While the Greek word strouthion is certainly the name for the sparrow, the Hebrew tsippor is actually an inclusive word that refers to sparrow-sized birds in general. These small birds, especially sparrows, were caught in nets and traps and were an important part of the diet of poor people.
There are three types of sparrow that are common in Israel, the House Sparrow Passer domesticus, the Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis, and the Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus. All three are small speckled brown birds. Additional small birds that abound around towns and settlements are members of the bunting, finch, and tit families. Sparrows in particular are usually found in fairly large numbers roosting and nesting together. All are seed eaters and live mainly on grass seeds and grain.
Sparrows were considered clean birds and were associated with the poor.
Sparrows or sparrow-like small birds are found all over the world. Finding a local word is not usually difficult. The reference to “a lonely bird on the housetop” in Psalms 102:7 takes on additional meaning if the sparrow was intended, since it is a bird that is seldom seen alone. It would then indicate the psalmist’s sense of loneliness at being separated from those with whom he belongs.
Swallows, martins, and swifts are birds that look and behave in very similar fashion, and in many places where they are found, all are popularly known by one name only. This is true in English too, since all three types of bird are usually referred to as “swallows” by people who are not expert bird-watchers. Scientifically, swallows and martins are related, but the swifts are birds of a completely different family.
The fact that most English versions translate all three Hebrew words as “swallow” reflects the usage of the average person. However, it is likely that deror is strictly speaking the swallow and the martin, while sus and sis (differently pronounced forms of the same word) indicate the swift. In modern Hebrew sis is the name for the swift, and deror is the name for the sparrow, not the swallow.
The Greek word chelidōn refers to either swallows or swifts.
Four species of swift, three species of martin, and two species of swallow are common in Israel. The Common Swift Apus apus, the Pallid Swift Apus pallidus, the Alpine Swift Apus melba, and the Little Swift Apus affinis are all migrant birds that spend the whole summer in Israel. This is also true of one type of swallow, the Red-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica, and the House Martin Delichon urbica. Another species of martin, the Pale Crag Martin Hirundo obsolete is permanently resident there. The remaining species of martin and swallow are passing migrants that stay only a few days, although a few individual birds may stay all summer in Israel while the majority passes on.
Swallows, martins, and swifts are all small birds with long slender wings and short legs. They fly at great speed for long periods on end, twisting and turning, usually in fairly large groups. They catch insects in the air as they fly. The Hebrew name deror is derived from a word meaning “free,” probably a reference to this wonderful ability to fly freely at speed, swooping, diving, and turning, with no need to stop for a rest. The name sus or sis refers to the swishing sound the fast-flying swifts make in the air as they pass.
The common swift makes a noise described in many bird books as a “high-pitched scream”, especially in the breeding season, but it also keeps up a noisy twittering almost constantly, especially near the places where it roosts. This is also a common feature of some other types of swift and many types of martin.
The common swift, house martin, European swallow, red-rumped swallow, and pale crag martin all make their nests under overhangs on rock faces, in caves, or in human structures, such as buildings and the underside of bridges. (Psalms 84:4 speaks of the deror making its nest in the Temple.) The swifts make their nests out of grass and leaves cemented together with their saliva (it is the nest of a swift that is collected by Chinese people for the famous bird’s nest soup). The swallows and martins make their nests out of small pellets of mud mixed with grass. Both types of nest are bonded to a rock or wall, usually close to an overhanging projection such as a roof.
Swallows and swifts are amazing migrants. Some species migrate from central Africa to the Far East and to parts of southwestern China, others move from northern Russia and Scandinavia to South Africa. One group of swallows is known to have covered more than 12 ,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) in thirty-five days. When gathering for migration, or when stopping briefly on their way, they can often be seen in the hundreds of thousands. In Bangkok in one night, university students counted nearly two million migrating swallows roosting on the telephone and power lines in the city. They were gone the following day.
These birds were noted for a) their regular migration, b) their unending flight, c) the fact that they build nests in human dwellings, and, in the case of the swift, d) their unending, and perhaps sad-sounding noise.
Swifts, swallows, and martins are found worldwide. If the local language makes a difference between swifts and swallows, then deror should be translated as “swallow” and sus and sis as “swift”. In most languages, however, both families of bird are called by the same name, so that only one word will be used to translate the three Hebrew words. Proverbs 26:2 makes reference to the fact that swallows can fly the whole day without stopping once.
“Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying”: Where these birds are unknown, Good News Translation may provide a suitable model for translators. “Flitting” is literally “wandering,” that is, flying aimlessly about and moving quickly from one branch to another. “Swallow . . . flying” may refer to the swooping of a swallow that does not alight. New Living Translation expresses the movements of these birds as “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow.”
“A curse that is causeless does not alight”: For “curse” see 3.33. The sense of this line is that a curse to harm an innocent person is ineffective; it does not work, just as these birds do not come to rest. “A curse that is causeless” means a curse directed at someone who does not deserve it. Contemporary English Version translates “A curse you don’t deserve will take wings and fly away like a sparrow or a swallow.” In the context of a “curse”, “does not alight” has the sense of “goes nowhere” (New Revised Standard Version) or “will never hit its mark” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 26:2:
Kupsabiny: “When/If an innocent person is cursed, it does not stick/catch (him) like a swallow does not touch down on the ground.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “A curse given needlessly will have no effect. It will fly away flapping its wings like a sparrow, and it will speed away like a swallow.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “A curse can- not -harm you (sing.) if you (sing.) do not have sin. This is like a bird who just passes-by and does not roost.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “A curse that has no basis will not stick, it is like a flying bird that has no place-to-land.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “Like birds that fly by and do not alight/land on anything, if someone curses you, it cannot hurt you if you do not deserve them/have not done to him what is wrong.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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