Traditions: Israelite-Jewish scripture; early Christian reception Motif: Kindness instead of retaliation Connection verdict: Explicit quotation in a larger exhortation Article status: Expanded Date: 2026-10-31
Summary
Romans repeats Proverbs’ instruction to feed and give drink to an enemy.
Read the two scenes
The proverb begins with immediate bodily needs: hunger and thirst take priority even when the needy person is an enemy. Its closing image of coals and reward is compact and open to interpretation. Romans places the saying after an appeal to peace and before the command not to be overcome by evil. That larger frame makes the action part of non-retaliation, though it does not settle every nuance of the proverb’s metaphor.
What connects—and what does not
Proverbs offers a short wisdom saying including the puzzling “coals” image; Romans surrounds it with commands to leave vengeance aside and overcome evil with good.
The quotation is direct; the coals image remains debated and should not be flattened into a promise of secret revenge.
Why read them side by side?
A concrete act of feeding can interrupt revenge without requiring the reader to pretend the enmity never existed.
Sources and reading notes
- Proverbs 25:21-22 (WEB) — the wise saying commands food and water for an enemy World English Bible, a modern public-domain English translation; read the named verses in chapter context. Ancient Israelite/Judean Hebrew text within the first-millennium BCE corpus; composition and redaction dates vary by book.
- Romans 12:17-21 (WEB) — Paul quotes the saying while rejecting repayment of evil World English Bible, a modern public-domain English translation; read the named verses in chapter context. Early Christian Greek text of the first or early second century CE; exact dating and authorship vary by book.
Research limit
A named parallel can establish literary reuse or related tradition; a general resemblance alone cannot prove borrowing. Linked editions and translations vary. Where a source is identified as secondary orientation, the comparison does not claim direct close reading of that tradition’s primary text.