Deuteronomy 31:27 (ASV)

Passage

For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah; and how much more after my death?

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 31:25 that Moses commanded the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying,

Deuteronomy 31:26 Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah; and how much more after my death?

Deuteronomy 31:28 Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

Deuteronomy 31:29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "rebellion", "stiff", "neck", "behold", "alive", "been", "rebellious", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "rebellion" and "stiff", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Take this book of the law and..." into verse 28's "Assemble unto me all the elders of...", so "rebellion" and "stiff" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "rebellion" and "stiff" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.