STIFF-NECKED, the Eng. VS rendering of the Heb. phrase, קְשֵׁה־עֹ֖רֶף, lit. “hard-neck,” a phrase used to describe the intransigence and rebellious spirit of the Jewish people in the period of their sojourn in the Sinai desert after the Exodus from Egypt (Exod 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut 9:6, 13). The same notion appears in Hosea 4:16 and many similar passages wherein Israel is described as a stubborn animal, resisting the will of its master. Such physiological images bear out the character and extremity of Israel’s unbelief. The LXX renders the Heb. into Gr. as σκληροτράχηλος, G5019, an elaborate Hel. compound of the classical phrase, τράχηλος σκληρός, used in the bio-medical texts, a hapax legomenon in Acts 7:51, quoted from Exodus 33:3, 5 by Stephen in his defense. It subsequently appears in several of the pre-Nicene writings. In contrast to such a degree of antagonism in both OT and NT, God’s grace is demonstrated as overcoming man’s wicked rejection of His will (Exod 34:9, et al.; Acts 2:38, et al.).