Iron Sharpens Iron

^this^

i.e. my iron has gotten much sharper from the ten years I've participated on this board

 

I think it can go both ways. The key to the passage is that men are capable of sharpening one another. The picture the author creates is of iron being used to sharpen an iron implement. Sharpening creates friction and sparks. Go back up to verse 6 and we read, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend". So, the process may be painful but the reward is pleasant. Sometimes we are sharpened by our enemies, even when they mean us harm (c.f. Genesis 50:20).

 

Wow, you're absolutely spot on with that one. Geez, I read right over top that. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

FYI, I wasn't being 'funny' in post #5.

 

I have always understood the passage intent but always thought the analogy odd. Having worked with metal all my adult life, the last thing I would sharpen Iron with would be Iron. While you can sharpen Iron with Iron, there are about a million better ways to do it.

 

Yea, it is humorous, or maybe paradoxical(?), that debate that gets you 'riled' can eventually make you 'sharp'.

(but this definitely is not true for everyone )

 

I'm not sure how one would glean a negative from it. Doesn't the sharpening imply a prolonged intentional act aimed at making the other blade useful for its purpose? Or are such interpreters suggesting that the iron should be dull and not blades at all?

 

I must say, R. L, I had never heard "Iron sharpeneth iron" interpreted in anything but a positive sense before. But I can see how a sharp-tongued woman (or man) could provoke, by his or her words of anger, rage in a husband/wife.

When I run across this sentence, I think of my days at New Trier West High School in Northfield, IL, and how being in classes with all the Jewish children that lived in our school district "sharpened" my intellect (the Jewish families tended to put a high premium on education).

 

It’s Jewish meditation poetry. Unlike expository text, it’s not suppose to have a set meaning.

So as long as the purpose behind your reading is correct, there isn’t a “wrong” interpretation.

Psalm 1:2 NLT
[2] But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.

 

I had assumed I knew the meaning of this verse, so thanks for sharpening my outlook. Upon reflection, I still think the idea is positive, we (siblings in Christ) build up our "associates" sometimes with a love based rebuke.

Once of the commentaries mentioned Proverbs 27:6 in support of the positive interpretation.

Yes, those that left out "face" which is used to refer to awareness and outlook, poorly translated the verse in my opinion.

 

It took me almost a whole day, but I located on the internet the pop song that uses the line, "After all your words of steel." It is "Oh Sherry" by Steve Perry (lead singer of Journey).


OH SHERRY (lyrics)
You should've been gone
Knowing how I made you feel
And I should've been gone
After all your words of steel [emphasis mine]...

So, the steely words of the woman ("words of steel") are like iron (steel is made from iron), which gave Steve Perry a steely resolve to GET OUTTA THERE (the negative interpretation of "Iron (her tongue) sharpeneth iron (his heart)." The moral of the story? Maybe it's to remember, "A soft answer turneth away wrath."

 

For those who would interpret the passage negatively, the challenge is to show that the action of the iron should not be to sharpen iron, that sharp iron is undesirable, that a negative process is indicated.

Pointing to a negative human situation and then working backward is termed eisegesis.

Note that one could also use iron to dull iron, but that is not the simile of the passage. However, it could be used as a starting point for thinking about why dull iron might be better. And the context is back then, not now.