Proverbs 26:2 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying ,.... As a bird, particularly the sparrow, as the word F8 כצפור "sicat passeris", Mercerus, Gejerus; "ut passer", Piscator; Schultens. 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 F9 Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 8. think is meant, which flies away very swiftly: the swallow... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 26:2

As 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 more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:1-3

Sayings against folly I. THE INAPTNESS OF HONOURS TO THE FOOLISH MAN . ( Proverbs 26:1 .) According to Jerome, it is something unheard of or impossible to experience, rain in the harvest time (see 1 Samuel 12:17 , sqq .). The advancement of the fool appears to all men unseasonable, even shocking. High place reveals the more clearly the smallness of small souls. Honour is the just reward of virtue and ability. Let men be virtuous and wise, that they may be honoured,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:1-9

Honouring the unworthy There are different ways in which we may honour men, whether the wise or the unwise. We may I. ITS PAINFUL INCONGRUITY . "As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool." To hear a fool attempting lamely to discourse wisdom is suggestive of the motion of a man whose "legs are not equal." For the post of honour to be occupied by one who has disgraced himself by guilty foolishness, or who has neglected his opportunities, and is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:1-12

Certain proverbs concerning the fool ( kesil ), with the exception, perhaps, of Proverbs 26:2 (see on Proverbs 1:22 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying. "Bird" ( tsippor ) is the sparrow, which is found throughout Palestine; "swallow" ( deror ), the free flier. The Authorized Version hardly gives the sense. The line should be rendered, as the sparrow in (in respect of) its wandering , as the swallow in its flying . The point of comparison is the vagueness and aimlessness of the birds' flight, or the uselessness of trying to catch them in their course. So the curse causeless... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

The curse causeless I. GOD WILL NOT HEAR A SINFUL PRAYER . A curse is a prayer. No ode has the power of inflicting direct harm upon his victim by sheer force of malignant words. Only the superstition of magic could suppose any such thing to be possible. A curse is just a prayer for evil to come on the head of the devoted person. But God will not heed such a petition if he disapproves of it. Prayer is not a force that compels God; it is but a petition that seeks his aid, and the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:2-3

What to fear Fear enters largely into human experience. It is an emotion which is sometimes stamped upon the countenance so that it is legible to all who look upon it. Under its baleful shadow some men have spent a large part of their life. We may well ask what to fear and how to be delivered from its evil There are some— I. THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN , BUT NEED NOT HAVE BEEN , FEARED . 1 . Men and women have dreaded "the evil eye" of their fellow men. They have been... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Proverbs 26:2

Proverbs 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 men’s mouths causelessly, shall no more alight where they would have them, than a sparrow that wanders uncertainly, or... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 26:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:1-9

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:1-12

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 26:2-3

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Proverbs 26:2

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