Jeremiah 15:12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10-14

Jeremiah has now returned from his public work and retired into his closet; what passed between him and his God there we have an account of in these and the following verses, which he published afterwards, to affect the people with the weight and importance of his messages to them. Here is, I. The complaint which the prophet makes to God of the many discouragements he met with in his work, Jer. 15:10. 1. He met with a great deal of contradiction and opposition. He was a man of strife and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 15:12

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 were hard as iron, they could not prevail against and overcome Jeremiah, who was made an iron pillar and brasen walls against them, Jeremiah 1:18 , and so these words are spoken for his comfort and encouragement: or they may respect the Jews and the Chaldeans; and the sense be, that the Jews,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 steel, property signifies brass or copper united with tin, which gives it much hardness, and enables it to bear a good edge. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 15:12

Verse 12 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 clause, and consider people to be understood, “Will the Jews break the iron, even the iron from the north, and not only the iron but the brass also, or, the the brass mixed with iron?” There is in reality no difference, but in words only. If we read, “Will the iron break the iron from the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10-21

These verses come in very unexpectedly, and are certainly not to be regarded as a continuation of the preceding discourse. They describe some deeply pathetic moment of the prophet's inner life, and in all probability belong to a later period of the history of Judah. At any rate, the appreciation of the next chapter will be facilitated by reading it in close connection with Jeremiah 15:9 of the present chapter. But the section before us is too impressive to be east adrift without an attempt... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:12

Shall iron break , etc.? Again an enigmatical saying. The rendering of the Authorized Version assumes that by the northern iron Jeremiah means the Babylonian empire. But the "breaking" of the Babylonian empire was not a subject which lay within the thoughts of the prophet. It was not the fate of Babylon, but his own troubled existence, and the possibility that his foes would ultimately succeed in crushing him, which disquieted this conscientious but timid spokesman of Jehovah. The Divine... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 15:12

A vain contest. "Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?" So asks the Lord God of his, at this time not simply lamenting prophet, he was rarely anything but that, but also his complaining prophet. And as we read these verses with which the striking inquiry contained in this verse is connected, we cannot help feeling that his lamentations become him far more than his complaints. Still, who are we, to criticize a great hero of the faith such as Jeremiah undoubtedly was? These... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 15:12

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 Exodus 25:3 note. The alloy of copper and zinc now called brass was entirely unknown to the ancients. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jeremiah 15:12

Jeremiah 15:12. 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, called in Greek χαλυψ , from the Chalybes, a people bordering on the Euxine sea, and consequently lying to the north of Judea, by whom the art of tempering steel is said to have been discovered. Strabo speaks of this people as known in former times by the name of Chalybes, but... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 15:10-21

Jeremiah’s anguish; God’s comfort (15:10-21)The prophet again complains to God because of the unjust treatment he suffers. He has done no harm to the people, and in fact has pleaded on their behalf for God’s mercy upon them, yet they hate him. They are angered at his attacks on their sin and his forecasts of judgment. Their hearts are as hard as iron (10-12). God’s word is that the Judeans will be invaded, plundered and taken captive (13-14).Knowing that God is understanding, Jeremiah asks that... read more

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