15:1

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

1a
A gentle answer turns away wrath,

1b but a harsh word stirs up anger.

This proverb gives advice on good and bad ways to respond to an angry person.

15:1a–b

There are two pairs of words with similar meanings within the contrasting parallel parts:

answer…word: The words answer and word both refer to what someone says in response to an angry person. No contrast is intended between these two words.

wrath…anger: No contrast is intended between the words wrath and anger. Both refer here to feelings of anger that a person expresses in some way.

Many languages have idioms that refer to calming or increasing anger. Use an expression that is appropriate and natural in your language.

15:1a

A gentle answer turns away wrath: A gentle answer refers to a response that is mild or soft. The meaning of gentle may also be expressed in terms of its effect: it is soothing or peacemaking. Such an answer turns away another person’s anger. This means that it calms or takes away the anger. Some other ways to translate this line are:

A kind answer soothes angry feelings (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
A gentle answer quiets anger (Good News Translation)
-or-
A gentle answer will calm a person’s anger (New Century Version)

15:1b

but a harsh word stirs up anger: The contrasting word harsh is literally “painful” in the sense that it causes emotional pain. A hurtful response stirs up anger (literally “causes anger to go up”). In other words, it increases a person’s anger or makes it worse. Some other ways to express this meaning are:

but a sharp word makes tempers rise (Revised English Bible)
-or-
but an unkind answer will cause more anger (New Century Version)

General Comment on 15:1a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the similar word pairs into one term. For example:

A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh one stirs it up. (Good News Translation)

In some languages, it is natural to say that words/answers have an effect on anger. In other languages, it is more natural to use a pronoun to refer to people who answer an angry person. For example:

1a If we(incl.) respond ⌊to an angry person⌋ with gentle words, we will cause his anger to decrease,

1b but if our(incl.) words are hurtful, we will cause his anger to increase.

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