Bible Strands
Proverbs 27:8
Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom collection addresses a student of life, positioning this proverb between a statement on physical satiety and a statement on the comfort of friendship.
The words — The Hebrew employs נוֹדֶ֣דֶת (no.De.det) and נוֹדֵ֥ד (no.Ded), both meaning "wanders," to parallel a bird leaving קִנָּ֑הּ (ki.Na/h, its nest) with a man departing מִ/מְּקוֹמֽ/וֹ (mi./me.ko.M/o, his own place).
The thread — The concept of straying from an assigned location appears in Proverbs 21:16, where a man strays from the path of understanding, and in Isaiah 16:2, which compares displaced Moabites to birds pushed from a nest.
Why it lands — The text states that a man leaving his home is like a bird straying from its nest. This comparison warns that physical displacement mirrors the instability of moral wandering.
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 a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 21:16 The man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.
- Isaiah 16:2 Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
- Jonah 1:3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
- Jonah 1:10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
- 1 Corinthians 7:20 Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
- Genesis 16:6 “Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.
- 1 Samuel 22:5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Depart and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
- 1 Kings 19:9 There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- Genesis 4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
- Nehemiah 6:11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”