Sometimes The Bible Surprises Me!

Well, I appreciate Brother Gill and agree with him often, but I think he missed it on this one...

21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
22 For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head, And Jehovah will reward thee. Prov 25

Romans 12:20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Elliot's
(20) Thou shalt heap coals of fire.--Comp. Psalm 18:12-14, where the phrase "coals of fire" is used of the divine vengeance. So here, but in a strictly metaphorical sense, it means, "Thou shalt take the best and most summary vengeance upon him." There may be the underlying idea of awakening in the adversary the pangs of shame and remorse.

JFB
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head—As the heaping of "coals of fire" is in the Old Testament the figurative expression of divine vengeance (Ps 140:10; 11:6, etc.), the true sense of these words seems to be, "That will be the most effectual vengeance—a vengeance under which he will be fain to bend" (So Alford, Hodge, etc.). Ro 12:21 confirms this.

Matthew Henry
The line of our duty is clearly marked out, and if our enemies are not melted by persevering kindness, we are not to seek vengeance; they will be consumed by the fiery wrath of that God to whom vengeance belongeth.

Matthew Poole
Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head; i.e. either make him relent, or bring down the greater vengeance from God upon him. This is taken out of Proverbs 25:21,22; See Poole on "Proverbs 25:21". See Poole on "Proverbs 25:22".

Meyer's
Romans 12:20. Without οὖν (see the critical notes), but thus the more in conformity with the mode of expression throughout the whole chapter, which proceeds for the most part without connectives, there now follows what the Christian—seeing that he is not to avenge himself, but to let God’s wrath have its way—has rather to do in respect of his enemy. The whole verse is borrowed from Proverbs 25:21-22, which words Paul adopts as his own, closely from the LXX.

 

It jibes with v 19, and no I don't think it contradicts v 21, consider Henry's words:

"The line of our duty is clearly marked out, and if our enemies are not melted by persevering kindness, we are not to seek vengeance; they will be consumed by the fiery wrath of that God to whom vengeance belongeth."

Either way, you've overcome evil with good.

 

I'd like to jump in with my take, if that's OK.
I realize this thread is old, but I'm just now going through the older ones.
Here are the passages:

" If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
22 for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee." ( Proverbs 25:21-22 )

" 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.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." ( Romans 12:20-21 )


What I see is that first of all, a believer's actual enemies are not his or her brothers and sisters...they are the enemies of Christ, therefore they are those who hate Him and hate us:

" If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you." ( John 15:18 )

" Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" ( 1 John 3:13-17 )


So, believer's love other believers and do good things for them.
But as good neighbors, we are to do good to all:

" As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of the household of faith." ( Galatians 6:10 )

But, since they are our enemies and bound for Hell, our actions towards them, while loving, God will hold them accountable for hating us even more...literally heaping coals of fire on their heads while they are in Hell in torments. We overcome evil with good, while they try to overcome good with evil and ultimately lose.

You gentlemen don't really think that God is going to let His children's suffering go unanswered, do you? BTW, that's a rhetorical question, and one that fills me with mixed emotions.

Does God recompense unbelievers for persecuting His children?

" seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:" ( 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 )

Sobering? Yes. I always find it sobering when I read many parts of His blessed word.


He is a revenger of all who are righteous and who suffer for righteousness sake.