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!
• 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 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 earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? 50Has My hand not made all these things?’ “You stiff-necked and 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 foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept 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 indeed it is a stiff-necked people!
• Exodus 33:3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
• Exodus 34:9Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
• Deuteronomy 9:6Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
• Deuteronomy 31:27for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death?
• 2 Chronicles 30:8Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.
• Nehemiah 9:16“But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments.
• Psalms 75:5Do not lift up your horn on high; Do not speak with a stiff neck.’ ”
• Psalms 78:8And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
• Isaiah 48:4Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,
• Jeremiah 17:23But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
• Ezekiel 2:4For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’
• Zechariah 7:11“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.
• Leviticus 26:41and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—
• Deuteronomy 10:16Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
• Deuteronomy 30:6And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to 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