Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 12:20

"But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head." — Romans 12:20 (ASV)

Therefore if your enemy hungers, etc. This verse is taken almost literally from Proverbs 25:21-22. Hunger and thirst here represent need in general. If your enemy is needy in any way, do good to him, and supply his needs. This is, in spirit, the same as the command of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 5:44): Do good to them that hate you, etc.

In so doing. It does not mean that we are to do this for the sake of heaping coals of fire on him, but that this will be the result.

You will heap, etc. Coals of fire are doubtless emblematic of pain. But the idea here is not that in so doing we will call down Divine vengeance on the man; rather, the apostle is speaking of the natural effect or result of showing him kindness. Burning coals heaped on a man's head would be expressive of intense agony.

So the apostle says that the effect of doing good to an enemy would be to produce pain. However, this pain will result from shame, remorse of conscience, a conviction of the evil of his conduct, and an apprehension of Divine displeasure that may lead to repentance.

To do this is not only perfectly right, but it is desirable. If a man can be brought to reflection and true repentance, it should be done. Concerning this passage, we may remark:

1. The way to promote peace is to do good even to enemies.
2. The way to bring a man to repentance is to do him good. On this principle God is acting continually. He does good to all, even to the rebellious, and he designs that his goodness should lead men to repentance (Romans 2:4). Men will resist wrath, anger, and power; but goodness they cannot resist; it finds its way to the heart, and the conscience does its work, and the sinner is overwhelmed at the remembrance of his crimes.
3. If men would act on the principles of the gospel, the world would soon be at peace. No man would allow himself to be overwhelmed many times in this way with coals of fire. It is not human nature, bad as it is; and if Christians would meet all unkindness with kindness, all malice with benevolence, and all wrong with right, peace would soon pervade the community, and even opposition to the gospel might soon die away.