Jeremiah 6:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

All those who walk in disobedience are described as stiff-necked, resembling brass and iron. This comparison illustrates their hard-heartedness and persistence in sin. Their behaviors are resistant to following the righteous path. The Lord is just, and His ways are righteous (Psalm 91:16). When it is said that they are like brass and iron, it signifies the unyielding nature and unchanging devotion to their wrongdoing. In another scripture, it states, “Thy forehead is brass” (Isaiah 48:4). Those who refuse to soften their hearts, failing to allow the transformative power of repentance to reshape their lives, are akin to molten copper, stubbornly clinging to their perverse ways. Even in times of discipline, they do not relinquish their iniquity. Just as copper and iron are subject to decay, these individuals have completely forfeited the essence of godliness over time.

I have appointed you as a discerning figure among My people, who are strong, and you will come to know and examine their paths. They are all leaders of evasion, walking in deceit. Copper and iron, all are corrupt, the winds of falsehood have blown away what they held dear; the lead is spoiled, and the craftsman labors in vain. Their iniquities remain unconsumed; they will be called counterfeit silver, for the Lord has spurned them. The prophet is sent to the people who do not believe, a strong examiner—known in Hebrew as mabsar—which can mean fortified, according to Aquila, or confined and surrounded, as per Symmachus—a presence as robust as a fortified city, unafraid of the afflictions of the people.

Those who walk in disobedience do so rigidly, resembling a mix of sweetness and hardness; they are all in a state of defilement, meaning they are unclean due to their impurity and possess no goodness within them.