Stiffnecked is a term used quite frequently in the Book of Mormon. Where does it come from and what does it mean? According to the Lexham Bible dictionary.
An idiom based on a farm animal stiffening its neck to refuse the yoke (Exod 32:9, 33:3, 33:5, 34:9; 2 Chr 30:8, 36:13; Neh 9:16–29; Prov 29:1; Jer 7:26, 17:23, 19:15). For the people of Israel, bearing the yoke was living in obedience to the covenant; stiffening the neck against the yoke was disobedience. The idiom seems to be used first after the incident with the golden calf (Exod 32:9). Stephen compares the Jewish leaders who resisted the Holy Spirit in his day with the “stiff-necked” of Israel (Acts 7:51).
As the quote states, Exodus 32:9 is the first time we encounter the term in the scriptures.
9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a people
The setting here is Moses on Mount Sinai speaking with the Lord. He is about to give the Israelites his law, but in the meantime they make a golden calf to worship instead. From then on, this expression is used several times in Exodus and Deuteronomy, where the Mosaic covenant is established and reiterated.
Jehovah wants to be their God and lead them (as symbolized by the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night). Their stiffneckedness is used to describe how they are set in their own wicked ways and are not willing to hearken or be led, like a stubborn ox. Even when this expression is used on a few occasions later in the Bible, it is often with reference to the stubborn Israelites. In Jeremiah 7, for instance:
22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck , that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
As the Lexham Bible Dictionary states, Stephen in Acts 7 also talks about the Israelites of old and refers to them when calling the Jewish leaders of his day stiffnecked.
Ye and in heart and ears, ye do always the : as your did, so do ye. (Acts 7:51)
As usual, I have been interested in seeing how this understanding and context of the term fits its use in the Book of Mormon. I first started reflecting on this reading Jarom 1:4
And there are many among us who have many , for they are not all . And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.
Notice how it compares with the other quoted verse from Acts in relation to the Holy Ghost.
Frequently, the word "stiffnecked" in the Book of Mormon is used together with a hardened heart. I will not quote all the examples but references include Jacob 6:4, Alma 9:5, 2 Nephi 25:12 among others. Interestingly, the idea of a hard heart also originates from Exodus and is used there far more than any other book in the Bible. First it is Pharaoh who repeatedly hardens his heart, but eventually the Israelites do not "enter into His rest" because of their hardened hearts. After studying this, I believe that stiffnecked and hardhearted are allusions to a covenant people of old who failed to keep their part of the covenant. Sometimes it is stated directly, like in Jacob 4:14
But behold, the Jews were a people; and they the words of , and the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand.
as well as Jacob 6:4, Mosiah 3:14 and Mosiah 13:29.
But it is also used as a description of a contemporary people, and I believe by using the term they are being compared with the Israelites of old. As mentioned, it is used as a description of a people who stubbornly pursue their own wicked ways instead of being guided by God when He offers his covenant. The Book of Helaman provides several examples:
But Nephi said unto them: O ye , ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye people, do ye know how long the Lord your God will suffer you that ye shall go on in this your way of sin? (Helaman 9:21)
Yea, and this was not all; they were a people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction. (Helaman 5:3)
O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by and guides? Yea, how long will ye darkness rather than ? (Helaman 13:29)
Yea, they began to remember the of Alma, and also the of Mosiah; and they saw that they had been a people, and that they had set at the commandments of God (Helaman 4:21)