Exodus 32:9

Contemporary English Version

Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD said to Moshe, "I have seen these people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people.

King James Version
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Lexham English Bible
And Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people.

New Century Version
The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and I know that they are very stubborn.

New English Translation
Then the Lord said to Moses: "I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are!

Amplified Bible
The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people.

New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Againe the Lord said vnto Moses, I haue seene this people, and beholde, it is a stiffe necked people.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai continued speaking to Moshe: "I have been watching these people; and you can see how stiffnecked they are.

Darby Translation
And Jehovah said to Moses, I see this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and I know that they are very stubborn. They will always turn against me.

English Standard Version
And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

George Lamsa Translation
And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold it is a stiff-necked people;

Good News Translation
I know how stubborn these people are.

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Literal Translation
And Jehovah said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the LORDE sayde vnto Moses: I se, that it is a styffnecked people,

American Standard Version
And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde sayd vnto Moyses, I haue seene this people: and beholde, it is a styfnecked people.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord said vnto Moses, I haue seene this people, and behold, it is a stiffenecked people.

English Revised Version
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Berean Standard Bible
The LORD also said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And eft the Lord seide to Moises, Y se, that this puple is of hard nol;

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `I have seen this people, and lo, it [is] a stiff-necked people;

Update Bible Version
And Yahweh said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, look, it is a stiff-necked people:

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold it [is] a stiff-necked people:

World English Bible
Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people.

New King James Version
And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!

New Living Translation
Then the Lord said, "I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.

New Life Bible
The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and see, they are a strong-willed people.

New Revised Standard
The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then Yahweh said unto Moses, - I have looked on this people, and lo! a stiff-necked people, it is.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And again the Lord said to Moses: I see that this people is stiffnecked:

Revised Standard Version
And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;

THE MESSAGE
God said to Moses, "I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I'll make a great nation out of you."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.

Contextual Overview

⁷ The Lord said to Moses: Hurry back down! Those people you led out of Egypt are acting like fools. ⁸ They have already stopped obeying me and have made themselves an idol in the shape of a young bull. They have bowed down to it, offered sacrifices, and said that it is the god who brought them out of Egypt. ⁹ Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are, ¹⁰ and I'm angry enough to destroy them, so don't try to stop me. But I will make your descendants into a great nation. ¹¹ Moses tried to get the Lord God to change his mind: Our Lord , you used your mighty power to bring these people out of Egypt. Now don't become angry and destroy them. ¹² If you do, the Egyptians will say that you brought your people out here into the mountains just to get rid of them. Please don't be angry with your people. Don't destroy them! ¹³ Remember the solemn promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised that someday they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and that you would give them land. ¹⁴ So even though the Lord had threatened to destroy the people, he changed his mind and let them live.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I have seen: Deuteronomy 9:13, Jeremiah 13:27, Hosea 6:10

a stiffnecked: Exodus 33:3, Exodus 33:5, Exodus 34:9, Deuteronomy 9:6, Deuteronomy 9:13, Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 31:27, 2 Chronicles 30:8, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalms 78:8, Proverbs 29:1, Isaiah 48:4, Zechariah 7:11, Zechariah 7:12, Acts 7:51

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:32 - I will not Nehemiah 9:16 - dealt Psalms 75:5 - speak Acts 13:46 - seeing

Cross-References

Genesis 17:7
I will always keep the promise I have made to you and your descendants, because I am your God and their God.

Genesis 28:13
The Lord was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping.

Genesis 31:3
One day the Lord said, "Jacob, go back to your relatives in the land of your ancestors, and I will bless you."

Genesis 31:13
and I am the God you worshiped at Bethel, when you poured olive oil on a rock and made a promise to me. Leave here right away and return to the land where you were born."

Genesis 31:29
I could easily hurt you, but the God your father worshiped has warned me not to make any threats or promises.

Genesis 31:42
If the fearsome God worshiped by Abraham and my father Isaac had not been on my side, you would have sent me away without a thing. But God saw my hard work, and he knew the trouble I was in, so he helped me. Then last night he told you how wrong you were.

Genesis 31:53
My father Nahor, your grandfather Abraham, and their ancestors all worshiped the same God, and he will make sure that we each keep the agreement. Then Jacob made a promise in the name of the fearsome God his father Isaac had worshiped.

Genesis 32:4
Jacob told them to say to Esau, "Master, I am your servant! I have lived with Laban all this time,

Genesis 32:6
When the messengers returned, they told Jacob, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is heading this way with four hundred men."

Genesis 32:7
Jacob was so frightened that he divided his people, sheep, cattle, and camels into two groups.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people,.... He had observed their ways and works, their carriage and behaviour; he had seen them before this time; he knew from all eternity what they would be, that their neck would be as an iron sinew, and their brow brass; but now he saw that in fact which he before saw as future, and they proved to be the people he knew they would be; besides, this is said to give Moses the true character of them, which might be depended upon, since it was founded upon divine knowledge and observation:

and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people; obstinate and self-willed, resolute in their own ways, and will not be reclaimed, inflexible and not subjected to the yoke of the divine law; a metaphor taken from such creatures as will not submit their necks or suffer the yoke or bridle to be put upon them, but draw back and slip away; or, as Aben Ezra thinks, to a man that goes on his way upon a run, and will not turn his neck to him that calls him, so disobedient and irreclaimable were these people.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord’s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in consequence of his natural disposition. See Numbers 12:3; and compare Exodus 3:11. With this trial of Moses repeated in a very similar manner Numbers 14:11-23, may be compared the trial of Abraham Genesis 22:0 and of our Saviour Matthew 4:8-10.

Exodus 32:8

These be thy gods ... have brought - This is thy god, O Israel, who has brought ...

Exodus 32:10

Let me alone - But Moses did not let the Lord alone; he wrestled, as Jacob had done, until, like Jacob, he obtained the blessing Genesis 32:24-29.

Exodus 32:14

This states a fact which was not revealed to Moses until after his second intercession when he had come down from the mountain and witnessed the sin of the people Exodus 32:30-34. He was then assured that the Lord’s love to His ancient people would prevail God is said, in the language of Scripture, to “repent,” when His forgiving love is seen by man to blot out the letter of His judgments against sin (2 Samuel 24:16; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:10, etc.); or when the sin of man seems to human sight to have disappointed the purposes of grace (Gen 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:35, etc.). The awakened conscience is said to “repent,” when, having felt its sin, it feels also the divine forgiveness: it is at this crisis that God, according to the language of Scripture, repents toward the sinner. Thus, the repentance of God made known in and through the One true Mediator reciprocates the repentance of the returning sinner, and reveals to him atonement.

Exodus 32:17-18

Moses does not tell Joshua of the divine communication that had been made to him respecting the apostasy of the people, but only corrects his impression by calling his attention to the kind of noise which they are making.

Exodus 32:19

Though Moses had been prepared by the revelation on the Mount, his righteous indignation was stirred up beyond control when the abomination was before his eyes.

Exodus 32:20

See Deuteronomy 9:21. What is related in this verse must have occupied some time and may have followed the rebuke of Aaron. The act was symbolic, of course. The idol was brought to nothing and the people were made to swallow their own sin (compare Micah 7:13-14).

Exodus 32:22

Aaron’s reference to the character of the people, and his manner of stating what he had done Exo. 5:24, are very characteristic of the deprecating language of a weak mind.

Exodus 32:23

Make us gods - Make us a god.

Exodus 32:25

Naked - Rather unruly, or “licentious”.

Shame among their enemies - Compare Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4; Deuteronomy 28:37.

Exodus 32:26-29

The tribe of Levi, Moses’ own tribe, now distinguished itself by immediately returning to its allegiance and obeying the call to fight on the side of Yahweh. We need not doubt that the 3,000 who were slain were those who persisted in resisting Moses. The spirit of the narrative forbids us to conceive that the act of the Levites was anything like an indiscriminate massacre. An amnesty had first been offered to all by the words: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Those who were forward to draw the sword were directed not to spare their closest relations or friends; but this must plainly have been with an understood qualification as regards the conduct of those who were to be slain. Had it not been so, they who were on the Lord’s side would have had to destroy each other. We need not stumble at the bold, simple way in which the statement is made.

Exodus 32:29

Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord ... - The margin contains the literal rendering. Our version gives the most probable meaning of the Hebrew, and is supported by the best authority. The Levites were to prove themselves in a special way the servants of Yahweh, in anticipation of their formal consecration as ministers of the sanctuary (compare Deuteronomy 10:8), by manifesting a self-sacrificing zeal in carrying out the divine command, even upon their nearest relatives.

Exodus 32:31

Returned unto the Lord - i. e. again he ascended the mountain.

Gods of gold - a god of gold.

Exodus 32:32

For a similar form of expression, in which the conclusion is left to be supplied by the mind of the reader, see Daniel 3:15; Luke 13:9; Luke 19:42; John 6:62; Romans 9:22. For the same thought, see Romans 9:3. It is for such as Moses and Paul to realize, and to dare to utter, their readiness to be wholly sacrificed for the sake of those whom God has entrusted to their love. This expresses the perfected idea of the whole burnt-offering.

Thy book - The figure is taken from the enrolment of the names of citizens. This is its first occurrence in the Scriptures. See the marginal references. and Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, etc.

Exodus 32:33, Exodus 32:34

Each offender was to suffer for his own sin. Compare Exodus 20:5; Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20. Moses was not to be taken at his word. He was to fulfill his appointed mission of leading on the people toward the land of promise.

Exodus 32:34

Mine Angel shall go before thee - See the marginal references and Genesis 12:7.

In the day when I visit ... - Compare Numbers 14:22-24. But though the Lord chastized the individuals, He did not take His blessing from the nation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 32:9. A stiff-necked people — Probably an allusion to the stiff-necked ox, the object of their worship.