Amplified Bible
Jeremiah 15:12
12“Can anyone crush iron, The iron from the north, or bronze?
Jeremiah 15:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
- New International Version (NIV)“Can a man break iron— iron from the north—or bronze?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Can anyone break iron, The northern iron and the bronze?
Context of Jeremiah 15:12
10Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me To be a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth! I have not loaned, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me. 11The Lord said, “Surely [it will go well for Judah’s obedient remnant for] I will set you free for good purposes; Surely [Jeremiah] I will [intercede for you with the enemy and I will] cause the enemy to plead with you [for help] In a time of disaster and a time of distress. “Can anyone crush iron, The iron from the north, or bronze? 13Your [nation’s] riches and your treasures I will give as plunder without price [to the Babylonians], Because of all your sins And within all your territories. 14Then I will make your enemies bring [you along with] your possessions Into a land which you do not know [for there you will serve your conquerors]; For a fire has been kindled in My anger, Which will burn upon you.”
Read all of Jeremiah 15Jeremiah 15:12 word by word
הֲיָרֹ֨עַ בַּרְזֶ֧ל׀ בַּרְזֶ֛ל מִצָּפ֖וֹן וּנְחֹֽשֶׁת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 15:12
- Jeremiah 1:18Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like an iron pillar and like bronze walls against the whole land—against the [successive] kings of Judah, against its leaders, against its priests, and against the people of the land [giving you divine strength which no hostile power can overcome].
- Jeremiah 21:4‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back and dull the edge of the weapons of war that are in your hands, [those] with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them into the center of this city (Jerusalem).
- Job 40:9Have you an arm like God, And can you thunder with a voice like His?
- Isaiah 45:9“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker— A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]! Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Habakkuk 1:5[The Lord replied,] “Look among the nations! See! Be astonished! Wonder! For I am doing something in your days— You would not believe it if you were told.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 15:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? - Shall our weak forces be able to oppose and overcome the powers of the Chaldeans? נחשת nechasheth, which we here translate steel, property signifies brass or copper united with tin, which gives it much hardness, and enables it to bear a good edge.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12The steel - “brass,” i. e., bronze. By the “iron” is meant Jeremiah‘s intercession; but this cannot alter the divine purpose to send Judah into exile, which is firm as steel and brass. For “brass” see Exodus 25:3 note. The alloy of copper and zinc now called brass was entirely unknown to the ancients.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-14Verses 10-14 Jeremiah met with much contempt and reproach, when they ought to have blessed him, and God for him. It is a great and sufficient support to the people of God, that however troublesome their way may be, it shall be well with them in their latter end. God turns to the people. Shall the most hardy and vigorous of their efforts be able to contend with the counsel of God, or with the army of the Chaldeans? Let them hear their doom. The enemy will…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Iron and bronze symbolize the strong will that the Lord would give to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:18).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. steel--rather, brass or copper, which mixed with "iron" (by the Chalybes near the Euxine Pontus, far north of Palestine), formed the hardest metal, like our steel. Can the Jews, hardy like common iron though they be, break the still hardier Chaldees of the north (Jr 1:14), who resemble the Chalybian iron hardened with copper? Certainly not [Calvin]. Henderson translates. "Can one break iron, (even) the northern iron, and brass," on the ground that…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 15:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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