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The term "stiffen" in the biblical context often refers to the hardening of one's heart or the refusal to heed divine instruction. This concept is frequently associated with stubbornness and resistance to God's will, which can lead to spiritual downfall and separation from God's blessings.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, the idea of stiffening one's neck or heart is a recurring theme, particularly in relation to the Israelites' relationship with God. The Hebrew word often translated as "stiffen" is "qashah," which conveys the sense of being hard, severe, or obstinate. This term is used metaphorically to describe the Israelites' frequent rebellion against God's commandments.

One notable example is found inExodus 32:9 , where God observes the Israelites' idolatry with the golden calf and declares to Moses, "I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people." Here, "stiff-necked" symbolizes their stubborn refusal to follow God's law, despite witnessing His miraculous deliverance from Egypt.

Similarly, inDeuteronomy 10:16 , Moses exhorts the Israelites, "Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more." This call to spiritual renewal emphasizes the need for humility and obedience to God, contrasting with the obstinacy that leads to spiritual peril.

Prophetic Warnings

The prophets frequently warned against the dangers of a stiffened heart. InJeremiah 7:26 , God laments through the prophet, "Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers." This passage highlights the progressive nature of rebellion, where a hardened heart leads to increasing sinfulness and estrangement from God.

Ezekiel also addresses this issue, as seen inEzekiel 2:4 , where God describes the people as "obstinate and stubborn." The prophet is sent to speak to them, despite their resistance, underscoring God's persistent call to repentance and the hope for transformation.

New Testament Insights

While the New Testament does not frequently use the term "stiffen," the concept is present in the attitudes of those who resist Jesus' message. InActs 7:51 , Stephen, addressing the Sanhedrin, accuses them of being "stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears," always resisting the Holy Spirit. This indictment connects the Jewish leaders' rejection of Christ with the historical pattern of Israel's disobedience.

The New Testament emphasizes the importance of a receptive heart, open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.Hebrews 3:8 warns believers, "Do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness." This exhortation serves as a reminder to remain pliable and responsive to God's voice.

Theological Implications

The concept of stiffening one's heart or neck carries significant theological implications. It serves as a caution against pride and self-reliance, urging believers to cultivate humility and a willingness to submit to God's authority. The biblical narrative consistently portrays a stiffened heart as a barrier to experiencing God's grace and truth.

In the broader biblical context, the call to avoid stiffening one's heart is a call to embrace a life of faith, characterized by obedience, repentance, and a continual turning towards God. This theme underscores the importance of spiritual vigilance and the need for a heart that remains tender and responsive to the divine will.1. (v. t.) To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.

2. (v. t.) To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.

3. (v. t.) To make torpid; to benumb.

4. (v. i.) To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.

4769. stulos -- a pillar
... pillar. From stuo (tostiffen; properly akin to the base of histemi); a post
("style"), ie (figuratively) support -- pillar. see GREEK histemi....

5142. trepho -- to make to grow, to nourish, feed
... A primary verb (properly, threpho; but perhaps strengthened from the base of trope
through the idea of convolution); properly, tostiffen, ie Fatten (by...

3332. yatsaq -- to pour, cast, flow
... primitive root; properly, to pour out (transitive or intransitive); by implication,
to melt or cast as metal; by extension, to place firmly, tostiffen or grow...

7185. qashah -- to be hard, severe or fierce
... 1), hard thing (1), hard-pressed (1), harden (2), hardened (1), hardens (2), harsher
(1), made our hard (2), seem hard (1), severe (2),stiffen (2), stiffened...

Brokenness
... Then it is, we canstiffen our necks and refuse to repent or we can bow the head
and say, "Yes, Lord." Brokenness in daily experience is simply the response of...

Cheer Up, My Comrades!
... not the power to use it. It might actuallystiffen for no reason but because
he had not moved it. Do you not think that, before...

Virtues of the Mantle. It Pleads in Its Own Defence.
... false too. For who would not find it expedient, in cold and heat, tostiffen
with feet bare rather than in a shoe with feet bound? A...

Leadership for Service
... If, therefore, a man rises to leadership, and finds his elbow-room enlarging, let
himstiffen his sense of duty to correspond, or there will be trouble....

The Eyes of the Heart.
... Him to the test in life, trusting His death to square up one's sin score, trusting
His power to clean the heart and sweeten the spirit, andstiffen the will....

When Shall These Things Be?
... many times been scattered; but this siege was to end in capture, and no angel of
the Lord would stalk by night through the sleeping host, tostiffen sleep into...

Circumcision Given as a Sign, that the Jews Might be Driven Away...
... "And God himself proclaimed by Moses, speaking thus: And circumcise the
hardness of your hearts, and no longerstiffen the neck....

Against those who Maintain that the Spirit is in the Rank Neither...
... men, if it were not under the oversight of a master, would be most pitiable; as
is the condition of the apostate powers who, because theystiffen their neck...

That if Men had Remained Innocent and Obedient in Paradise, the...
... those which are composed of slack and soft nerves: we can put them in motion, or
stretch them out, or bend and twist them, or contract andstiffen them, as we...

The Peaceable Fruits of Sorrows Rightly Borne
... faint not' is added to 'despise not,' so including the two opposite and yet closely
connected forms of misuse of sorrow, according as westiffen our wills...

Stiffen (3 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (vt) To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible;
as, tostiffen cloth with starch....Stiffen (3 Occurrences)....

Stiffened (7 Occurrences)
... & pp) ofStiffen.... Jeremiah 17:23 And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear,
And theystiffen their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction....

Stiff (23 Occurrences)

Necked (3 Occurrences)
... Jeremiah 17:23 And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And theystiffen
their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction. (See NIV)....

Gum (3 Occurrences)
... 7. (vt) To smear with gum; to close with gum; to unite orstiffen by gum or
a gumlike substance; to make sticky with a gumlike substance....

Rib (5 Occurrences)
... strength to the vessel. 4. (n.) A ridge, fin, or wing, as on a plate, cylinder,
beam, etc., to strengthen orstiffen it. 5. (n.) One of...

Stay (221 Occurrences)
... (n.) Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety. 25. (n.) Strictly,
a part in tension to hold the parts together, orstiffen them. Int....

Hem (14 Occurrences)
... 6. (n.) Border; edge; margin. 7. (n.) A border made on sheet-metal ware by doubling
over the edge of the sheet, tostiffen it and remove the sharp edge....

Harden (22 Occurrences)
... 2. (vt) To accustom by labor or suffering to endure with constancy; to strengthen;
tostiffen; to inure; also, to confirm in wickedness or shame; to make...

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