Snow in 2 Samuel 23:20

 2 Samuel 23:20c: "He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion." 

This verse refers to the exploits of Benaiah happening on a "day of snow." Other verses in the Bible refer to snow in a simile or comparison (e.g., Psalm 51:7; Isaiah 1:18; Revelation 1:14); so, many translation teams in languages that do not have snow, naturally opt for a comparison with something that their culture knows and that would be snow-like. But this verse of 2 Samuel refers to a historical event, making it important to find a way for translation teams to translate according to its actual referent.  

How did two translation teams in Nigeria translate this for their people who never see snow? One team's draft referred to a "time of cold" and the other team had "day that rained ice [hail]," and neither team had an explanatory footnote. I showed pictures of snow and snow banks in front of our home in Minnesota, including this one: 

After much discussion, both teams adjusted their text and added a footnote. Here are the new back translations of their adjusted text: 

• Team #1: One day, he went to a pit during flour of ice* [and] he killed a lion. *Footnote: flour of ice: In Hebrew the thing resembles water of ice [hail], but it is like flour [powder] and white like thread [cotton].
• Team #2: One day a time of cold* and he went down to a pit [and] he killed a lion. *Footnote: time of cold: In Hebrew it resembles rain that falls like ice [hail].