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Kretzmann's Popular Commentary

Jeremiah 15:12

Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? literally, "Will then iron," that is, the ordinary iron used in Palestine, "break iron from the north and brass?" for the steel of Syria and of various parts of Asia Minor was noted for its excellence. The meaning evidently is that the people of Judah could not withstand the armies of the great northern empire which would soon be sent against them.

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See also Jeremiah 15:12 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Jeremiah 15:12. _SHALL 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...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    THE 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...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 15 The Prophet's Deep Soul-Exercise _ 1. The answer (Jeremiah 15:1) _ 2. The prophet's grief and sorrow and Jehovah's answer (Jeremiah 15:10) Jeremiah 15:1. The preceding prayer is

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    THE SORROW AND STRENGTH OF PROPHETIC SERVICE. The experience of the prophet, as described in the following section, may be the result of his unpopularity at the time of the drought, and therefore be r...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    STEEL. bronze....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Jeremiah 15:10-21. The prophet bewails his lot. God's reply The passage as a whole is one of the most eloquent and pathetic in the Book. The date cannot be determined with confidence. The latter part...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Also very difficult. No satisfactory emendation has been proposed. If, which is very doubtful, the _v_. is to be retained as it stands, the speaker is either (_a_) Jehovah, declaring that the Chaldaea...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    SHALL IRON BREAK THE NORTHERN IRON— Houbigant renders the verse, _I will raise up iron from the north, iron and brass;_ which seems to give the best interpretation of this difficult verse. Others unde...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    II. PROPHETIC AGONY Jeremiah 15:10-21 Jeremiah suffered a great deal of mental anguish during his ministry. The rejection of his prophetic intercession on three successive occasions plunges Jeremiah t...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? NORTHERN ... STEEL - rather, brass or copper, which, mixed with "iron" (by the Chalybes near the Euxine Pontus, far neigh of Palestine), formed the...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    1-9. The coming woes described....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    Judæa is not tough enough to withstand the Chaldean power. For NORTHERN, cp, Jeremiah 6:1....

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    SHALL IRON BREAK...? — The abruptness of the question and the boldness of the imagery make the interpretation difficult. That which most harmonises with the context (assuming this verse to carry on th...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    הֲ יָרֹ֨עַ בַּרְזֶ֧ל ׀ בַּרְזֶ֛ל מִ צָּפֹ֖ון...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER IX THE DROUGHT AND ITS MORAL IMPLICATIONS Jeremiah 14:1; Jeremiah 15:1 (17?) VARIOUS opinions have been expressed about the division of these Chapter s. They have been cut up into short sect...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    To this great appeal Jehovah again replied by declaring mercy to be impossible, and judgment inevitable, and this on account of the sin of Manasseh which had been persisted in, namely, the rejection o...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Shall (n) iron break the northern iron and the steel? (n) As for the people, though they seemed strong as iron, yet they would not be able to resist the hard iron of Babylon, but would be led captive...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    Iron. Shall the iron (that is, the strength of Juda) stand against the stronger iron of the north, (that is, of Babylon) or enter into an alliance upon equal footing with it? No, certainly; but it mus...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    We have here the prophet mourning unmanfully. Jeremiah affords an instance, that he, like all others of Adam's race, partook of the common stock of corruption. Alas! how unsuitable and unbecoming is i...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    This verse also has been taken in different ways by interpreters: some take the word _iron, _when repeated in a different case, “Will iron break iron?” but others think the subject wanting in the clau...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    The beginning of chapter 15 is an answer to the close of chapter 14; but the instruction and the principles it contains are very remarkable. Jehovah declares that if Moses and Samuel (whose love for I...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    SHALL IRON BREAK THE NORTHERN IRON AND THE STEEL?] Can iron break iron, especially that which comes from the north, which was harder than the common iron; or steel, the hardest of all? though the Jews...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? Ver. 12. _Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?_] That is, say some, shall these hardhearted Jews be too hard for me? or, for thee, Jerem...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Shall iron break the northern iron?_ The northern iron is the hardest of any. “It is here,” says Blaney, “justly supposed to denote, in a primary sense, that species of hardened iron, or steel, calle...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    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...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    There is a great variety among interpreters as to this verse also, some interpreting this as a prophecy that none should break the prophet, whom God would make AS THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL, which wa...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Jeremiah 15:12 break H7489 (H8799) iron H1270 northern H6828 iron H1270 bronze H5178 Shall iron -...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    BUT JEREMIAH IS TO RECOGNISE THAT HIS PRAYERS WILL NOT ALTER WHAT MUST INEVITABLY HAPPEN AND THE TOTAL DESOLATION OF JUDAH (JEREMIAH 15:12). Jeremiah 15:12 “Can one break iron, Even iron from the n...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    JEREMIAH TOO FEELS THAT HE HAS BEEN BORN TO AFFLICTION AND STRIFE BUT IS COMFORTED BY YHWH AS HE OUTLINES THE FUTURE THAT LIES AHEAD, INCLUDING THE INVASION FROM THE NORTH (JEREMIAH 15:10). The though...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Message on the drought, concluded. The people abandoned to ruin. Jeremiah complains of his hardships. CHARACTERS: God, Jeremiah, Moses, Samuel. CONCLUSION: Miserable is the case of those w...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Jeremiah 15:1. _Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,_ as when Moses by his prayers saved the nation, Exodus 32:11, and Samuel in Mizpeh was heard, when the Lord terrified the Philistine armies by...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?_ THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL In order to achieve a purpose there must be sufficient force. The weaker cannot overcome the stronger. In a general cl...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES—For _Chronology of the Chapter and Historical Facts_, see on chap. Jeremiah 10:5 _in loc_. 1. PERSONAL ALLUSIONS. Jeremiah 15:1. “_Moses and Samuel_,” here mentioned as h...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION JEREMIAH 15:1 Second rejection of Jeremiah's intercession; awfulness of the impending judgment. JEREMIAH 15:1 THOUGH MOSES AND SAMUEL, etc. It is a mere supposition which is here made; t...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go foRuth (Jeremiah 15:1). Now it is interesti...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Habakkuk 1:5; Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 1:18; Jeremiah 1:19; Jeremiah 21:4

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    The northern iron — As the northern iron and steel is the hardest, and no iron could break that, so God having edged and hardened their enemies, the Chaldeans, all opposition to them would signify not...

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