Kabbalah zu Jeschijahu 46:12

"Get you, out of your country..." (Gen. 12:1). Rabbi Abba opened the discussion with this verse and to explain the reason why Abraham merited that the Holy One, blessed be He, would say this to him rather than to any other person of his time. "Hearken to me, you stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness" (Yeshayah 46:12), (i.e.) how hard are the hearts of the wicked, who see the paths and the ways of Torah, yet do not observe them. And the hearts of the wicked are stout, as they do not repent and turn back to their Master. (This is why) they are called stout-hearted. The verse, "that are far from righteousness," (means) they keep themselves far from Torah; this is why they remain "far from righteousness.".