“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head and the Lord shall reward thee?”—Proverbs 25:21, 22.
Interpretation.—The duty enjoined is personal kindness to an enemy—to feed him with the tenderness of a nurse (Rom. 12:20, original). By so doing thou shalt effectually melt his hard heart. For,
“So artists melt the sullen ore of lead
By heaping coals of fire upon its head.”
Or, to employ another image, thy kind acts shall be like the “burning coals” of a divine vengeance (Hab. 3:5)—the noblest and best revenge for thee. And thy reward shall be of the Lord—to gain thy brother (Matt. 18:15), or, if not, “thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.”
Illustrations.—David tried this method upon Saul, and not altogether unsuccessfully (1 Sam. 24). How noble was the revenge of Elisha—to provide a table for those who had provided a grave for him (2 Kings 6:21–23)! Those heads of the children of Ephraim who treated well the captives of war which Israel had taken from Judah in the reign of Ahaz, acted upon this injunction (2 Chron. 28:12). In the like spirit did the proto-martyr Stephen pray for his murderers, after the example of the Blessed Jesus.
Application.—One of the noblest victories of grace is to conquer revenge, so sweet to the natural heart. But the conquest is not complete unless for lurking hatred is substituted practical love. It is not enough to put off revenge, I must put on those Christian graces which culminate in “forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any” (Col. 3:12, 13). But this I shall hardly be able to do unless I am persuaded that Christ has forgiven me. To be assured of this will make it easy to forgive others. The commandment is no new one, but that which we had from the beginning (Exod. 23:4; John 13:34; 1 John 2:7); only the principle by which it is now enforced upon Christians is new. For are we not the disciples of Him who died for His enemies? Was not His cry from the cross, “Father, forgive them,” the key-note of a new life? Solomon’s “counsel” had become crusted over with human traditions, the teaching of human passion, and on it was written (as on a palimpsest), “Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.” Jesus restored the original, and added the weight of His example. His Apostle rewrote it (Rom. 12:20). “Enemy” were a word unknown had not man fallen from his first estate.
Pearson, C. R. (1881). Counsels of the Wise King; or, Proverbs of Solomon Applied to Daily Life (Vol. 2, p. 99). W. Skeffington & Son. (Public Domain)
“Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.” (Habakkuk 3:5, KJV)
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” (Matthew 18:15, KJV)
“And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” (2 Kings 6:21–23, KJV)
“Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,” (2 Chronicles 28:12, KJV)
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” (Colossians 3:12–13, KJV)
“If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.” (Exodus 23:4, KJV)
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34, KJV)
“Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.” (1 John 2:7, KJV)
“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” (Romans 12:20, KJV)
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