A curse pronounced without cause does not land, the way a sparrow flits past without alighting.
Next, Solomon turns to curses spoken without cause: Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight (v. 2). Proverbs 26:2 paints a small and quick-moving picture.
A sparrow in its flitting, a swallow in its flying. Both birds move in quick, darting motions. They never settle long in one place. Solomon names them to set up his comparison about curses.
A curse without cause does not alight. A curse pronounced against an innocent man does not land on him. It moves over him the way a sparrow moves over the field. The verse is reassurance to the wise. When unjust words are spoken against him, when an enemy invokes harm on his name, the wise man can rest. Words without justice attached have no anchor and find no resting place. Compare Numbers 23:8, where Balaam confesses he cannot curse what God has not cursed.
Proverbs 26:2
2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
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Proverbs 26:2 meaning
Next, Solomon turns to curses spoken without cause: Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight (v. 2). Proverbs 26:2 paints a small and quick-moving picture.
A sparrow in its flitting, a swallow in its flying. Both birds move in quick, darting motions. They never settle long in one place. Solomon names them to set up his comparison about curses.
A curse without cause does not alight. A curse pronounced against an innocent man does not land on him. It moves over him the way a sparrow moves over the field. The verse is reassurance to the wise. When unjust words are spoken against him, when an enemy invokes harm on his name, the wise man can rest. Words without justice attached have no anchor and find no resting place. Compare Numbers 23:8, where Balaam confesses he cannot curse what God has not cursed.