
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- uncircumcisedἀπερίτμητοςaperitmētos · uncircumcisedG564
- in heartκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
- earsοὖςous · earG3775
- ye doἀντιπίπτωantipiptō · to resistG496
- alwaysἀείaei · alwaysG104
- theπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
- Holyἅγιοςhagios · holyG40
- asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- fathersπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
Cross-references for Acts 7:51
- Exodus 32:9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people.
- Exodus 33:3Go up to a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
- Exodus 34:9And he said, “If now I have found favor and lovingkindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, please, go in our midst, though it is a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your possession.”
- Deuteronomy 9:6“Know [without any doubt], that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) people.
- Deuteronomy 31:27For I know your rebellion and contention and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death?
- 2 Chronicles 30:8Now do not stiffen your neck [becoming obstinate] like your fathers, but yield to the Lord and come to His sanctuary which He has sanctified and set apart forever, and serve the Lord your God, so that His burning anger will turn away from you.
- Nehemiah 9:16“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They stiffened their necks and would not heed Your commandments.
- Psalms 75:5Do not lift up your [defiant and aggressive] horn on high, Do not speak with a stiff neck.’ ”
- Psalms 78:8And not be like their fathers— A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Isaiah 48:4Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron tendon And your brow is bronze [both unyielding],
- Jeremiah 17:23Yet they would not listen and obey and control their behavior; but they were stiff-necked in order not to hear and take instruction.
- Ezekiel 2:4I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’
- Zechariah 7:11But they refused to listen and pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder [stiffening themselves in resistance] and stopped up their ears.
- Leviticus 26:41I also was acting with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—then if their uncircumcised (sin-filled) hearts are humbled and they accept the punishment for their wickedness,
- Deuteronomy 10:16So circumcise [that is, remove sin from] your heart, and be stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) no longer.
- Deuteronomy 30:6“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants [that is, He will remove the desire to sin from your heart], so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live [as a recipient of His blessing].
Commentaries on Acts 7:51
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 51Ye stiff-necked - . 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 51Ye 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 51-53Verses 51-53 Stephen was going on, it seems, to show that the temple and the temple service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both to give way to the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth; but he perceived they would not bear it. Therefore he broke off, and by the Spirit of wisdom, courage, and power, sharply rebuked his persecutors. When plain arguments and truths provoke the opposers of the gospel, they should be shown their guilt…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 51Stephen accused the people of being stiff-necked with uncircumcised hearts and ears. This means they were strong-willed and ignored God's truth. This was exactly how God had accused them of behaving during the time of wilderness wandering. Here, Stephen links it to rejecting the gospel and resisting the Holy Spirit (see Exodus 32:9; 33:3; 34:9; Deuteronomy 9:6, 13; 31:27; see also Psalm 78:8; Zechariah 7:11–12).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 51-5351-53. Ye stiffnecked ... ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, &c.--It has been thought that symptoms of impatience and irritation in the audience induced Stephen to cut short his historical sketch. But as little farther light could have been thrown upon Israel's obstinacy from subsequent periods of the national history on the testimony of their own Scriptures, we should view this as the summing up, the brief import of the whole Israelitish…Read the comment
Topics related to Acts 7:51
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Acts 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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