Proverbs 25:22

For 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

For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee. For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head - melting him into sorrow, pain, and shame, at having been thine enemy.

For, understand, in so doing, which words are expressed , where this text is quoted, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head; either, 1. In a bad sense, thou shalt hereby aggravate his sin, and occasion a more speedy and grievous vengeance from God, which, like fire from heaven, shall fall upon his head and consume him. Not that he persuades him to do a kindness with an evil intent, with an expectation, or desire, or design of bringing God’ s wrath upon him; but only he foretells what would happen, and dissuades him from taking vengeance, and provokes him to kindness instead of it, because vengeance is God’ s peculiar work, which he will certainly inflict upon such persons; which argument is used to that very purpose by St. Paul, . Or, 2. In a good sense, thou shalt melt him into repentance, and inflame him with love and kindness to thee for so unexpected and undeserved a favour; he shall be as heartily grieved and tormented with the thoughts of his vile and wicked carriage to thee, as a man would be that had burning coals of fire heaped upon his head. But if these coals of fire do not melt him, but still he hardens his heart against thee, they will consume him. Thus either by the one or by the other way thou shalt be secured and delivered from him. The metaphor may seem to be taken from founders, who melt the hardest metals by heaping coals of fire upon them. And the head may be here mentioned rather than any other part, because in Scripture phrase both blessings and curses are said to fall upon men’ s heads, i.e. upon them, heads being frequently put for persons. The Lord shall reward thee; thy charity to him shall be fully recompensed to thee, if not by him, yet by God, which is far better.

Proverbs 25:22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.Ver. 22. For thou shalt heap coals of fire.] By heaping courtesies upon him, thou shalt win him over to thyself, as the king of Israel did those Syrians he feasted. They came no more after that by way of ambush or incursion into the bounds of Israel. In doing some good to our enemies, we do most to ourselves. And the Lord shall reward thee.] However men deal with thee. It may be they may prove dross that will not be melted, dirt that will not be mollified, but moulder to nothing, crumble to crattle as stones, &c., as having no metal of ingenuity or good nature in them. But desist not, despond not; "God will reward thee," and his retributions are more than bountiful. Or, as the words may be read, "God will pacify for thee," as he did Saul for David. Never did a charitable act go away without a blessing. God cannot but love in us this imitation of his mercy, who bids his sun to shine upon the evil and unthankful, and that love is never fruitless.

(22) Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.—Thou shalt make him burn with shame at the thought of the wrong he has done thee. Thus, to bring a sinner to repentance is well-pleasing to the Lord, who shall reward thee for it. This is better far than to indulge resentment, which must bring sorrow to oneself, punishment from God—whose prerogative of vengeance (Romans 12:19) has been usurped—and only serve to harden the offender in his hostility.

Verse 22. 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.

22. heap coals of fire upon his head] i.e. take the most effectual vengeance upon him. It is best to take the expression both here, and in the Epistle to the Romans, where it is quoted, in the simplest sense of taking vengeance, expressed by a familiar figure (Psalms 120:4; Psalms 140:10), without carrying out the figure into any idea of the effect upon your enemy, whether for good or for evil, of your conduct: q.d. your natural desire is to be avenged, let this ‘feeding him’ and ‘giving him drink’ be the effective form of vengeance which you adopt. And as an incentive remember that in doing him good you will bring a blessing upon yourself: “the Lord shall reward thee.” The proverb thus belongs by anticipation to the highest sphere of moral teaching, Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:20.

21, 22. If thine enemy be hungry… thirsty — These verses are translated by the Seventy more literally than is their wont, only adding in Proverbs 25:22, τουτογαρποιων, “in so doing.” In this form