"Iron sharpens Iron" ...not?

[SNReed]

In my small mens group someone mentioned a blog http://astudent.wordpress.com/2007/03/2 ... pens-iron/ that says that the common interpertation of Prov 27:17 is incorrect, that a man can help shape the character of his friend, when it really means the exact opposite. The blogger insists that he has extensive knowledge of metalurgy and of the physics of sharpening tools and anyone at the time the Proverb was written would obviously understand that since in fact iron cannnot sharpen iron (only a different harder material can sharpen a less hard material) therefore a man can not sharpen (influence the character or teach) another man. If this is true then first of all it seems to be a hidden or misleading way to state something which the Proverbs seem to usually be straight foward in stating their meaning (my interpretation of them anyways) and second apparently this is a new idea (googling finds nothing), but the blogger was very convincing. Anyone know the truth on how to take the meaning of Prov 27:17?

[Homer]

SNReed,

You wrote:

The blogger insists that he has extensive knowledge of metalurgy and of the physics of sharpening tools and anyone at the time the Proverb was written would obviously understand that since in fact iron cannnot sharpen iron (only a different harder material can sharpen a less hard material) therefore a man can not sharpen (influence the character or teach) another man.

I am not much impressed with what the blogger wrote. The iron mentioned in the Proverb would no doubt not be pure iron, which is as soft as copper and would not be something you might sharpen, nor would you sharpen anything with. By the addtion of small amounts of carbon, iron can be made into steel of varying hardness, such as steel that is used to build buildings, automobiles, bridges, etc. And a file can be made which can sharpen a saw blade. It seems obvious to me that the writer of the Psalms was not referring to iron but things made of iron.

[darinhouston]

Yeah - I'm pretty sure I don't use a stone to sharpen my lawn mower blades (probably about as sharp as these guys would have expected to sharpen something). They weren't honing to a razor's edge. I've seen articles like this before, and it's as ignorant as many of the atheist's attacks of Christianity.