New International Version
Jeremiah 15:12
12“Can a man break iron— 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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Can a man break a bar of iron from the north, or a bar of bronze?
Context of Jeremiah 15:12
10Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me. 11The Lord said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress. “Can a man break iron— iron from the north—or bronze? 13“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without charge, because of all your sins throughout your country. 14I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for my anger will kindle a fire that will burn against 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 1:18Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.
- Jeremiah 21:4‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city.
- Job 40:9Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?
- Isaiah 45:9“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?
- Habakkuk 1:5“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even 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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