NECK. The most usual words are ‘ôreph and tsavvâr in Heb., and trachçlos in Greek. Chains upon the neck were a common ornament ( Proverbs 1:9 etc., Ezekiel 16:11 ). To fall upon one another’s neck has from old time been an affectionate form of greeting in the East ( Genesis 33:4 etc.). The neck under yoke meant subjection and servitude ( Deuteronomy 28:48 etc.); breaking of the yoke meant deliverance ( Genesis 27:40 , Jeremiah 30:8 ). Stiff or hard of neck ( Deuteronomy 31:27 etc.) signified one difficult to guide, like a hard-necked bullock in the furrow. To put the foot upon the neck of a foe, meant his utter overthrow ( Joshua 10:24 etc.). To put the neck to work ( Nehemiah 3:5 ) was a phrase equivalent to our own ‘put a hand to.’
W. Ewing.