“A soft answer turns away wrath”: “Soft” in relation to speech means “gentle,” “kind,” or, as Revised English Bible says, “mild.” It is a response without anger or harshness. The importance of kindness and respect in the use of speech is expressed again in 24.26 and 25.15. “Answer” in this context refers to a response or reply to what someone, perhaps in anger, has said. “Turns away” translates the causative form of a verb meaning “to turn back.” The thought is that the anger of the first speaker can be set aside or calmed by a gentle response. “Wrath” is anger or fury. Contemporary English Version says “A kind answer soothes angry feelings,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “A friendly reply calms anger.” In some languages it may be necessary to expand this line to say, for example, “Reply to a person with gentle words and you will calm their anger.”

“But a harsh word stirs up anger”: “A harsh word” is literally “a word of pain,” that is, one that causes pain, and the expression refers to a word or utterance spoken sharply or heatedly. “Stirs up” or “excites” contrasts with “turns away” in the first line. The verb refers to causing something to rise, in this case the angry emotions of the other speaker, as Revised English Bible says: “but a sharp word makes tempers rise.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates this full saying “A reconciling answer cools down anger, but a hurtful word heats it up.” See also Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .