The Meaning of Jeremiah 6:28 Explained

Jeremiah 6:28

KJV: They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

YLT: All of them are turned aside by apostates, Walking slanderously -- brass and iron, All of them are corrupters.

Darby: They are all the most rebellious of rebels, going about with slander: they are bronze and iron; they are all corrupters.

ASV: They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They [are] all grievous  revolters,  walking  with slanders:  [they are] brass  and iron;  they [are] all corrupters. 

What does Jeremiah 6:28 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Judahites were stubborn, rebellious, and deceitful. All of them were also hardened to outside influences, like bronze and iron, and were impure (cf. Malachi 3:3).
". . . the people of Judah are not, so to speak, precious metal marred by some impurities, but base metal from which nothing of worth can be extracted." [1]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 6

1  The enemies sent against Judah,
4  encourage themselves
6  God sets them on work because of their sins
9  The prophet laments the judgments of God because of their sins
18  He proclaims God's wrath
26  He calls the people to mourn for the judgment on their sins

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 6:28 mean?

They [are] all stubborn rebels walking as slanderers [They are] bronze and iron all [are] corrupters they
כֻּלָּם֙ סָרֵ֣י סֽוֹרְרִ֔ים הֹלְכֵ֥י רָכִ֖יל נְחֹ֣שֶׁת וּבַרְזֶ֑ל כֻּלָּ֥ם מַשְׁחִיתִ֖ים הֵֽמָּה

כֻּלָּם֙  They  [are]  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
סָרֵ֣י  stubborn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
סֽוֹרְרִ֔ים  rebels 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: סָרַר  
Sense: to rebel, be stubborn, be rebellious, be refractory.
הֹלְכֵ֥י  walking 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
רָכִ֖יל  as  slanderers 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָכִיל  
Sense: slander, slanderer, tale bearer, informer.
נְחֹ֣שֶׁת  [They  are]  bronze 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: נְחֹשֶׁת 
Sense: copper, bronze.
וּבַרְזֶ֑ל  and  iron 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּרְזֶל  
Sense: iron.
מַשְׁחִיתִ֖ים  [are]  corrupters 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine plural
Root: שָׁחַת  
Sense: to destroy, corrupt, go to ruin, decay.