Can anyone smash iron—iron from the north—or bronze?
Parallel translations
- WEB Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?
- KJV Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
- 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 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 21:4–5this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.
- Jer 28:14For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even given him control of the beasts of the field.’”
- Job 40:9Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?
- Jer 1:18–19Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Hab 1:5–10“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone 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.