Proverbs 25:22
in Proverbs 25For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head, And Jehovah will reward thee.
KJV
For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.
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This verse in Proverbs 25
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor thou shall heap coals of fire upon his head,.... Not to increase his punishment and damnation, the more aggravated by kindness shown him; but to bring him by such means to a sense of former injuries, and to shame for them, repentance of them, and love of the person injured, and carefulness for the future of doing him any further wrong; and the Lord shall reward thee: with good things, for all the good done to thine enemy, whether it has the desired effect on him or not; or whether he rewards thee or not; see Rom 12:20.
This site's exposition
If your enemy is hungry
on Proverbs 25:21-22
Paul quotes "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat" at Romans 12:20. The "burning coals" are read two ways, as shame that may soften an enemy's conscience or as a figure for God's coming judgment. The promise that "the LORD will reward you" stands under either reading.
This site's exposition
heap burning coals on his head
Adam Clarke takes them from smelting, where heaped coals melt the ore. John Gill reads them as shame that leads a fed enemy to repentance while the LORD rewards the giver. Albert Barnes points instead to the high priest's censer of coals in Leviticus 16:12.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
He also said, 'Evil cannot drive out evil. If anyone hurts you, do good to him and your good will destroy his evil.'
This [scriptural passage] seems to prescribe a crime or a vice; therefore, it is a figure of speech directing that we are to participate in the Lord's passion and treasure up in grateful and salutary remembrance the fact that his flesh was crucified and wounded for us. Scripture says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink." This undoubtedly prescribes a kindness, but the part that follows—"For by so doing you will heap coals of fire upon his head"—you might suppose was commanding a crime of malevolence. So, do not doubt that it is a figurative expression. Although it can have a twofold interpretation, by one intending harm, by the other intending a good, charity should call you away from the former to kindness, so that you may understand that the coals of fire are the burning lamentations of repentance by which that person's pride is healed and he grieves that he has been an enemy of the one who relieves his misery.
The Holy Spirit speaks in the same manner through Solomon: "If your enemy is hungry, give him to eat; if he is thirsty, give him to drink; in doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head." At this point we must watch …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"For you will heap coals of fire on his head," etc. It does not speak of the burning of punishments; for wisdom would not teach that you should minister good to an enemy for the cause of his destruction; but the coals upon his head …
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head - Not to consume, but to melt him into kindness; a metaphor taken from smelting metallic ores: - So artists melt the sullen ore of lead, By heaping coals of fire upon its head: In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow, And pure from dross the silver runs below. S. Wesley.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גֶֽחָלִ֗ים | gechalim | burning coals | H1513 → | 18 times |
| אַ֭תָּה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| חֹתֶ֣ה | choteh | [will] snatch up | H2846 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹאשׁ֑וֹ | rosho | head his | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וַֽ֝יהוָ֗ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יְשַׁלֶּם־ | yeshalem- | he will repay | H7999 → | 116 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to you |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
גֶֽחָלִ֗יםburning coals
gechalimH1513 →18 times
אַ֭תָּהyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
חֹתֶ֣ה[will] snatch up
chotehH2846 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֹאשׁ֑וֹhead his
roshoH7218 →599 times
וַֽ֝יהוָ֗הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
יְשַׁלֶּם־he will repay
yeshalem-H7999 →116 times
לָֽךְ׃to you
lakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 16:12Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 23:5
Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
- Hebrews 12:10
Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
- Exodus 2:24–25
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Matthew 5:11–12
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Deuteronomy 23:5
Through
1 Corinthians 15:18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…
- Revelation 14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors,…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION 3:16.24; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 36:5; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.