Proverbs 25:21-23

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;^(A)

²²For in doing so, you will ^[a]heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain; so does a backbiting tongue bring forth an angry countenance.

Proverbs 25:22 This is not to be understood as a revengeful act intended to embarrass its victim, but just the opposite. The picture is that of the high priest (Lev. 16:12) who, on the Day of Atonement, took his censer and filled it with “coals of fire” from off the altar of burnt offering, and then put incense on the coals to create a pleasing, sweet-smelling fragrance. The cloud or smoke of the incense covered the mercy seat and was acceptable to God for atonement. Samuel Wesley wrote:/ “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.”