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RACHEL DUSHEY
A “Stiff-necked” People
I
n Exodus 32:9, during the infamous golden calf incident, God labels
the Israelites a “stiff-necked” people. While a different, perhaps more
reproachful adjective might have been fitting, God chooses the Hebrew
words kasheh-oref, literally, “stiff-of-neck”—the first instance in the Tanakh
where this term is used. It must therefore hold a special meaning in relation
to the Israelites. While the phrase is often translated as “stubborn,” it means
much more than this. Pharaoh, for example, becomes “stubborn” during the
Ten Plagues, and the original Hebrew words used to express this are cavedlev or “heavy-of-heart.” The specification of “stiff necks” must therefore be
meaningful. Using context, we can deduce that the phrase “stiff-necked”
describes not just one but three aspects specific to the Israelites: their
national disobedience of God, their collective mentality, and their shared
personality.
God first calls His people “stiff-necked” in reaction to their creation of
the golden calf idol. This is an act of disobedience on the part of a people
who recently have become followers of a new leader. God takes control
and leads the Israelites, the way a shepherd leads his flock, straight out of
Egypt. The Israelites allow God to be their Master, letting Him steer them
in the physical and moral direction He chooses. In a sense, God has a leash
around the necks of the Israelites. God believes the Israelites become stiffnecked when they make the golden calf, refusing God’s leadership as they
throw off His figurative leash and begin to stray from His path. Later on, in
Deuteronomy 10:16, God advises the nation: “…stiffen your necks no more.
For the Lord your God is God Supreme.” God establishes his authority
over the nation, advising them to submit themselves to Him, recalling the
golden calf incident by using the original phrase.
The term “stiff-necked” may also refer to the Israelites inability to
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metaphorically swivel their necks around during unfortunate circumstances
and consider the big picture, as opposed to just the problems of a particular
moment. The Israelites are not considering the miracle of deliverance that
God has just bestowed upon them when in Exodus 16:3 they say:
If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt… when we ate our fill
of bread! For you have brought us into this wilderness to starve this whole
congregation to death.
The Israelites are too focused on present hardships to realize the weight of
their words. They wish for the bitter slavery from which they came and do
not trust in God to provide for their needs in the desert. They lose sight of
things again at the foot of Sinai when they create a false god, just where
they had seen an extravagant display of God’s power. Their necks are too
“stiff ” to turn and view the situation from a broader perspective.
The personalities of the Israelites may also be best described through
the term “stiff-necked.” A person with a stiff neck conjures up the image
of someone who is strong but holds a lot of tension, perhaps because of
physical strain. This surely applies to the Israelites, who have undergone
years of harsh slave labor. Living constantly under stress may help explain
the irritable and impatient behavior of the Israelites. They are always
“grumbling” against Moses, as in the previously mentioned verse, exhibiting
a unique kind of uptightness that may best be understood through the word
“stiff-necked.”
Word choice in the Tanakh is never coincidental; each phrase has a
special purpose and can be interpreted endlessly. “Stiff-necked” as a
description is used exclusively for the Israelites, and assesses them in national,
metaphorical, and personal senses. Their negative example inspires believers
in the Tanakh to take particular care in following God’s commandments,
putting things in perspective, and letting go of stress in favor of faith in
God.