Éxodo 32:9

9 Después el Señor
dijo:
—He visto lo terco y rebelde que es este pueblo.

Éxodo 32:9 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 32:9

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.

Éxodo 32:9 In-Context

7 El Señor
le dijo a Moisés:
—¡Baja ya de la montaña! Tu pueblo, el que sacaste de la tierra de Egipto, se ha corrompido.

8 ¡Qué pronto se apartaron de la forma en que les ordené que vivieran! Fundieron oro y se hicieron un becerro, y se inclinaron ante él y le ofrecieron sacrificios. Andan diciendo: “Oh Israel, estos son tus dioses, que te sacaron de la tierra de Egipto”.

9 Después el Señor
dijo:
—He visto lo terco y rebelde que es este pueblo.

10 Ahora quítate de en medio, para que mi ira feroz pueda encenderse contra ellos y destruirlos. Después, Moisés, haré de ti una gran nación.

11 Pero Moisés trató de apaciguar al Señor
su Dios.
—¡Oh Señor
! —le dijo—, ¿por qué estás tan enojado con tu propio pueblo, el que sacaste de la tierra de Egipto con tan gran poder y mano fuerte?