Proverbs 25:23

“The north wind driveth away rain, etc.] So the geographerf695 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 somef696 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 philosopherf697 says, that in the northern parts of the world the south wind produces rain; and in the southern parts the north wind produces…”

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

“The marginal reading is far more accurate and gives a better sense. The northwest wind in Palestine commonly brings rain, and this was probably in the thought of the writer. return to 'Top of Page'”

“north: Job 37:22 driveth: etc. or, bringeth forth rain; so doth a backbiting tongue an angry countenance, Monconys says, that when travelling on the second of January, 1648, from Tripoli in Syria, between Lebanon and the sea, it rained without ceasing, while the north wind blew directly in his face. so: Pro 26:20; Psa 15:3, Psa 101:5; Rom 1:30; Co2 12:20 Proverbs 25:24”

“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…”