Psalms 78:8
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
Study Note
Study Note
The negative example of the wilderness generation — 'a stubborn and rebellious generation, that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God' — functions as the negative pedagogical foil throughout the historical meditation of Psalm 78. The Hebrew 'not stedfast' (lo ne'eman) contrasts with the trustworthiness (ne'eman) attributed to God throughout the Psalter, setting up the irony that an unfaithful people is sustained by an utterly faithful God. Hebrews 3:7–4:13 reads this psalm extensively as a warning to the Christian community not to replicate the wilderness hardening, making Psalm 78's intergenerational pedagogy directly applicable to the new covenant community. The verse contributed to Christian typological reading of Israel's history as simultaneously descriptive and prescriptive for the church.
Other Translations
And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God <FI>is<Fi> its spirit.
And not be like their fathers, a stiff-necked and uncontrolled generation; a generation whose heart was hard, whose spirit was not true to God.
Cross References
And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, …
For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will …
Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for …
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye …
Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.
Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that …
Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for …
But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.