Acts 7:51

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!
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

Context of Acts 7:51

49"'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50Did not my hand make all these things?' "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

Acts 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 32:9And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
• Exodus 33:3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."
• Exodus 34:9And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."
• Deuteronomy 9:6"Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.
• Deuteronomy 31:27For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death!
• 2 Chronicles 30:8Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
• Nehemiah 9:16"But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.
• Psalms 75:5do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.'"
• Psalms 78:8and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
• Isaiah 48:4Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
• Jeremiah 17:23Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.
• Ezekiel 2:4The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.'
• Zechariah 7:11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.
• Leviticus 26:41so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,
• Deuteronomy 10:16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
• Deuteronomy 30:6And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

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

• Character
• Court
• Government
• Holy Spirit
• Impenitence
• Readings, Select
• Reproof
• Self-Will

In the dictionaries

• Holy Ghost
• Charge
• Circumcision
• Resist
• Saying
• Stone
• Thrust
• Wisdom
• Acts of the Apostles
• Alway; Always

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