Vincent's Word Studies in the NT

Romans 12:20

Feed [ψ ω μ ι ζ ε]. See on sop, John 13:26. The citation from Proverbs 25:21; Proverbs 25:22, closely follows both Hebrew and Septuagint.

Shalt heap [σ ω ρ ε υ σ ε ι ς]. Only here and 2 Timothy 3:6.

Coals of fire. Many explain : The memory of the wrong awakened in your enemy by your kindness, shall sting him with penitence. This, however, might be open to the objection that the enemy's pain might gratify the instinct of revenge. Perhaps it is better to take it, that kindness is as effectual as coals of fire. Among the Arabs and Hebrews the figure of "coals of fire" is common as a symbol of divine punishment (Psalms 18:13). "The Arabians call things which cause very acute mental pain, burning coals of the heart and fire in the liver" (Thayer, "Lexicon "). Thomas De Quincey, referring to an author who calls this" a fiendish idea, "says :" I acknowledge that to myself, in one part of my boyhood, it did seem a refinement of malice. My subtilizing habits, however, even in those days, soon suggested to me that this aggravation of guilt in the object of our forgiveness was not held out as the motive to the forgiveness, but as the result of it; secondly, that perhaps no aggravation of his guilt was the point contemplated, but the salutary stinging into life of his remorse hitherto sleeping " (" Essays on the Poets "). :Romans 13

CHAPTER XIII

On the circumstances which are supposed to have called out the first part of this chapter, see Farrarr, "Life and Work of Paul," 2, 260 sqq.

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Vincent's Word Studies in the NT

Romans 12:20

Old Testament

New Testament