Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
Parallel translations
- WEB Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?
- BSB Can anyone smash iron—iron from the north—or 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 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 21:4–5Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
- Jer 28:14For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
- Job 40:9Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
- Jer 1:18–19For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
- Isa 45:9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
- Hab 1:5–10Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be 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.