Bible Strands
Proverbs 26:2
Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wise teacher cataloging what does not fit, in a chapter that pairs the fool's absurdity with the futility of unjustified speech.
The words — תָּבֹא (ta.vo') = "it will come" — the Hebrew verb is affirmative, yet the bird simile carries the negation; the curse arrives but cannot land.
The thread — Balaam's refusal to curse Israel (Numbers 23:8) and the psalmist's confidence that "though they curse, You will bless" (Psalm 109:28) rest on the same principle: a curse without divine warrant is impotent.
Why it lands — It tells the person bearing an undeserved curse that the words have no purchase, and it warns the one speaking them that they are only passing through.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
Cross-references
- Numbers 23:8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
- Nehemiah 13:2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).
- Psalms 109:28 Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
- Deuteronomy 23:4 For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
- 2 Samuel 16:12 Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”
- 1 Samuel 17:43 “Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- Proverbs 27:8 Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
- 1 Samuel 14:28 Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”