TOIS ; Vulg. cum carbonibus desolatoriir: Prov. vi. 28, English version supplies (hot) coals : Sept. adds rupds to civOpriewe, prunas : Prov. xxv. 22, Shall heap coals of fire upon his head,' Sept. supplies rrvp6s, pumas : Is. xliv. 19, Upon the coals,' civ0pdcwv, carbones Ezek. xxiv. I Upon the coals,' dv0parcas, prunas.
Our second class consists of instances in which the word VN is added in order to fix the sense of ignition :—Lev. xvi. 12, A censer full of burning coals of fire,' irtopbr, prunis : 2 Sam. xxii. 9, 13, Coals of fire were kindled at it,' tivOparces -rrupbr, carbones ignis : Ps. xviii. 12, The coals of fire passed,' tiv8paver rupds, carbones ignis : Ps. cxl. so, Let burning coals fall on them,' dv0paKes orriip6s carbones : Ezek. i. 13, Coals of fire, dvOpixcop rupds, carbonum ignis : Ezek. x. 2, Coals of fire, civOpciewe rrupbs, prunis ignis.
The other Hebrew word translated coal is DM . „ It occurs only three times : —Prov. xxvi. 21, As coals arc to burning coals, and wood to fire,' etc., 'Eo-xcipa avOpat, sicut carbones ad prunas : here the word mriD plainly means nited coal (Qu. mineral coal?), as appears from the parallel comparison, and 'as wood to fire,' Is. xliv. 12, The smith worketh in the coals,' the Sept. has no corresponding word, but old mentators read Ev tixOpett, in pnmis. Is. liv. t 6, The smith that bloweth the coal in the fire,' OpaRas, prunas. From the foregoing analysis it appears that the word often means coals thoroughly ignited ; but Drit, coal before being ignited.
There are several instances in which the word coal' in our version is an improper translation. I Kings xix. 6, ?+tv-I 3-0 a cake baker on the coals,' glocpvq5las, subcinericius panis. VS1 here properly means a hot stone (a pavement, Esth. i. 6,
and elsewhere), and ?+EM nay properly means small cakes baked under ashes—a common food to this day among the Orientals, especially when travelling [BREAD]. 9r, is also a hot stone thrown into milk or broth in order to heat it (Gesenius). Another mis-translation occurs (Hal). iii. 5), 'Burn ing coals went forth at his feet,' in the margin burning diseases' (Dent. xxx. 24). The Sept. varies widely ; the Vulgate still more widely ' egredietur diabolus,' which is, however, explained as pestis by the commentators. Another mis translation is (Lam. iv. S), Their visage is blacker than a coal ;' margin, darker than blackness ;' ivn, far; super carbones. Another mis - translation occurs (Cant. viii. 6), the coals thereof are coals of fire ;' rnri rephrrepa sreplsrrepa rvp6s, Ald. ItrOpaKes rvpos, ut larnpades ignis. A questionable translation occurs (Is. vi. 6), 'a live coal,' ;inn, ltrOpoxa rup6s, calculus; but the Rabbis render it coal.' The instances of the word coal in the N. T. remain to be noticed :—(John xviii. 'ES), a fire of coals,' eivapaKtd, ad prunas. The word here evidently means a mass of live charcoal (so Suid. civOpataa recbupwa-cop&ot &Bootees, who gives an adage which makes a plain difference—A rip rlOpav oe6-yeep, cis eipOparaav rlergs,' which may be exactly paralleled by a well-known English adage). (Eccl. viii. to ; xi. 32, occur in the same sense in the Apocrypha).—C. H. S. [Whether in any of these passages the coal referred to is natural coal is matter of doubt. It may have been so, for coal is found in Syria ; but there is nothing to render this certain or more probable than that it is to artificial fuel that they relate].