Proverbs 25:22

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. Either be shall be like wax melted by fire, or like clay hardened by it. In either case, "the Lord shall reward thee." THE LORD SHALL REWARD THEE. Even if thy love fail to melt him, thy labour will not be lost; it will redound to thy good (cf. ; )....

Verse Proverbs 25:22. _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....

A precept reproduced by Paul Romans 12:20; the second clause of which seems at first sight to suggest a motive incompatible with a true charity. Leviticus 16:12 suggests an explanation. The high priest on the Day of Atonement was to take his censer, to fill it with “coals of fire,” and then to put the incense thereon for a sweet-smelling savor. So it is here. The first emotion in another caused by the good done to him may be one of burning shame, but the shame will do its work and the heart also will burn, and prayer and confession and thanksgiving will rise as incense to the throne of God. Thus, “we shall overcome evil with good.”...

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-29:27 PART VI. SECOND GREAT COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS, gathered by "the men of Hezekiah," in which wisdom is set forth as the greatest blessing to the king and his subjects. PROVERBS 25:1 _The_ _superscription: _THESE ARE ALSO PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, WHICH THE MEN OF HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH COPIED OUT. The word "also" implies that a previous collection was known to the compiler of the present book—probably the one which we have in Pr 10-22:16, of which nine proverbs are inserted here. But there was still a large number of proverbial sayings attributed to Solomon, and preserved partly by oral tradition and partly in writing, which it was advisable to colle

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 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 Romans 12:20....

IV. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON COLLECTED BY THE MEN OF HEZEKIAH CHAPTER 25 Here begin the proverbs which the good king Hezekiah, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, added to this book. “This title is interesting as affording a proof that a revival of literary activity accompanied the revival of religion and of national prosperity which marked the reign of Hezekiah. The men of Hezekiah were doubtless a body of scribes engaged under the direction of the king in literary labors.” Very fittingly the opening verses of this collected portion of proverbs relate to the king. While it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, the glory of kings is to search out a matter. God has many things concealed as to Himself, the great universe, creation and His ways in providence; but kings should inquire diligently into the matters brought before them and search them out in their administration of justi...

FIRST DIVISION. In general character this division shows a resemblance to the Sayings of the Wise, containing a number of quatrains and synthetic couplets, and but few antithetic couplets. PROVERBS 25:2 B. A series of three quatrains relating to kings. Proverbs 25:4 b. Very obscure. Refining silver does not produce a vessel, and the parallelism with Proverbs 25:5 b is unsatisfactory. LXX it will be wholly purified probably represents the original text. Proverbs 25:6 f. _cf._ Luke 14:8....

HEAP, &C.. receive from thine enemy [and place] upon his head. Figure of speech _Ellipsis_ (Relative), App-6. As _hatha =_ receive, the Ellipsis must be thus supplied: i.e. If thou doest good to one whose burning words (Proverbs 16:27; Proverbs 26:23) thou hast received, they will burn him in another sense. Illustration: David (1 Samuel 24:16)....

_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,...

DISCOURSE: 809 RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL Proverbs 25:21. _If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: for thou shall heap coals of fire upon his head; and the Lord shall reward thee_. THE morality both of the Old and New Testament is the same. Some have imagined, that because our blessed Lord said, “A new Commandment give I unto you,” he has in his Gospel enlarged the duties of his followers beyond what was required by the moral law. But no command of his was new _in itself_, but only in _its circumstances;_ as being enjoined from new principles, and illustrated by new examples. Morality does not depend on any arbitrary appointment: it arises out of the relation which we bear to God as our common Parent, and to each other as Brethren: and, irrespective of any express revelation of it, “To love God with all