As iron sharpens iron, So one person sharpens another.
Parallel translations
- WEB Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
- KJV Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
- BSB As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
- NKJV As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
- NLT As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
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
People shape and strengthen one another through close, honest interaction. It commends the mutual benefit of wise, sharpening friendships.
Overview
The well-known image of iron sharpening iron portrays how meaningful relationships refine character, counsel, and conviction through friction and engagement. This presupposes humility to be sharpened and love to sharpen well. Such mutual edification flourishes in the body of Christ, where believers spur one another on toward love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Heb 10:24Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
- Prov 27:9Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
- Job 4:3–4Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.
- 1 Sam 23:16Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose, and went to David into the woods, and strengthened his hand in God.
- 2 Tim 2:3You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- Isa 35:3–4Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
- 1 Pet 4:12–13Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you, to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you.
- 2 Sam 10:11–12He said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.
- Jas 1:2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
- 2 Tim 1:8Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God,
- 2 Tim 2:9–13in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God’s word isn’t chained.
- 1 Th 3:3that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.
- 2 Tim 1:12For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
- 1 Sam 11:9–10They said to the messengers who came, “Tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’” The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
- Josh 1:18Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him shall himself be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”
- 1 Sam 13:20–21but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, each man to sharpen his own plowshare, mattock, ax, and sickle.
- Josh 2:24They said to Joshua, “Truly Yahweh has delivered all the land into our hands. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 27:17 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.