Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 26:2
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
2. bird ] Rather, sparrow. The mention of a particular bird, the swallow, in the next clause makes it probable that a particular bird is intended here also.
come ] Rather, light.
The whole proverb gains by the rendering of R.V.:
As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying,
So the curse that is causeless lighteth not.
The reading, “shall come to him ” (who invokes it), instead of “shall not come,” which involves the change of only a single letter in the Hebrew, mars the force and beauty of the comparison. It may perhaps have been suggested by the idea that the subject of this verse he who invokes the curse would be “the fool,” as in the group of Proverbs , vv1-12 here.
Pro 26:3-12 . The proverbs of this group have all of them, as has Pro 26:1 of the chapter, the “fool” for their subject.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
i. 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 birds 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 26:2
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
Human anathemas
Another, and perhaps a better, translation is this, Unsteady as the sparrow, as the flight of the swallow, is a causeless curse; it cometh not to pass. There is a difficulty here, says Wardlaw, in settling the precise point in the comparison. The ordinary interpretation explains it with reference to curses pronounced by men without cause–imprecations, anathemas, that are unmerited–and the meaning is understood to be–as the bird or sparrow, by wandering, and as the swallow, or wood-pigeon, by flying, shall not come–that is, shall not reach us or come upon us in the way of injury–so is it with the causeless curse. It will do no more harm than the bird that flies overhead, than Goliaths curses on David. And it might be added that, as these birds return to their own place, to the nests whence they came, so will such gratuitous maledictions come back upon the persons by whom they are uttered.
I. Men are frequently the victims of human imprecations. Few men pass through the world without creating enemies, either intentionally or otherwise. Men vent their hatred in various ways.
II. That human imprecations are sometimes undeserved. The curse is causeless. Sometimes the curses of men are deserved. There are two classes of causeless curses–
1. Those that are hurled at us because we have done the right thing. When you are cursed for reproving evil, for proclaiming an unpopular truth, or pursuing a righteous course which clashes with mens prejudices or interests, the curse is causeless.
2. Those that are uttered without reason or feeling. There are men who are so in the habit of using profane language that it almost flows from their lips without malice or meaning. The greatest men in history have been cursed, and some of them have died under a copious shower of human imprecations.
III. Undeserved imprecations are always harmless. The greatest curse causeless shall not come. Was David the worse for Shimeis curse? or Jeremiah for the curse of his persecutors? He that is cursed without a cause, says Matthew Henry, whether by furious imprecations or solemn anathemas, the curse will do him no more harm than the sparrow that flies over his head. It will fly away like the sparrow or the wild swallow, which go nobody knows where, until they return to their proper place, as the curse will at length return to him that uttered it. Cursing, says Shakespeare, neer hurts him, nor profits you a jot. Forbear it, therefore,–give your cause to heaven. But if the curse be not causeless, it will come. Jothams righteous curse came upon Abimelech and the men of Shechem (Jdg 9:56-57). Elishas curse fearfully came to the young mockers of Bethel (2Ki 2:24). The curse abides on Jericho from generation to generation. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. As the bird] 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 neighbourhood 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
By wandering from place to place; by its perpetual restlessness it secures itself from the fowler, that he cannot shoot at it, nor spread his net over it.
Shall not come, to wit, upon the innocent person, but he shall escape from it like a bird, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Though not obvious to us,
the birdliterally,”sparrow”and
swallowhave an objectin their motions, so penal evil falls on none without a reason.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying,…. As a bird, particularly the sparrow, as the word h is sometimes rendered, leaves its nest and wanders from it; and flies here and there, and settles nowhere; and as the swallow flies to the place from whence it came; or the wild pigeon, as some i think is meant, which flies away very swiftly: the swallow has its name in Hebrew from liberty, because it flies about boldly and freely, and makes its nest in houses, to which it goes and comes without fear;
so the curse causeless shall not come; the mouths of fools or wicked men are full of cursing and bitterness, and especially such who are advanced above others, and are set in high places; who think they have a right to swear at and curse those below them, and by this means to support their authority and power; but what signify their curses which are without a cause? they are vain and fruitless, like Shimei’s cursing David; they fly away, as the above birds are said to do, and fly over the heads of those on whom they are designed to light; yea, return and fall upon the heads of those that curse, as the swallow goes to the place from whence it came; it being a bird of passage, Jer 8:7; in the winter it flies away and betakes itself to some islands on rocks called from thence “chelidonian” k. According to the “Keri”, or marginal reading, for here is a double reading, it may be rendered, “so the curse causeless shall come to him” l; that gives it without any reason. The Septuagint takes in both,
“so a vain curse shall not come upon any;”
what are all the anathemas of the church of Rome? who can curse whom God has not cursed? yea, such shall be cursed themselves; see
Ps 109:17.
h “sicat passeris”, Mercerus, Gejerus; “ut passer”, Piscator; Schultens. i Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 8. k Vid. Strabo. Geograph. l. 14. p. 458. Dionys. Perieg. v. 506, 507. l “in quempiam”, V. L.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This verse is formed quite in the same way as the preceding:
As the sparrow in its fluttering, as the swallow in its flying,
So the curse that is groundless: it cometh not.
This passage is one of those fifteen ( vid., under Psa 100:3) in which the of the text is changed by the Ker into ; the Talm., Midrash, and Sohar refer this partly to him who utters the curse himself, against whom also, if he is a judge, such inconsiderate cursing becomes an accusation by God; partly to him who is cursed, for they read from the proverb that the curse of a private person also ( , ) is not wont to fall to the ground, and that therefore one ought to be on his guard against giving any occasion for it ( vid., Norzi). But Aben Ezra supposes that and interchange, as much as to say that the undeserved curse falls on him ( ) who curses, and does not fall ( ) on him who is cursed. The figures in 2a harmonize only with , according to which the lxx, the Syr., Targ., Venet., and Luther (against Jerome) translate, for the principal matter, that the sparrow and the swallow, although flying out (Pro 27:8), return home again to their nest (Ralbag), would be left out of view in the comparison by . This emphasizes the fluttering and flying, and is intended to affirm that a groundless curse is a , aimless, i.e., a thing hovering in the air, that it fails and does not take effect. Most interpreters explain the two Lameds as declaring the destination: ut passer ( sc. natus est ) ad vagandum , as the sparrow, through necessity of nature, roves about… (Fleischer). But from Pro 25:3 it is evident that the Lamed in both cases declares the reference or the point of comparison: as the sparrow in respect to its fluttering about, etc. The names of the two birds are, according to Aben Ezra, like dreams without a meaning; but the Romanic exposition explains rightly by passereau , and by hirondelle , for (Arab. ‘usfuwr ), twitterer, designates at least preferably the sparrow, and the swallow, from its flight shooting straight out, as it were radiating ( vid., under Psa 84:4); the name of the sparrow, dur (found in courtyards), which Wetstein, after Saadia, compares to , is etymologically different.
(Note: It is true that the Gemara to Negam, Pro 14:1, explains the Mishnic , “house-birds,” for it derives from , to dwell.)
Regarding , vid., under Pro 24:28. Rightly the accentuation separates the words rendered, “so the curse undeserved” ( , after Kimchi, Michlol 79b, ), from those which follow; is the explication of : thus hovering in the air is a groundless curse – it does not come ( , like e.g., Jos 21:43). After this proverb, which is formed like Pro 26:1, the series now returns to the “fool.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
Here is, 1. The folly of passion. It makes men scatter causeless curses, wishing ill to others upon presumption that they are bad and have done ill, when either they mistake the person or misunderstand the fact, or they call evil good and good evil. Give honour to a fool, and he thunders out his anathemas against all that he is disgusted with, right or wrong. Great men, when wicked, think they have a privilege to keep those about them in awe, by cursing them, and swearing at them, which yet is an expression of the most impotent malice and shows their weakness as much as their wickedness. 2. The safety of innocency. He that is cursed without cause, whether by furious imprecations or solemn anathemas, the curse shall do him no more harm than the bird that flies over his head, than Goliath’s curses did to David, 1 Sam. xvii. 43. It will fly away like the sparrow or the wild dove, which go nobody knows where, till they return to their proper place, as the curse will at length return upon the head of him that uttered it.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vain Curses
Verse 2 emphasizes the folly of attempts to cast a curse upon another. Such is as ineffective as the bird that flits harmlessly hither and yon, Num 23:8; Neh 13:2; 1Sa 17:4; 2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 16:12. The reference to the “curse causeless” distinguishes “evil” attempts to curse from the judgments God permitted Elisha, Jotham, etc., to pronounce upon wicked persons, Jdg 9:7-57; 2Ki 2:23-24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 26:2. The first clause of the verse should be, As the sparrow flitting, as the swallow flying, etc. Causeless, i.e., undeservedi.e., Such a curse is but transientit alights for the moment, but, like a bird, does not stay long. Miller and others, however, understand the comparison to carry an entirely opposite meaning. (See Suggestive Comments on the verse.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 26:2
THE CAUSELESS CURSE
A reference to the Critical Notes and the Suggestive Comments will show that different meanings are attached to this proverb.
I. Men often utter causeless curses. In whatever country of the world we travel, and among whatever society, we are liable to hear men pouring forth maledictions against their fellow-creatures. There are places and circles where such imprecations are never uttered, because a better spirit rules those who belong to them, but these are, alas! exceptions to a rule. Curses without cause are uttered by masters against servants, and by parents against children, and by men in every condition and relation in lifecurses prompted by passion and falling from the lips of men who answer to the description of the Psalmistwhose inward part is very wickedness, and, as a consequence, whose throat is an open sepulchre spreading unhealthy and loathsome influences around. (Psa. 5:9.)
II. Such a curse is harmless to its victims. A curse which is undeserved has no sting; it is as powerless to injure as the bird that flits over the travellers head and soon disappears. Even if the creature attempted to harm the man it is too weak, but not weaker than the curse without cause. It may cast a passing shadow in its passage, but there is no substance in itit consists of words without weight, and wishes that have no power to fulfil themselves.
III. But such a curse will fall upon him who uttered it. We know that every bird who casts a shadow over our path will presently settle down againit will find its nest whence it started, and there take up its abode. And so every curse uttered without a cause will return upon the head of him who uttered itupon him will come the same, or worse, ills than those he has called down upon another. Cursing men, says Trapp, are cursed men.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
(This comment, it will be seen, rests on another interpretation of the verse.) The type is graceful. The bird is so little, and his flight and roaming about so graceful, that we never think of him as having an aim. And yet, the wildest sport upon the wing is continually directed, and obeys the mind of the humblest voyager in the heavens. Curses; of all other things not aimless. He doth not afflict willingly (Lam. 3:33). And so whether large or trivial; the one great curse, or its numerous army of descendants; none are without a purpose. In each gentle pulse upon the wind the twittering swallow has no more clear a meaning than these flying griefs, as they float fitfully toward them who are to bear them. This Hebrew has two meanings. We have selected to no purpose here, because the preposition is , and not . Had we selected for no cause, there would have emerged a beautiful sense. The meaning then, as birds do not make their appearance in the spring as apparitions, starting up ghost-like in the fields as they seem to, but have come long journeys, many of them in the night, and have reached us by honest flying, so the curse does not come without a cause. The meanings, as will be seen, are very different. One is, that the curse has a cause on our part; the other, that it has a reason on the part of our Creator. Now, both are true. Both are very expressive. Both have a fitness in the passage. To no purpose yields the wider truth, and, moreover, is the bolder mystery. The curse had a subsistence earlier than we, and a cause later than it had a reason. It was pre-determined from the very beginning. And, therefore, ours is the bolder grasping of the cavil, and replies to the sinner more deeply.Miller.
Powerless was Moabs curse, though attempted to be strengthened with the divination of the wicked prophet. Goliaths curse against David was scattered to the winds. What was David the worse for Shimeis curse; or Jeremiah for the curse of his persecutors? Under this harmless shower of stones we turn from men to God, and are at peace. Let them curse; but bless thou; when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. (Psa. 109:28.)Bridges.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(2) As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying.Rather, As the bird (any small one, especially the sparrow) is made for wandering, and the swallow for flying (where it pleases), so the curse causeless (i.e., spoken without reason) shall not come (reach its destination). The Hebrew reads in the margin to him, instead of not, in the sense that a causeless curse, though it passes out of sight like a bird in its flight, yet returns to him who uttered itan idea expressed in more than one English proverb. (Comp. Psa. 109:17-18; Isa. 55:11.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. As the bird Here meaning any small bird of passage which frequently removes from place to place.
By wandering Literally, removing.
Swallow Generally so construed, though sometimes rendered dove or wild pigeon.
So the curse Affliction of any character.
Causeless shall not come Not without design, so far as it is of God’s appointment. We take the import of the proverb to be, that as the wanderings of the “bird” or the flying of “the swallow” in their removals from place to place have an object namely, the supplying of their bodily needs and so far are an instinct from God, so afflictions shall be designed for the benefit of those who are exercised thereby. “As even birds of the air obey a law of their nature in their seemingly irregular wanderings, so the evils that befall men are not fortuitous, but presuppose a reason and a cause.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 26:2. As the bird by wandering “Curses which fly out of men’s mouths causlessly shall no more alight where they would have them, than a sparrow which wanders uncertainly, or a dove which flies away swiftly, will settle according to their direction;” or it may be, Such curses fly as swiftly as those birds, whose property it is to fly up and down, over the head of him against whom they are directed, and never touch him.” The words may be rendered, As the sparrow is for wandering, as a wild dove to fly, so the rash curse shall not come.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 26:2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
Ver. 2. As the bird by wandering, and the swallow, ] i.e., As these may fly where they will, and nobody cares, or is the worse; so here. And as birds tired with much wandering, and not finding where to rest, return again to their nest, after that they have beat the air with weary wing; so the causeless curse returns to the author. Cursing men are cursed men.
So the curse causeless shall not come.
a Annul. Gallic.
b Bucholcer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
by . . . by = for . . . for: or [has cause] for.
So the curse, &c. Illustrations: Baalam’s (Neh 13:2); Goliath’s (1Sa 17:43); Shimei’s (2Sa 16:5, 2Sa 16:12).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 26:2
Pro 26:2
“As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, So the curse that is causeless alighteth not.”
“The point of comparison here is the aimlessness of the birds’ flight, or the uselessness of trying to catch them in their flight. So the causeless curse does not come; it spends itself in air and will not fall on the head on which it was invoked. A causeless curse is a curse uttered against one who does not deserve it.
Pro 26:2. The ancients feared a curse pronounced by another. The point of the verse is, Do right, and you have nothing to fear from peoples curses. At times it seems that some birds are aimlessly flying, just for the sake of flying, actually going nowhere. Even so a false curse will aimlessly go nowhere. In keeping with this verse are two eastern proverbs: The jackal howls: will my old buffalo die? The dog barks-still the caravan passes: will the barking of the dog reach the skies?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
so: Num 23:8, Deu 23:4, Deu 23:5, 1Sa 14:28, 1Sa 14:29, 1Sa 17:43, 2Sa 16:12, Neh 13:2, Psa 109:28
Reciprocal: Num 22:6 – I wot Num 23:7 – Come Deu 18:22 – shalt not 2Sa 16:5 – cursed Jer 15:10 – curse Eze 14:23 – that I have not 2Co 13:8 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 26:2. As the bird by wandering Namely, from place to place: that is, as by its restlessness it secures itself from the fowler, that he cannot shoot at it, or spread his net over it; so the curse causeless shall not come Namely, upon the innocent person, but he shall escape from it as the bird escapes the fowler. Or, as some interpret it, Curses which fly out of mens mouths causelessly, shall no more alight where they would have them, than a sparrow that wanders uncertainly, or a dove that flies away swiftly, will settle according to their direction.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
If someone curses another person who does not deserve it, the curse will not be effective (cf. Num 23:8). It will not attach itself to the person cursed, so to speak.
"It was commonly believed that blessings and curses had objective existence-that once uttered, the word was effectual. Scriptures make it clear that the power of a blessing or a curse depends on the power of the one behind it (e.g., Balaam could not curse what God had blessed; cf. Num 22:38; Num 23:8). This proverb underscores the correction of superstition. The Word of the Lord is powerful because it is the word of the Lord-he will fulfill it." [Note: Ross, p. 1087.]