Isaiah 48:4

King James Version

Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Because I know that you are stiff,And your neck is an iron sinewAnd your forehead bronze,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Howbeit I knowe that thou art obstinate, and that thy necke hath an iron sinowe, and that thy browe is of brasse.

Darby Translation
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass,

New King James Version
Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,

Literal Translation
Because I knew that you are hard, and your neck is a sinew of iron, and your brow bronze.

Easy-to-Read Version
I did that because I knew you were stubborn. You were like iron that will not bend, with heads as hard as bronze.

World English Bible
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass;

King James Version (1611)
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy necke is an yron sinew, and thy brow brasse:

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Howbeit I knewe that thou art obstinate, and that thy neck hath an yron vane, and that thy brow is of brasse.

Amplified Bible
"Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron tendon And your brow is bronze [both unyielding],

American Standard Version
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

Bible in Basic English
Because I saw that your heart was hard, and that your neck was an iron cord, and your brow brass;

Update Bible Version
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;

Webster's Bible Translation
Because I knew that thou [art] obstinate, and thy neck [is] an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

New Century Version
I knew you were stubborn; your neck was like an iron muscle, and your head was like bronze.

New English Translation
I did this because I know how stubborn you are. Your neck muscles are like iron and your forehead like bronze.

Contemporary English Version
I knew you were stubborn and hardheaded.

Complete Jewish Bible
Because I knew that you were stubborn, your neck an iron sinew, your forehead bronze,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Because I knewe, that thou art obstinate, & thy necke is an yron sinew, & thy brow brasse,

George Lamsa Translation
Because I knew that you are obstinate and your neck is an iron sinew and your brow brass;

Hebrew Names Version
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

New Living Translation
For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. Your heads are as hard as bronze.

New Life Bible
I know that your heart is hard. Your neck is like iron, and your forehead is like brass.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I know that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy forehead brazen.

English Revised Version
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

Berean Standard Bible
For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

New Revised Standard
Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Because I knew that - Obstinate, thou wast, - And, a sinew of iron, was thy neck, And thy brow, brazen,

Douay-Rheims Bible
For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass.

Lexham English Bible
because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck an iron sinew, and your forehead bronze.

English Standard Version
Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,

New American Standard Bible
"Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron tendon And your forehead bronze,

Good News Translation
I knew that you would prove to be stubborn, as rigid as iron and unyielding as bronze.

Christian Standard Bible®
Because I know that you are stubborn, and your neck is iron and your forehead bronze,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For Y wiste that thou art hard, and thi nol is a senewe of irun, and thi forhed is of bras.

Revised Standard Version
Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,

Young's Literal Translation
From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass,

Contextual Overview

¹ Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord , and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. ² For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name. ³ I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. ⁴ Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; ⁵ I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. ⁶ Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. ⁷ They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. ⁸ Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I knew: Isaiah 46:12, Psalms 78:8, Zechariah 7:11, Zechariah 7:12

obstinate: Heb. hard, Jeremiah 5:3, Ezekiel 3:4-7, Daniel 5:20, Romans 2:5, Hebrews 3:13, and they, Exodus 32:9, Exodus 33:3, Exodus 33:5, Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 31:27, 2 Kings 17:14, 2 Chronicles 30:8, 2 Chronicles 36:13, Nehemiah 9:16, Nehemiah 9:17, Nehemiah 9:28, Psalms 75:5, Proverbs 29:1, Jeremiah 7:26, Jeremiah 19:15, Zechariah 7:12, Acts 7:51

thy brow: Jeremiah 3:3, Ezekiel 3:7-9

Reciprocal: Exodus 9:7 - the heart Exodus 34:9 - stiffnecked Deuteronomy 2:30 - obstinate Deuteronomy 9:6 - a stiffnecked Job 40:18 - General Job 41:24 - as hard Ecclesiastes 8:3 - stand Isaiah 9:9 - in the pride Isaiah 43:12 - declared Isaiah 48:8 - I knew Jeremiah 17:23 - they obeyed Jeremiah 44:5 - they Ezekiel 2:4 - they Ezekiel 11:19 - I will take Ezekiel 22:18 - brass Amos 6:12 - horses

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Genesis 17:8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Genesis 17:13
He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

Genesis 22:17
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Genesis 26:4
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Genesis 28:3
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

Genesis 32:12
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

Genesis 35:11
And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

Genesis 46:3
And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

Genesis 47:27
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Because I knew that thou art obstinate,.... Or "hard" a, hard hearted, an obdurate and rebellious people, contradicting and gainsaying:

and thy neck is as an iron sinew; stiffnecked, inflexible, not compliant with the will of God, and his commands; unwilling to admit his yoke, and bear it:

and thy brow brass; impudent, not ashamed of sin, nor blushing at it, refusing to receive correction for it, having a whore's forehead. This the Lord knew and foreknew, and therefore declared before hand what would come to pass unto them; who otherwise would have had the assurance to have ascribed them to themselves, or their idols, and not to him.

a כי קשה אתה "quod durus tu es", Pagninus, Montanus; "te durum esse", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vitringa.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Because I knew that thou art obstinate - I made these frequent predictions, and fulfilled them in this striking manner, because I knew that as a people, you were prone to unbelief, and in order that you might have the most full and undoubted demonstration of the truth of what was declared. As they were disinclined to credit his promises, and as he saw that in their long captivity they would be prone to disbelieve what he had said respecting their deliverance under Cyrus, he had, therefore, given them these numerous evidences of the certainty of the fulfillment of all his prophecies, in order that their minds might credit what he said about their return to their own land.

That thou art obstinate - Margin, as Hebrew, ‘Hard,’ The sense is, that they were obstinate and intractable - an expression probably taken from a bullock which refuses to receive the yoke. The word hard, as expressive of obstinacy, is often combined with others. Thus, in Exodus 32:9; Exodus 34:9, ‘hard of neck,’ that is, stiff-necked, stubborn; ‘hard of face’ Ezekiel 2:4; ‘hard of heart’ Ezekiel 3:7. The idea is, that they were, as a people, obstinate, rebellious, and indisposed to submit to the laws of God - a charge which is often brought against them by the sacred writers, and which is abundantly verified by all their history as a people (compare Exodus 32:9; Exodus 33:3-5; Exodus 34:9; Deuteronomy 9:6-13; Deuteronomy 31:27; 2 Chronicles 30:8; Ezekiel 2:4; Acts 7:51).

Thy neck is an iron sinew - The word גיד giyd means properly a cord, thong, or band; then a nerve, sinew, muscle, or tendon. The metaphor is taken from oxen when they make their neck stiff, and refuse to submit it to the yoke.

And thy brow brass - Thy forehead is hard and insensible as brass. The phrase is applied to the shameless brow of a harloi Jeremiah 3:3; Ezekiel 3:7, where there is an utter want of modesty, and consummate impudence. A brow of brass is an image of insensibility, or obstinacy (so in Jeremiah 6:28).