By Mark W. Christy, PhD
In Romans 12:20, Paul issues this command, “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Those who have sought to correctly discern Paul’s directive have often struggled with what he means by “heap burning coals on his head.” While some have suggested Paul means that loving one’s enemy will cause the enemy to feel ashamed, this view hardly accords with the context and the usage of “burning coals” in the Old Testament (OT). For this reason, this article will seek to uncover Paul’s intended meaning.
In the context, Paul had just stated that all revenge belonged to the Lord, and any such revenge is to be equated with God’s wrath (Rom 12:19). This being the case, it would seem likely that the following verse offers a practical application of how to relate with others while restraining any thoughts of revenge so that God Himself may have His due and assign all vengeance in perfect accordance with His wrath. If this is so, then one should expect the heaping of burning coals to be some sort of reference to the wrath of God and His eschatological judgment of the wicked.
As one surveys the OT, one will discover that burning coals were invariably associated with God’s wrath. For example, the Psalmist, in his portrayal of God’s anger, writes, “Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it” (18:8; cf. Ps 18:12-13; 2 Sam 22:9, 13). In a later Psalm, the Psalmist once again speaks of burning coals when noting the wrath of God that is being stored up against the wicked for a future time of eternal judgment: “May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, into deep pits from which they cannot rise” (140:10).
Beyond the evidence found in the context and the OT usage of the imagery of burning coals, one can also consider the parallelism in the underlying structure of v. 20 in comparison with v.19. This structure, which is more easily noticed in the original language is as follows,
19a “Never take your own revenge, beloved,”
19b “but leave room for the wrath of God,”
19c “for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
20a “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him,”
20b “and if he is thirsty, give him a drink;”
20c “for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
The first part of the verse offers a negative injunction, while the second part offers a positive. In between them, the Greek text employs ἀλλά (on the contrary) to highlight this change. Also, the third part of each verse is introduced in the Greek text by a word meaning because (“for”). This connection, which is wrapped within the parallelistic structure of these verses, points to the same motivation underlying one’s choices to forgo taking revenge and instead loving one’s enemy. Specifically, one who faithfully chooses this path of love does so because they have entrusted to God any judgment related to themselves.
Given this interpretation, one may think that Paul is seeking to motivate his Christian audience to love their enemies while at the same time offering them a sinister motive for their charity. Paul, however, is not directing Christians to be motivated by the desire to see their enemies harmed; instead, he is encouraging them to move forward with hearts filled with love knowing that God will sort out all things at the end and assign retribution as is necessary. In conclusion, the heaping of burning coals onto one’s enemy occurs in the context of loving them. For those who hearts become open to God as He forbears their unjust acts, they will be forgiven. On the other hand, those who fail to be moved by the love of God expressed by the actions of His saints will in the end face an even greater eternal punishment.