Éxodo 32:9

9 Dijo más Jehová á Moisés: Yo he visto á este pueblo, que por cierto es pueblo de dura cerviz:

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 Entonces Jehová dijo á Moisés: Anda, desciende, porque tu pueblo que sacaste de tierra de Egipto se ha corrompido:
8 Presto se han apartado del camino que yo les mandé, y se han hecho un becerro de fundición, y lo han adorado, y han sacrificado á él, y han dicho: Israel, estos son tus dioses, que te sacaron de la tierra de Egipto.
9 Dijo más Jehová á Moisés: Yo he visto á este pueblo, que por cierto es pueblo de dura cerviz:
10 Ahora pues, déjame que se encienda mi furor en ellos, y los consuma: y á ti yo te pondré sobre gran gente.
11 Entonces Moisés oró á la faz de Jehová su Dios, y dijo: Oh Jehová, ¿por qué se encenderá tu furor en tu pueblo, que tú sacaste de la tierra de Egipto con gran fortaleza, y con mano fuerte?
The Reina-Valera Antigua (1602) is in the public domain.