Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical times, the term "coal" often referred to charcoal or burning embers rather than the mineral coal commonly used today. The use of coal in the Bible is primarily symbolic, representing purification, judgment, and divine presence.
Symbol of Purification and JudgmentCoal is frequently associated with purification and judgment in the Scriptures. In
Isaiah 6:6-7 , the prophet Isaiah describes a seraphim touching his lips with a live coal taken from the altar: "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And with it he touched my mouth and said: 'Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.'" Here, the coal symbolizes the cleansing of Isaiah's sin, preparing him for his prophetic mission.
Similarly, in
Proverbs 25:21-22 , the act of heaping burning coals on an enemy's head is mentioned: "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you." This passage suggests that acts of kindness can lead to repentance and transformation, with the "burning coals" symbolizing the conviction and potential purification of the adversary.
Divine Presence and PowerCoal also signifies the presence and power of God. In
Ezekiel 1:13 , the prophet describes the appearance of the living creatures: "The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it." The imagery of burning coals here underscores the divine energy and holiness surrounding God's throne.
Practical Uses in Ancient TimesWhile the symbolic use of coal is prominent, it is also important to recognize its practical applications in ancient times. Charcoal, made from burning wood, was used for cooking and heating. In
Proverbs 26:21 , the practical aspect of coal is alluded to: "As charcoal to embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife." This verse uses the imagery of charcoal to illustrate how contentious behavior can ignite conflict, much like how charcoal fuels a fire.
ConclusionThroughout the Bible, coal serves as a powerful symbol of purification, divine presence, and judgment. Its practical uses in ancient times also provide a backdrop for understanding its metaphorical significance in Scripture.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
CoalThe first and most frequent use of the word rendered coal is a live ember, burning fuel. (Proverbs 26:21) In (2 Samuel 22:9,13) "coals of fire" are put metaphorically for the lightnings proceeding from God. (Psalms 18:8,12,13;140:10) In (Proverbs 26:21) 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.
ATS Bible Dictionary
CoalUsually 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,2 Samuel 22:9,13;Job 41:21.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
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
Proverbs 26:21, "As coal [Hebrews peham; i.e., "black coal"] is to burning coal [Hebrews gehalim]." The latter of these words is used in
Job 41:21;
Proverbs 6:28;
Isaiah 44:19. The words "live coal" in Isaiah 6:6 are more correctly "glowing stone." In
Lamentations 4:8 the expression "blacker than a coal" is literally rendered in the margin of the Revised Version "darker than blackness." "Coals of fire" (
2 Samuel 22:9, 13;
Psalm 18:8, 12, 13, etc.) is an expression used metaphorically for lightnings proceeding from God. A false tongue is compared to "coals of juniper" (
Psalm 120:4;
James 3:6). "Heaping coals of fire on the head" symbolizes overcoming evil with good. The words of Paul (
Romans 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."
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A thoroughly charred, and extinguished or still ignited, fragment from wood or other combustible substance; charcoal.
2. (n.) A black, or brownish black, solid, combustible substance, dug from beds or veins in the earth to be used for fuel, and consisting, like charcoal, mainly of carbon, but more compact, and often affording, when heated, a large amount of volatile matter.
3. (v. t.) To burn to charcoal; to char.
4. (v. t.) To mark or delineate with charcoal.
5. (v. t.) To supply with coal; as, to coal a steamer.
6. (v. i.) To take in coal; as, the steamer coaled at Southampton.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
COALkol (pecham, "charcoal"; compare Arabic fachm, "charcoal"; gacheleth, "burning coal" or "hot ember"; compare Arabic jacham, "to kindle"; shechor, "a black coal" (Lamentations 4:8); compare Arabic shachchar, "soot" or "dark-colored sandstone"; retseph (1 Kings 19:6), and ritspah (= Rizpah) (Isaiah 6:6), margin "a hot stone"; compare resheph, "a flame" (Songs 8:6Habakkuk 3:5); anthrax, "a live coal" (Romans 12:20) (= gacheleth inProverbs 25:22); anthrakia, "a live coal" (John 18:18;John 21:9)): There is no reference to mineral coal in the Bible. Coal, or more properly lignite, of inferior quality, is found in thin beds (not exceeding 3 ft.) in the sandstone formation (see GEOLOGY OF PALESTINE, under Nubian Sandstone), but there is no evidence of its use in ancient times. Charcoal is manufactured in a primitive fashion which does not permit the conservation of any by-products. A flat, circular place (Arabic beidar, same name as for a threshing-floor) 10 or 15 ft. in diameter is prepared in or conveniently near to the forest. On this the wood, to be converted into charcoal, is carefully stacked in a dome-shaped structure, leaving an open space in the middle for fine kindlings. All except the center is first covered with leaves, and then with earth. The kindlings in the center are then fired and afterward covered in the same manner as the rest. While it is burning or smoldering it is carefully watched, and earth is immediately placed upon any holes that may be formed in the covering by the burning of the wood below. In several days, more or less, according to the size of the pile, the wood is converted into charcoal and the heap is opened. The charcoal floor is also called in Arabic mashcharah, from shachchar, "soot"; compare Hebrew shechor. The characteristic odor of the mashcharah clings for months to the spot.
InPsalm 120:4, there is mention of "coals of juniper," the Revised Version, margin "broom," rothem. This is doubtless the Arabic retem, Retama roetam, Forsk., a kind of broom which is abundant in Judea and Moab. Charcoal from oak wood, especially Quercus coccifera, L., Arabic sindyan, is much preferred to other kinds, and fetches a higher price.
In most of the passages where English versions have "coal," the reference is not necessarily to charcoal, but may be to coals of burning wood. Pecham inProverbs 26:21, however, seems to stand for charcoal: "As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to inflame strife." The same may be true of pecham inIsaiah 44:12 andIsaiah 54:16; also of shechor inLamentations 4:8.
Alfred Ely Day
Greek
440. anthrax --coal, charcoal...coal, charcoal. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: anthrax Phonetic
Spelling: (anth'-rax) Short Definition: a
coal Definition:
coal, charcoal, a
...439. anthrakia -- a heap of burning coals
... of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: anthrakia Phonetic Spelling:
(anth-rak-ee-ah') Short Definition: a heap of burning coals Definition: acoal-fire,...
Strong's Hebrew
1513. gechel --coal... 1512, 1513. gechel or gacheleth. 1514 .
coal. Transliteration: gechel or gacheleth
Phonetic Spelling: (geh'-khel) Short Definition: coals.
... burning
coal.
...7529. retseph --coal
... retseph. 7530 .coal. Transliteration: retseph Phonetic Spelling: (reh'-tsef)
Short Definition:coal....coal For resheph; a red-hot stone (for baking) --coal....
6352. pecham --coal
... 6351, 6352. pecham. 6353 .coal. Transliteration: pecham Phonetic Spelling:
(peh-khawm') Short Definition: coals. Word Origin from...
7531. ritspah -- a glowing stone
... 7530, 7531. ritspah. 7531a . a glowing stone. Transliteration: ritspah Phonetic
Spelling: (rits-paw') Short Definition:coal. livecoal, pavement...
7565. resheph -- flame
... sparks* (1). arrow, burningcoal, burning heat, spark, hot thunderbolt. From
saraph; a livecoal; by analogy lightning; figuratively...
7815. shechor -- blackness
... Word Origin from shachar Definition blackness NASB Word Usage soot (1).coal. From
shachar; dinginess, ie Perhaps soot --coal. see HEBREW shachar. 7814, 7815...
7531a. ritspah -- a glowing stone
... 7531, 7531a. ritspah. 7531b . a glowing stone. Transliteration: ritspah
Short Definition:coal. Word Origin from an unused word...
4730. miqtereth -- a censer
... censer. Feminine of miqtar; something to fume (incense) in, ie Acoal-pan -- censer.
see HEBREW miqtar. 4729c, 4730. miqtereth. 4731 . Strong's Numbers.
Library
ACoal From The Altar, To Kindle The Holy Fire of Zeale
ACoal From The Altar, To Kindle The Holy Fire of Zeale....
ACoal From The Altar, To Kindle The Holy Fire of Zeale
ACoal From The Altar, To Kindle The Holy Fire of Zeale. <.... Title Page.
ACOAL FROM THE ALTAR, TO KINDLE THE holy fire of Zeale....
National Wealth
... You will all agree that God gives the first; that he gives the soil, the timber,
the fisheries, thecoal, the iron. Do you believe it?...
Involution
... MANY years ago, in the clay which in every part of the world is found underlying
beds ofcoal, a peculiar fossil was discovered and named by science Stigmaria....
Prayerlessness in the Pulpit
... in the seventh chapter of his prophecy when, as he waited, and confessed and prayed
before the throne, the angel touched his lips with a livecoal from God's...
Psalm CXX.
... Wonder not; he is a livecoal. Thou rejoicest that he is alive, whom thou
wast mourning as dead. But when thou praisest the living...
Environment.
... When a piece ofcoal is thrown on the fire, we say that it will radiate
into the room a certain quantity of heat. This heat, in...
Revel. 3. 19. Be Zealous.
ACoal From The Altar, To Kindle The Holy Fire of Zeale. <....
A Coale from the Altar.
ACoal From The Altar, To Kindle The Holy Fire of Zeale. <....
Concerning the Holy and Immaculate Mysteries of the Lord.
... form of the cross [2419] let us receive the body of the Crucified One: and let us
apply our eyes and lips and brows and partake of the divinecoal, in order...
Thesaurus
Coal (7 Occurrences)... Easton's Bible Dictionary It is by no means certain that the Hebrews were
acquainted with mineral
coal, although it is found in Syria.
...Carbuncle (6 Occurrences)
... marg., "emerald." The Hebrew word is from a root meaning "to glitter," "lighten,"
"flash." When held up to the sun, this gem shines like a burningcoal, a dark...
Fault (42 Occurrences)
... 4. (n.) A dislocation of the strata of the vein. 5. (n.) Incoal seams,coal rendered
worthless by impurities in the seam; as, slate fault, dirt fault, etc....
Basin (37 Occurrences)
... or circumscribed formation, particularly where the strata dip inward, on all sides,
toward a center; -- especially applied to thecoal formations, calledcoal...
Fuel (13 Occurrences)
... (seeCOAL.).... 1. (n.) Any matter used to produce heat by burning; that which feeds
fire; combustible matter used for fires, as wood,coal, peat, etc....
Coals (28 Occurrences)
... 47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not
deliver themselves from the power of the flame; it shall not be acoal to warm...
Quench (14 Occurrences)
... 4; Jeremiah 21:12). Quenching thecoal or the light of Israel may mean slaying
a dear one or a brilliant leader. In the New Testament...
Feed (117 Occurrences)
... 4. (vt) To fill the wants of; to supply with that which is used or wasted; as, springs
feed ponds; the hopper feeds the mill; to feed a furnace withcoal....
Rib (5 Occurrences)
... 12. (n.) Solidcoal on the side of a gallery; solid ore in a vein. 13. (n.)
An elongated pillar of ore orcoal left as a support. 14....
Mine (2991 Occurrences)
... 3. (vi) To dig a mine or pit in the earth; to get ore, metals,coal, or precious
stones, out of the earth; to dig in the earth for minerals; to dig a passage...
Resources
How does the geologic timescale fit with the view of a young earth? | GotQuestions.orgHow could Jesus say, “Your sins are forgiven,” before He died on the cross? | GotQuestions.orgWhat are seraphim? Are seraphs angels? | GotQuestions.orgCoal: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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