Acts 7:51

Ye stiffnecked A charge often brought against the Jews in the Old Testament, cp. Exodus 32:9; Exodus 33:3, &c., so that it is a very suitable expression when Stephen is declaring that the people of his time were "as their fathers."

and uncircumcised in heart and ears As the rite of circumcision was the sign of submission to the Jewish religion in its fullest requirements, so the word uncircumcisedbecame a synonym for obstinate resistance to what God had revealed, and the phrase in the text consequently signifies "ye who shut your heart and ears against the truth." For this metaphorical application cp. Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 6:10.

It seems very likely that at this part of his discourse Stephen saw that the language he had been using was distasteful to his audience, and therefore he applied to them words which implied how far they were from being God's people though they called themselves Israelites. They were in his eyes as those whom they called "sinners of the Gentiles." (Galatians 2:15.)

ye do always resist the Holy Ghost From the days of Moses, whom their fathers would not obey, down to the days of Jesus, whom they had crucified.