But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn’t believe in Yahweh their God.
- KJV Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
- BSB But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
- NKJV Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.
- NASB However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel refused to listen and hardened their necks like their unbelieving ancestors. Their stubborn unbelief lay beneath their disobedience.
Overview
The people would not heed the prophets, stiffening their necks as their fathers had done in the wilderness. The narrator traces their disobedience to its root: they 'did not believe in the LORD their God.' This diagnosis shows that unbelief is the soil from which rebellion grows, underscoring why Scripture so prizes faith in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Deut 31:27For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. How much more after my death?
- Jer 7:26yet they didn’t listen to me, nor did they incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.
- Rom 2:4–5Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
- Heb 3:7–8Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,
- Ps 78:22because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation.
- Ps 78:32For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.
- Prov 29:1He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.
- Deut 1:32Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God,
- Heb 3:12Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
- Ps 106:24Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word,
- Isa 48:4Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass;
- Exod 32:9Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.
- 2 Chr 36:13He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 17:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.