This term denotes charcoal or burning coals, the fuel that sustains fire. Proverbs uses it in a proverb about quarrelsome people: 'As charcoal to embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious person to kindle strife.' Isaiah mentions it twice in contexts of metalworking and divine judgment—the blacksmith works over charcoal, and God creates the smith who blows the charcoal fire. The word emphasizes glowing, heat-producing coals rather than mere ash. Some suggest Psalm 11:6 should be emended to read 'coals of fire' rather than 'snares.'