Reference: Coal
American
Usually in Scripture, charcoal, or the embers of fire. Mineral coal is now procured in mount Lebanon, eight hours from Beirut; but we have no certainty that it was known and used by the Jews. The following passages are those which most strongly suggest this substance, 2Sa 22:9,13; Job 41:21.
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There went up a smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, - live coals, were kindled from it:
Out of the brightness before him, were kindled live coals of fire;
His breath, setteth coals ablaze, and, a flame, out of his mouth, proceedeth;
Easton
It is by no means certain that the Hebrews were acquainted with mineral coal, although it is found in Syria. Their common fuel was dried dung of animals and wood charcoal. Two different words are found in Hebrew to denote coal, both occurring in Pr 26:21, "As coal [Heb. peham; i.e., "black coal"] is to burning coal [Heb. gehalim]." The latter of these words is used in Job 41:21; Pr 6:28; Isa 44:19. The words "live coal" in Isa 6:6 are more correctly "glowing stone." In La 4:8 the expression "blacker than a coal" is literally rendered in the margin of the Revised Version "darker than blackness." "Coals of fire" (2Sa 22:9,13; Ps 18:8,12-13, etc.) is an expression used metaphorically for lightnings proceeding from God. A false tongue is compared to "coals of juniper" (Ps 120:4; Jas 3:6). "Heaping coals of fire on the head" symbolizes overcoming evil with good. The words of Paul (Ro 12:20) are equivalent to saying, "By charity and kindness thou shalt soften down his enmity as surely as heaping coals on the fire fuses the metal in the crucible."
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There went up a smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, - live coals, were kindled from it:
Out of the brightness before him, were kindled live coals of fire;
His breath, setteth coals ablaze, and, a flame, out of his mouth, proceedeth;
There went up smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, Live coals, were kindled from it:
Out of the brightness before him, his clouds rolled along, hail, and live coals of fire. Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
The arrows of the hero sharpened, with burning coals of broom.
Or can a man walk upon hot coals, and, his feet, not be burned?
Black coal to burning blocks, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man, for kindling strife.
Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, And in his hand, a live coal, - With tongs, had he taken it from off the altar.
And no one reflecteth - There is neither knowledge nor discernment - to say, Half thereof, have I burned up in the fire Moreover also I have baked, on the coals thereof, breed, I roasted flesh, and have been eating, - And of the remainder thereof, an abomination, shall I make? And, to a log of wood, shall I pay adoration?
Darker than a coal, is their visage, They are not known in the streets - Their skin shrivelleth on their bones, is withered, become like a stick.
But - if thine enemy hunger, be feeding him, if he thirst, be giving him drink; for, this doing, coals of fire, shalt thou heap upon his head.
And, the tongue, is a fire, - as , the world of unrighteousness, the tongue, becometh fixed among our members, that which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of our natural life, and is set on fire, by gehenna!
Fausets
pecham, "a black coal," and gachelath, "burning coals." Pr 26:21; "as coals (fuel) are to burning coals," etc.; so we speak of quarrelsome men "adding fuel to the flame." "Coals of fire" in 2Sa 22:9,13, represent the lightning of God's wrath. In Pr 25:22, "heap coals of fire upon thine enemy's head" (Ro 12:20), the meaning is, melt him into burning shame at his own unworthy hatred, and love for thee who hast overcome his evil with thy good. Either he shall be like metals melted by fire or like clay hardened by it. In Ps 120:4 "coals of juniper" rather burning brands of broom, retamim. The Arabs regard the retem (broom) the best firewood.
As their slanders burnt like coals on fire, so, by righteous retribution in kind, God will give them hot coals. Ps 140:10; 18:12-13; compare the same image of the tongue, Jas 3:6. In 2Sa 14:7 "they shall quench my coal that is left," i.e., extinguish the only surviving light of my home, my only son. In Isa 6:6 and 1Ki 19:6 the "coals" are in the Hebrew (rezeph) hot stones, on which cakes were baked and flesh cooked. In Hab 3:5 (resheph) "burning coals" poetically and figuratively express "burning diseases," as the parallel "pestilence" shows; also compare De 32:24; Ps 91:6. In La 4:8 translate as margin darker than blackness." Mineral coal protrudes through the strata to the surface of parts of Lebanon, at Cornale, eight miles from Beirut, the coal seams are three feet thick; but it seems not to have been anciently known as fuel. Charcoal is what is meant by "coal."
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The meltings of hunger, The devourings of fever, And the dangerous pestilence, - And, the tooth of beasts, will I send among them, With the poison of crawlers of the dust:
The meltings of hunger, The devourings of fever, And the dangerous pestilence, - And, the tooth of beasts, will I send among them, With the poison of crawlers of the dust:
Lo! therefore, all the family hath risen up against thy maidservant, and have said: Give up him that hath smitten his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother, whom he hath slain, that we may destroy, the heir also. So will they quench my ember that is left, and make my husband without name or remainder, on the face of the ground.
Lo! therefore, all the family hath risen up against thy maidservant, and have said: Give up him that hath smitten his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother, whom he hath slain, that we may destroy, the heir also. So will they quench my ember that is left, and make my husband without name or remainder, on the face of the ground.
There went up a smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, - live coals, were kindled from it:
There went up a smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, - live coals, were kindled from it:
Out of the brightness before him, were kindled live coals of fire;
Out of the brightness before him, were kindled live coals of fire;
So he looked about, and lo! at his head, a cake baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water, - and he did eat and drink, and then went back and lay down.
So he looked about, and lo! at his head, a cake baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water, - and he did eat and drink, and then went back and lay down.
Out of the brightness before him, his clouds rolled along, hail, and live coals of fire.
Out of the brightness before him, his clouds rolled along, hail, and live coals of fire. Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
Of the pestilence that, in darkness, doth walk, Of the plague that layeth waste at noonday.
Of the pestilence that, in darkness, doth walk, Of the plague that layeth waste at noonday.
The arrows of the hero sharpened, with burning coals of broom.
The arrows of the hero sharpened, with burning coals of broom.
May there be dropped on them live coals, - Into the fire, may they be let fall, into watery pits from which they shall not rise.
May there be dropped on them live coals, - Into the fire, may they be let fall, into watery pits from which they shall not rise.
For, burning coals, shalt thou be heaping upon his head, - and, Yahweh, will repay thee.
For, burning coals, shalt thou be heaping upon his head, - and, Yahweh, will repay thee.
Black coal to burning blocks, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man, for kindling strife.
Black coal to burning blocks, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man, for kindling strife.
Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, And in his hand, a live coal, - With tongs, had he taken it from off the altar.
Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, And in his hand, a live coal, - With tongs, had he taken it from off the altar.
Darker than a coal, is their visage, They are not known in the streets - Their skin shrivelleth on their bones, is withered, become like a stick.
Darker than a coal, is their visage, They are not known in the streets - Their skin shrivelleth on their bones, is withered, become like a stick.
Before him, marcheth pestilence, - and fever, goeth forth, at his feet:
Before him, marcheth pestilence, - and fever, goeth forth, at his feet:
But - if thine enemy hunger, be feeding him, if he thirst, be giving him drink; for, this doing, coals of fire, shalt thou heap upon his head.
But - if thine enemy hunger, be feeding him, if he thirst, be giving him drink; for, this doing, coals of fire, shalt thou heap upon his head.
And, the tongue, is a fire, - as , the world of unrighteousness, the tongue, becometh fixed among our members, that which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of our natural life, and is set on fire, by gehenna!
And, the tongue, is a fire, - as , the world of unrighteousness, the tongue, becometh fixed among our members, that which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of our natural life, and is set on fire, by gehenna!
Hastings
Mineral coal was unknown in Bible times. Wherever 'coal' (or 'coals') is mentioned, therefore, we must in the great majority of cases understand wood or charcoal. Several species of wood used for heating purposes are named in Isa 44:14-16, to which Ps 120:4 adds 'coals of broom' (Revised Version margin). In two cases, however, the 'live coal' of Isaiah's vision (Isa 6:6) and the 'coals' on which was 'a cake haken' for Elijah (1Ki 19:6), the Heb. word denotes a hot stone (so Revised Version margin
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Lo! therefore, all the family hath risen up against thy maidservant, and have said: Give up him that hath smitten his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother, whom he hath slain, that we may destroy, the heir also. So will they quench my ember that is left, and make my husband without name or remainder, on the face of the ground.
So he looked about, and lo! at his head, a cake baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water, - and he did eat and drink, and then went back and lay down.
The arrows of the hero sharpened, with burning coals of broom.
The light of the righteous, rejoiceth, but, the lamp of the lawless, goeth out.
Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, And in his hand, a live coal, - With tongs, had he taken it from off the altar.
When one was cutting him down cedars, Then took he a holm-tree and an oak, And secured them for himself, among the trees of the forest, - He planted a fir-tree and the pouring rain made it grow; So it serveth for a man to burn, And he hath taken of the branches and warmed himself, Also he kindleth a fire, and baketh bread, - Also he maketh a GOD, and hath bowed himself down, Hath made of it a carved image, and adored it: read more. The half thereof, hath he burned in the fire, Over half thereof, he eateth flesh, He roasteth roast, that he may be satisfied, - Also he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen a blaze;
Now, the king, was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, - with the fire-stove before him burning.
In that day, will I make the chiefs of Judah like a pan of fire among sticks, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf, so shall they devour, on the right hand and on the left, all the peoples round about; so shall Jerusalem yet, be inhabited, in her own place, as Jerusalem.
Morish
Mineral coal is now known to exist in the Lebanon range, but was unknown in Biblical times. Fires were seldom needed for warmth, and were as a rule used only for the cooking of food: the fire named in Joh 18:18 was in the night; food was cooked by charcoal or by warming the ovens with any vegetable refuse. The coal generally referred to in the O.T. was charcoal; but other words are used which imply the hot or glowing stones on which cakes were cooked. 1Ki 19:6; Cant. 8:6; Isa 6:6; Hab 3:5.
Heaping coals of fire on an enemy's head by kindness (Pr 25:21-22; Ro 12:20) becomes a test to him (as metal is tested by the fire), the kindness shown him will either bring about contrition and friendship, or harden him yet the more.
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So he looked about, and lo! at his head, a cake baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water, - and he did eat and drink, and then went back and lay down.
If he that hateth thee hunger, give him bread to eat, and, if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; For, burning coals, shalt thou be heaping upon his head, - and, Yahweh, will repay thee.
Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, And in his hand, a live coal, - With tongs, had he taken it from off the altar.
Before him, marcheth pestilence, - and fever, goeth forth, at his feet:
Now the servants and the officers were standing by, having made, a coal fire, because it was cold, - and were warming themselves; and Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
But - if thine enemy hunger, be feeding him, if he thirst, be giving him drink; for, this doing, coals of fire, shalt thou heap upon his head.
Smith
Coal.
The first and most frequent use of the word rendered coal is a live ember, burning fuel.
In
coals of fire are put metaphorically for the lightnings proceeding from God.
In
fuel not yet lighted is clearly signified. The fuel meant in the above passage is probably charcoal, and not coal in our sense of the word.
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There went up a smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, - live coals, were kindled from it:
Out of the brightness before him, were kindled live coals of fire;
There went up smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, Live coals, were kindled from it:
Out of the brightness before him, his clouds rolled along, hail, and live coals of fire. Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
May there be dropped on them live coals, - Into the fire, may they be let fall, into watery pits from which they shall not rise.
Black coal to burning blocks, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man, for kindling strife.