Proverbs 25:23

The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
north	צָ֭פוֹן Tza.fon	H6828	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
wind	ר֣וּחַ Ru.ach	H7307	wind · noun, common feminine singular construct
away	תְּח֣וֹלֵֽל te.Cho.lel	H2342	properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
rain	גָּ֑שֶׁם Ga.shem	H1653	a shower · noun, common masculine singular absolute
angry	נִ֝זְעָמִ֗ים niz.'a.Mim	H2194	properly · verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
countenance	וּפָנִ֥ים u.fa.Nim	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
backbiting	סָֽתֶר Sa.ter	H5643	a cover (in a good or a bad · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tongue	לְשׁ֣וֹן le.Shon	H3956	the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common both genders singular construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 26:20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
Job 37:22 Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.
Psalms 15:3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be…
Psalms 101:5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:23

Here see, 1. How we must discourage sin and witness against it, and particularly the sin of slandering and backbiting; we must frown upon it, and, by giving it an angry countenance, endeavour to put it out of countenance. Slanders would not be so readily spoken as they are if they were not readily heard; but good manners would silence the slanderer if he saw that his tales displeased the company. We should show ourselves uneasy if we heard a dear friend, whom we value, evil-spoken of; the same dislike we should show of evil-speaking in general. If we cannot otherwise reprove, we may do it by our looks. 2. The good effect which this might probably have; who knows but it may silence and drive…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 25:23

Better, "As the north wind bringeth forth (Psa 90:2) or produces rain, so does a concealed or slandering tongue produce anger."

John Gill on Proverbs 25:23

The north wind driveth away rain,.... So the geographer (w) says, the swift north wind drives away the moist clouds; which usually come from the opposite quarter, the south. The word used has the signification of conceiving, and begetting, and bringing forth; hence some (x) render it to a different sense, and so the Targum, "the north wind bringeth forth rain;'' and in this sense Gersom interprets it, and says, "the north wind produces rain in Jerusalem, because it brings there the vapours that ascend from the sea, which lies north unto it;'' and the philosopher (y) says, that in the northern parts of the world the south wind produces rain; and in the southern parts the north wind produc…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:23

The next group of proverbs extends from Pro 25:23 to Pro 25:28. 23 Wind from the north produceth rain; And a secret tongue a troubled countenance. The north is called צפון, from צפן, to conceal, from the firmament darkening itself for a longer time, and more easily, like the old Persian apâkhtara, as (so it appears) the starless, and, like aquilo, the north wind, as bringing forward the black clouds. But properly the "fathers of rain" are, in Syria, the west and the south-west; and so little can צפון here mean the pure north wind, that Jerome, who knew from his own experience the changes of weather in Palestine, helps himself, after Symmachus (διαλύει βροχήν), with a quid pro quo out of t…

The Church Fathers

"The north wind drives away rain," etc. If you listen with a cheerful face to a slanderer, you give him fuel for slandering; but if you listen with a gloomy face, as a certain man said, he will learn not willingly to say what he has learned is not willingly heard.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Backbite — In Ps. 15:3, the rendering of a word which means to run about tattling, calumniating; in Prov. 25:23, secret talebearing or slandering; in Rom. 1:30 and 2 Cor. 12:20, evil-speaking, maliciously…
Winds — Blowing from the four quarters of heaven (Jer. 49:36; Ezek. 37:9; Dan. 8:8; Zech. 2:6). The east wind was parching (Ezek. 17:10; 19:12), and is sometimes mentioned as simply denoting a strong wind…
Backbiting · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Countenance · Angry — Angry
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Rain · North wind unfavorable to — North wind unfavorable to
Slander · General references — General references
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL
Wind · .Free from humidity in — .Free from humidity in
Wind, The · Mentioned in scripture: North — Mentioned in scripture: North

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 25:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 25:23

John Gill on Proverbs 25:23

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 25:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 25:23

John Gill on Proverbs 25:23

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 25:21-22

Rashi on Proverbs 25:23