עֹ֫רֶף

Genesis 49:8 בְּעֹ֣רֶף [will be] on [the] neck of

Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

Here: 'On the nape of.' Oref is the back of the neck, the part an enemy shows you when he turns and runs. Judah catches his enemies as they flee.

Exodus 23:27 עֹֽרֶף׃ neck

I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

Here: "Neck": the back of the neck. Fleeing soldiers show their pursuers the nape of the neck, so the image is a whole enemy line turned around and running.

Exodus 32:9 עֹ֖רֶף neck

The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Here: The back of the neck. On a draft animal this is where the yoke sits. On a person it is what you see when they turn away. A hard nape belongs to an animal that will not bow to the yoke or turn when steered, and to a person who keeps their back to you.

Exodus 33:3 עֹ֙רֶף֙ neck

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

Here: The back of the neck. A "hard-necked" people is like an ox or donkey that locks its neck and won't be turned by the driver or yoked. The point is obstinate refusal to be steered.

Exodus 33:5 עֹ֔רֶף neck

For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”

Here: The nape. A 'hard neck' is the picture of a draft animal that locks its neck and will not be turned or yoked: a people who refuse to be led.

Exodus 34:9 עֹ֙רֶף֙ neck

“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

Here: The nape of the neck. A stiff neck is the picture of an animal that will not bend to the yoke or turn when guided, or of someone who turns their back. It means habitual, settled resistance, not a single lapse.

Leviticus 5:8 עָרְפּ֖וֹ neck its

He is to bring them to the priest, who shall first present the one for the sin offering. He is to twist its head at the front of its neck without severing it;

Deuteronomy 9:6 עֹ֖רֶף neck

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Here: The back of the neck. "Hard of neck" pictures a draft animal that stiffens its neck against the yoke or the driver and will not be turned. Used of people, it means refusing to be led by God.

Deuteronomy 9:13 עֹ֖רֶף neck

The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Here: The nape of the neck, the part that bends under a yoke and the part you show someone when you turn your back on them. A 'hard nape' will not bow and will not turn back.

Deuteronomy 10:16 וְעָ֨רְפְּכֶ֔ם and neck your

Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

Here: "And your neck", meaning the nape or back of the neck. Placed first in its clause for emphasis. It brings to mind a draft animal that will not bend its neck to the yoke or be turned by the driver, and also the back a person shows when they turn away.

Deuteronomy 31:27 עָרְפְּךָ֖ neck your

For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

Here: The back of the neck, where a yoke or a driver's pressure presses. It is the half of the body you show when you turn away from someone (Jer 2:27).

Joshua 7:8 עֹ֖רֶף a neck

O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?

Joshua 7:12 עֹ֗רֶף a neck

This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.

Here: 'The neck/nape', placed first for emphasis: 'their neck is what they turn.' Showing the enemy the back of your neck means running away. It is the same word as in 'stiff-necked'.

2 Samuel 22:41 עֹ֑רֶף a neck

You have made my enemies retreat before me; I destroyed those who hated me.

2 Kings 17:14 עָרְפָּם֙ כְּעֹ֣רֶף neck their, like [the] neck of

But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.

Here: The back of the neck. The picture comes from farming: an ox or donkey that locks its neck against the yoke or the driver's rope and will not be turned. Hebrew uses the singular, 'their neck,' as if the people were one stubborn animal.

2 Chronicles 29:6 עֹֽרֶף׃ a back

For our fathers were unfaithful and did evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.

2 Chronicles 30:8 עָרְפְּכֶ֖ם neck your

Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

Here: The back of the neck, which is what you show someone when you turn away, and where a yoke sits. Singular 'your neck' is spoken to the whole people as one body.

2 Chronicles 36:13 עָרְפּוֹ֙ neck his

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Here: The back of the neck. The picture is an ox locking its neck against the yoke or the driver's goad. It is also the part of the body you show someone when you turn your back on them.

Nehemiah 9:16 עָרְפָּ֔ם neck their

But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

Here: The back of the neck. The picture is a draft animal locking its neck so it will not be turned by the driver's goad or rope. The idiom comes from Exodus and Deuteronomy, where God calls Israel 'a stiff-necked people'.

Nehemiah 9:17 עָרְפָּ֔ם neck their

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Here: 'Their neck.' The picture is a draft animal that locks its neck so the yoke cannot be put on and it cannot be steered. It echoes God's verdict on Israel at the golden calf ('a stiff-necked people', Exod 32:9; 34:9).

Nehemiah 9:29 וְעָרְפָּ֥ם and neck their

You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

Here: 'Their neck': the nape. An ox that will not bend its neck cannot be yoked or steered.

Job 16:12 בְּ֭עָרְפִּי on neck my

I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

Psalm 18:40 עֹ֑רֶף [the] neck

You have made my enemies retreat before me; I destroyed those who hated me.

Proverbs 29:1 עֹ֑רֶף a neck

A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

Here: The back of the neck. "Hardening the neck" pictures a draft ox locking its neck against the yoke and refusing to be steered. It is Israel's classic phrase for stubbornness toward God.

Isaiah 48:4 עָרְפֶּ֔ךָ neck your

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

Here: "Your neck," specifically the back of it, where a yoke sits. Elsewhere, turning your ʿoref to someone means turning your back on them (Jer 2:27).

Jeremiah 2:27 עֹ֖רֶף a back

say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet in the time of trouble, they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’

Here: The nape of the neck, what someone sees when you walk away from them. It is the word behind 'stiff-necked', and turning it to someone means rejecting them.

Jeremiah 7:26 עָרְפָּ֔ם neck their

Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

Here: ‘Oref is the back of the neck, the part you show someone when you turn away. Making it stiff pictures an animal that will not bow under the yoke or be turned by the driver. It also echoes v. 24: 'they went backward and not forward.'

Jeremiah 17:23 עָרְפָּ֔ם neck their

Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.

Here: 'Their nape', the back of the neck. It is the part you show someone when you turn away from them (Jer 2:27; 32:33), and the part a draft animal sets rigid against the yoke or the driver's goad.

Jeremiah 18:17 עֹ֧רֶף back

I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”

Jeremiah 19:15 עָרְפָּ֔ם neck their

“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”

Here: 'Their neck,' meaning the back of the neck. The picture is a draft animal locking its neck against the yoke or rein, or a person turning their back.

Jeremiah 32:33 עֹ֖רֶף a back

They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.

Here: The nape, the back of the head and neck. Showing someone your nape means walking away or refusing to look at them. It is the same word used in the familiar phrase 'stiff-necked'.

Jeremiah 48:39 עֹ֥רֶף a neck

“How shattered it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule and horror to all those around him.”