Iron

The Canaanites in the valley could not be driven out, the book of Judges says, “because they had chariots of iron.” Iron appears in the Bible as a symbol of strength and hardness: Egypt is called an “iron furnace,” and a ruler is pictured with “a rod of iron.” It also turns up as plain craft. Job notes that “iron is taken out of the earth,” and a lost axe head floats at Elisha’s word. Start with Judges 1:19, then read Deuteronomy 8:9, where a good land is one “whose stones are iron.”

28 verses

Numbers

Numbers 35:16

And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 4:20

But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

Deuteronomy 8:9

A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

Deuteronomy 28:48

Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

Joshua

Joshua 17:16

And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.

Joshua 17:18

But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

Joshua 19:38

And Iron, and Migdalel, Horem, and Bethanath, and Bethshemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.

Judges

Judges 1:19

And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 17:7

And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 22:35

He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

2 Samuel 23:7

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

1 Kings

1 Kings 8:51

For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

1 Kings 22:11

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.

2 Kings

2 Kings 6:6

And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 22:3

And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 18:10

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed.

Job

Job 20:24

He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.

Job 28:2

Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

Psalms

Psalms 2:9

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Psalms 105:18

Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:

Psalms 107:10

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

Psalms 107:16

For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:10

If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 15:12

Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 4:3

Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Daniel

Daniel 2:33

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Revelation

Revelation 2:27

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Revelation 12:5

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Tubal-Cain is the first-mentioned worker in iron (Gen. 4:22). The Egyptians wrought it at Sinai before the Exodus. David prepared it in great abundance for the temple (1 Chr. 22:3: 29:7). The merchants of Dan and Javan brought it to the market of Tyre (Ezek. 27:19). Various instruments are mentioned as made of iron (Deut. 27:5; 19:5; Josh. 17:16, 18; 1 Sam. 17:7; 2 Sam. 12:31; 2 Kings 6:5, 6; 1 Chr. 22:3; Isa. 10:34).

Figuratively, a yoke of iron (Deut. 28:48) denotes hard service; a rod of iron (Ps. 2:9), a stern government; a pillar of iron (Jer. 1:18), a strong support; a furnace of iron (Deut. 4:20), severe labour; a bar of iron (Job 40:18), strength; fetters of iron (Ps. 107:10), affliction; giving silver for iron (Isa. 60:17), prosperity.

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

Iron

is mentioned with brass as the earliest of known metals. (Genesis 4:22) The natural wealth in iron of the soil of Canaan is indicated by describing it as a land whose stones are iron." (8:9) (Recent explorations have shown that iron ore is abundant in the northern part of Palestine. --ED.) The book of Job contains passages which indicate that iron was a metal well known. Sheet-iron was used for cooking utensils. (Ezekiel 4:3) cf. Levi 7:9 That it was plentiful in the time of David appears from (1 Chronicles 22:3) The market of Tyre was supplied with bright or polished iron by the merchants of by Dan and Javan. (Ezekiel 27:19) The Chalybes of the Pontus were celebrated as workers in iron in very ancient times. The product of their labor is supposed to be alluded to in (Jeremiah 16:12) as being of superior quality. Specimens of Assyrian iron-work overlaid with bronze were discovered by Mr. Layard, and are now in the British Museum. Iron weapons of various kinds were found at Nimroud, but fell to pieces on exposure to the air.

Iron

(pious), one of the cities of Naphtali, (Joshua 19:38) hitherto totally unknown.

Based on Nave's Topical Bible by Orville J. Nave (1896). Dictionary entries from Easton's Bible Dictionary and Smith's Bible Dictionary. Public domain. KJV scripture text, public domain.