Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 27:8

"As a bird that wandereth from her nest, So is a man that wandereth from his place." — Proverbs 27:8 (ASV)

Change of place is thought of as in itself an evil. It is not easy for the man to find another home or the bird another nest. The maxim is characteristic of the earlier stages of Hebrew history, before exile and travel had made change of country a more familiar thing. Compare the feeling which made the thought of being a fugitive and a vagabond (Genesis 4:12–13) the most terrible of all punishments.