The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
The saying belongs to the collection of Solomon's proverbs found in chapters 25-29, gathered by Hezekiah or in his time, about three hundred years after Solomon. The Hebrew word roo-agh is used here in its literal sense of wind, for the north wind that drives away rain. Just as the north wind drives away rain, so a stern, disapproving and angry expression drives away and silences a backbiting tongue.
When someone begins secret gossip about another believer, the right course is to refuse to listen and to show plainly by the countenance that the slander is rejected. Such a stern look serves as a rebuke that stops malicious talk. Instead of backbiting, if a fellow believer has erred the duty is to go to that person directly and speak kindly to him.
The saying belongs to the collection of Solomon's proverbs found in chapters 25-29, gathered by Hezekiah or in his time, about three hundred years after Solomon. The Hebrew word roo-agh is used here in its literal sense of wind, for the north wind that drives away rain. Just as the north wind drives away rain, so a stern, disapproving and angry expression drives away and silences a backbiting tongue.
When someone begins secret gossip about another believer, the right course is to refuse to listen and to show plainly by the countenance that the slander is rejected. Such a stern look serves as a rebuke that stops malicious talk. Instead of backbiting, if a fellow believer has erred the duty is to go to that person directly and speak kindly to him.