Corpus-Paul

["James Ernest" <jdemail AT charter.net>]

Apologies for a low-brow question: I have regarded the explanations such as
the following basically as homiletical "urban legends." Would someone kindly
correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks

James Ernest
jdemail AT charter.net

--------------------------------------------------
begin quote from a website that cites Light through an Easter Window by
Bishop K. C. Pillai:

Romans 12: 20 -- 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.

To us this verse sounds like it might be some sort of revenge to take on
your enemies. Dumping hot coals on someone's head sounds pretty serious, but
in Eastern life it meant something quite different. In the village, not all
households were equipped to start a fire in the morning. A woman who had a
flint would start a fire, and she would place hot coals on a shard of
pottery. Her young son would take the pottery and place it on his head, then
go from house to house in the village, sharing the coals so everyone could
have a fire. On those cold mornings, the boy was warmed by the coals he
carried on his head. This verse is telling us that our actions towards our
enemies should 'warm them' and is stressed more clearly in the next verse.