Romans 12 Footnotes

12:19-20 Paul rejected revenge as a Christian response to injustice, but did he then imply another kind of revenge—heaping fiery coals on an enemy’s head (perhaps as an image of hell)? The first two lines of the quotation and its final statement of God’s reward that Paul did not cite here (from Pr 25:21-22) argue for a positive meaning to this. The next verse confirms this: “conquer evil with good” (v. 21). More likely, then, “fiery coals” envision a positive effect: shaming the enemy into repentance. The burning coals may refer to an Egyptian ritual during which one demonstrated genuine repentance by carrying hot coals in some container. Paul urged Christians to do good to enemies so they would see their sins and repent. Obviously, repentance will not always follow, but this is the Christian response to injury (recall Mt 5:44-47).