Psalms 107:16

“For he hath broken the gates of brass, etc.] The prison doors made of brass, as sometimes of iron, for the security of the prisoners; (see <441210> Acts 12:10). And cut the bars of iron in sunder; with which they were barred and secured. Hyperbolical phrases these, as Kimchi, expressing how exceeding strong the prison doors were, and the impossibility of an escape out of them, unless the Lord had delivered them; but when he works, none can let; all obstructions are easily removed by him; which is the sense of the words, (see <234502>Isaiah 45:2). Vitringa, on (<661202>Revelation 12:2), interprets this of the subjection of the Roman emperors to the faith and obedience of Christ.”

“For he hath broken the gates of brass - The immediate “reason” here given for praising the Lord is that he had “broken the gates of brass,” continuing the thought from Psalms 107:10-14. In the previous part of the psalm, in giving a reason for praising the Lord, the fact that he feeds the hungry was selected Psalms 107:9 because in the preceding part the allusion was to the sufferings of hunger and thirst Psalms 107:4-5; here the fact that he had broken the gates of brass is selected, because the allusion in the immediately preceding verses Psalms 107:12-14 was to their imprisonment. In the construction of the psalm there is great regularity. The “gates of brass” refer probably to Babylon;…”

“Jdg 16:3; Isa 45:1, Isa 45:2; Mic 2:13 Psalms 107:17”