Backbiting speech produces angry faces the way the north wind produces rain.
A visible result of backbiting is named in Proverbs 25:23: The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance (v. 23). This verse names cause and effect.
The north wind brings forth rain. In Israel, the north wind tended to bring storms. The connection between wind direction and weather was familiar to every farmer.
A backbiting tongue, an angry countenance. The parallel is drawn to social weather. Just as a particular wind produces rain, a particular kind of speech, the backbiting tongue, the man speaking ill of others behind their backs, produces an angry response in the faces of those who hear it. People sense gossip, and they turn against the gossiper. The verse names the predictable cost of being a man who speaks against others when they are not present.
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Proverbs 25:23 meaning
A visible result of backbiting is named in Proverbs 25:23: The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance (v. 23). This verse names cause and effect.
The north wind brings forth rain. In Israel, the north wind tended to bring storms. The connection between wind direction and weather was familiar to every farmer.
A backbiting tongue, an angry countenance. The parallel is drawn to social weather. Just as a particular wind produces rain, a particular kind of speech, the backbiting tongue, the man speaking ill of others behind their backs, produces an angry response in the faces of those who hear it. People sense gossip, and they turn against the gossiper. The verse names the predictable cost of being a man who speaks against others when they are not present.