Bible Strands
Proverbs 25:21
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A wise teacher (collected under Hezekiah's men) instructs a reader on how to respond when someone who actively hates them is in physical need. The moment is not abstract; the enemy is hungry or thirsty now.
The words — שׂונאךְ (sōnāʾăḵā, "one who hates you") uses the strong root שׂנֵא, the same word for the hatred of Esau toward Jacob (Gen 27:41), not a mild dislike. The imperative pair הַאֲכִלֵהוּ / הַשְׁקֵהוּ are Hiphil forms: "cause him to eat," "cause him to drink" — active, deliberate provision, not passive allowance.
The thread — Paul quotes this verbatim in Romans 12:20 as the basis for "overcome evil with good." Matthew 5:44 states the same principle as "love your enemies," and Proverbs 24:17 gives the negative mirror: do not gloat when the enemy falls.
Why it lands — The command targets the exact impulse to withhold, punish, or ignore the person who hates you. It asks for a concrete act — food, water — with no condition attached and no expectation of change in the other person.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Cross-references
- Romans 12:20 On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
- Matthew 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
- Proverbs 24:17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
- Exodus 23:4 If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
- 2 Kings 6:22 “Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”
- Luke 10:33 But a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
- 2 Chronicles 28:15 Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.