Deuteronomy 31:27 (DRB)

Passage

For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck. While I am yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead?

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 31:25 He commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying:

Deuteronomy 31:26 Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God: that it may be there for a testimony against thee.

Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck. While I am yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead?

Deuteronomy 31:28 Gather unto me all the ancients of your tribes, and your doctors, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and will call heaven and earth to witness against them.

Deuteronomy 31:29 For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will quickly turn aside form the way that I have commanded you: and evils shall come upon you in the latter times, when you shall do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him by the works of your hands.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "obstinacy", "most", "stiff", "neck", "living", "going", "always", and "been". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "obstinacy" and "most", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Take this book and put it in..." into verse 28's "Gather unto me all the ancients of...", so "obstinacy" and "most" 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 "obstinacy" and "most" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.