New Living Translation
Proverbs 26:2
2Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
Proverbs 26:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
- New International Version (NIV)Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.
Context of Proverbs 26:2
1Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest. Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim. 3Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back! 4Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.
Read all of Proverbs 26Proverbs 26:2 word by word
כַּצִּפּ֣וֹר לָ֭נוּד כַּדְּר֣וֹר לָע֑וּף כֵּ֥ן קִֽלְלַ֥ת חִ֝נָּ֗ם ל֣וֹ תָבֹֽא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 26:2
- Numbers 23:8But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the Lord has not condemned?
- Deuteronomy 23:4These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you.
- 1 Samuel 14:28But one of the men saw him and said, “Your father made the army take a strict oath that anyone who eats food today will be cursed. That is why everyone is weary and faint.”
- 1 Samuel 17:43“Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods.
- 2 Samuel 16:12And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses today.”
- Nehemiah 13:2For they had not provided the Israelites with food and water in the wilderness. Instead, they hired Balaam to curse them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing.
- Psalms 109:28Then let them curse me if they like, but you will bless me! When they attack me, they will be disgraced! But I, your servant, will go right on rejoicing!
Commentaries on Proverbs 26:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2As the bird - צפור tsippor is taken often for the sparrow; but means generally any small bird. As the sparrow flies about the house, and the swallow emigrates to strange countries; so an undeserved malediction may flutter about the neighborhood for a season: but in a short time it will disappear as the bird of passage; and never take effect on the innocent person against whom it was pronounced.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2i. e., “Vague as the flight of the sparrow, aimless as the wheelings of the swallow, is the causeless curse. It will never reach its goal.” The marginal reading in the Hebrew, however, gives” to him” instead of “not” or “never;” i. e., “The causeless curse, though it may pass out of our ken, like a bird‘s track in the air, will come on the man who utters it.” Compare the English proverb, “Curses, like young chickens, always come home to roost.”Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 2Verse 2 He that is cursed without cause, the curse shall do him no more harm than the bird that flies over his head.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Curses and blessings can truly impact people (see Genesis 27:1–41; 48:8–9, 15–20; Numbers 6:23–27), but a curse without cause does not work.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Though not obvious to us, the bird--literally, "sparrow"--and swallow--have an object in their motions, so penal evil falls on none without a reason.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 26:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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