Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?
Parallel translations
- KJV Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
- BSB Can anyone smash iron—iron from the north—or bronze?
- ESV Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
- NKJV Can anyone break iron, The northern iron and the bronze?
- NASB ¶“Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze?
- NLT Can a man break a bar of iron from the north, or a bar of bronze?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God asks whether anyone can break iron, especially the hard iron of the north, or bronze, implying Judah cannot resist the coming foe. Human strength is no match for the judgment God is bringing.
Overview
The rhetorical question about unbreakable iron and bronze points to the irresistible power of the northern invader, Babylon, that God will send. Judah's pride in its own strength is exposed as futile against God's appointed instrument. It humbles all human self-confidence and directs trust to God alone, who is mightier than every power that opposes Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 21:4–5‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.
- Jer 28:14For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field.”’”
- Job 40:9Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
- Jer 1:18–19For, behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who strives with his Maker — a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’
- Hab 1:5–10“Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 15:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.