“The north wind brings forth rain”: Scholars argue that in this part of the world a “north wind” does not bring rain; only a west or northwest wind does this. Toy maintains that “north” may be taken in a general sense or as meaning “northwest.” Some other interpreters consider the word rendered “north” to be related to a verb meaning “to hide,” and therefore the text is referring to a “hidden” or “mysterious” wind. In this example the rain comes from an unknown place in the heavens. The majority of versions say “north wind” or “wind from the north,” and we advise translators to follow this model. However, in some parts of the world it may be necessary to take account of local weather patterns and say, for example, “a cold wind.”

“And a backbiting tongue, angry looks”: This line is literally “angry faces [are brought by] a secret tongue.” “Angry looks” is a figure of speech in which the face represents the attitude of the whole person, so Good News Translation and others simply say “anger.” “A backbiting tongue” or “a secret tongue” may mean a person who spreads (whispers) secrets about others. This line is being compared to line 1, so it appears that it is best to take “north” in line 1 as referring to the direction from which the rains come. In the same way as “the north wind brings forth rain”, telling secrets or gossiping causes anger. In this way we may translate, for example, “As certainly as the north wind brings rain, telling secrets causes people to get angry.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “With the north wind comes the rain and from bad talk comes angry faces.”

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 .