Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
Parallel translations
- WEB As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
- KJV As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
- NKJV Like a bird that wanders from its nest Is a man who wanders from his place.
- NASB Like a bird that wanders from its nest, So is a person who wanders from his home.
- NLT A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A person who abandons his home is as displaced as a bird that strays from its nest. It warns against wandering from one's God-given place and responsibilities.
Overview
The image of a restless, displaced bird pictures the vulnerability and loss that come from forsaking one's proper home and duties. Scripture honors faithfulness to one's calling and household rather than aimless wandering. The believer's lasting security is found in abiding in Christ, who prepares an eternal home for His own (John 14:2-3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 21:16The man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.
- Jonah 1:10–17Then 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 Cor 7:20Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
- Isa 16:2Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
- Jonah 1:3Jonah, 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.
- Gen 16:6–8“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 Kgs 19:9There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- 1 Sam 22:5Then 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.
- Job 39:14–16For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
- Gen 4:16So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
- Neh 6:11–13But 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!”
- Prov 26:2Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
- Jude 1:13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
- 1 Sam 27:1–12David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 27:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.