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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Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.
From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!
His breath setteth coals on fire, And a flame from his mouth goeth forth.
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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Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.
From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!
His breath setteth coals on fire, And a flame from his mouth goeth forth.
Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it.
From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire. And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.
Doth a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?
Coal to burning coals, and wood to fire, And a man of contentions to kindle strife.
And flee unto me doth one of the seraphs, and in his hand a burning coal, (with tongs he hath taken it from off the altar,)
And none doth turn it back unto his heart, Nor hath knowledge nor understanding to say, 'Half of it I have burned in the fire, Yea, also, I have baked bread over its coals, I roast flesh and I eat, And its remnant for an abomination I make, To the stock of a tree I fall down.'
Darker than blackness hath been their visage, They have not been known in out-places, Cleaved hath their skin unto their bone, It hath withered -- it hath been as wood.
I will recompense again, saith the Lord;' if, then, thine enemy doth hunger, feed him; if he doth thirst, give him drink; for this doing, coals of fire thou shalt heap upon his head;
and the tongue is a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body, and is setting on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by the 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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Exhausted by famine, And consumed by heat, and bitter destruction. And the teeth of beasts I send upon them, With poison of fearful things of the dust.
Exhausted by famine, And consumed by heat, and bitter destruction. And the teeth of beasts I send upon them, With poison of fearful things of the dust.
and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.'
and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.'
Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.
Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.
From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!
From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!
and he looketh attentively, and lo, at his bolster a cake baken on burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eateth, and drinketh, and turneth, and lieth down.
and he looketh attentively, and lo, at his bolster a cake baken on burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eateth, and drinketh, and turneth, and lieth down.
From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire. And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.
And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.
Of pestilence in thick darkness that walketh, Of destruction that destroyeth at noon,
Of pestilence in thick darkness that walketh, Of destruction that destroyeth at noon,
They cause to fall on themselves burning coals, Into fire He doth cast them, Into deep pits -- they arise not.
They cause to fall on themselves burning coals, Into fire He doth cast them, Into deep pits -- they arise not.
For coals thou art putting on his head, And Jehovah giveth recompense to thee.
For coals thou art putting on his head, And Jehovah giveth recompense to thee.
Coal to burning coals, and wood to fire, And a man of contentions to kindle strife.
Coal to burning coals, and wood to fire, And a man of contentions to kindle strife.
And flee unto me doth one of the seraphs, and in his hand a burning coal, (with tongs he hath taken it from off the altar,)
And flee unto me doth one of the seraphs, and in his hand a burning coal, (with tongs he hath taken it from off the altar,)
Darker than blackness hath been their visage, They have not been known in out-places, Cleaved hath their skin unto their bone, It hath withered -- it hath been as wood.
Darker than blackness hath been their visage, They have not been known in out-places, Cleaved hath their skin unto their bone, It hath withered -- it hath been as wood.
Before Him goeth pestilence, And a burning flame goeth forth at His feet.
Before Him goeth pestilence, And a burning flame goeth forth at His feet.
I will recompense again, saith the Lord;' if, then, thine enemy doth hunger, feed him; if he doth thirst, give him drink; for this doing, coals of fire thou shalt heap upon his head;
I will recompense again, saith the Lord;' if, then, thine enemy doth hunger, feed him; if he doth thirst, give him drink; for this doing, coals of fire thou shalt heap upon his head;
and the tongue is a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body, and is setting on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by the gehenna.
and the tongue is a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body, and is setting on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by the 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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and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.'
and he looketh attentively, and lo, at his bolster a cake baken on burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eateth, and drinketh, and turneth, and lieth down.
The light of the righteous rejoiceth, And the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
And flee unto me doth one of the seraphs, and in his hand a burning coal, (with tongs he hath taken it from off the altar,)
Cutting down to himself cedars, He taketh also a cypress, and an oak, And he strengtheneth it for himself Among the trees of a forest, He hath planted an ash, and the shower doth nourish it. And it hath been for man to burn, And he taketh of them, and becometh warm, Yea, he kindleth it, and hath baked bread, Yea, he maketh a god, and boweth himself, He hath made it a graven image, And he falleth down to it. read more. Half of it he hath burnt in the fire, By this half of it he eateth flesh, He roasteth a roasting, and is satisfied, Yea, he is warm, and saith: 'Aha, I have become warm, I have enjoyed the light.
and the king is sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and the stove before him is burning,
In that day I make the leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they have consumed -- on the right and on the left -- all the peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in 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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and he looketh attentively, and lo, at his bolster a cake baken on burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eateth, and drinketh, and turneth, and lieth down.
If he who is hating thee doth hunger, cause him to eat bread, And if he thirst, cause him to drink water. For coals thou art putting on his head, And Jehovah giveth recompense to thee.
And flee unto me doth one of the seraphs, and in his hand a burning coal, (with tongs he hath taken it from off the altar,)
Before Him goeth pestilence, And a burning flame goeth forth at His feet.
and the servants and the officers were standing, having made a fire of coals, because it was cold, and they were warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, and warming himself.
I will recompense again, saith the Lord;' if, then, thine enemy doth hunger, feed him; if he doth thirst, give him drink; for this doing, coals of fire thou shalt 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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Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.
From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!
Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it.
From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire. And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.
They cause to fall on themselves burning coals, Into fire He doth cast them, Into deep pits -- they arise not.
Coal to burning coals, and wood to fire, And a man of contentions to kindle strife.