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Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
Proverbs 6:5 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
  • BSB Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
  • NKJV Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
  • NASB Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
  • NLT Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.

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

Escape the entanglement swiftly, like a gazelle or bird darting from a hunter's trap. Pursue freedom with all speed.

Overview

The two images of a gazelle and a snared bird stress quick, decisive escape from the danger of suretyship. The hunter and fowler picture how easily one is caught and how vital it is to break free. The passage closes the warning by commending alert, urgent self-deliverance from foolish bonds.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Ps 91:3For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.
  • Ps 124:7Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare. The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
  • Prov 1:17For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:
  • Ps 11:1For the Chief Musician. By David. In Yahweh, I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain!”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 6:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 6:5 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.