Proverbs & Idioms פתגמים וניבים

8 advanced Hebrew words on proverbs & idioms — with pictures, native audio and example sentences. Sayings you cannot decode word by word — each with its English equivalent.

English	Hebrew	Note
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush	ציפור אחת ביד עדיפה על שתיים על העץ	⚠️ Genderציפור is feminine despite its masculine-looking plural ציפורים.
where there's smoke, there's fire	אין עשן בלי אש	Literally 'there is no smoke without fire' — the same picture as the English.
barking dogs don't bite	כלב נובח לא נושך	נובח and נושך are present-tense forms doing the work of adjectives.
kill two birds with one stone	לתפוס שתי ציפורים במכה	In Hebrew you catch the birds rather than kill them — במכה is 'in one blow'.
cost an arm and a leg	זה עלה לי הון	🔀 Several meaningsעלה means both 'to go up' and 'to cost'. הון is a fortune.
don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today	אל תדחה למחר	Negative commands take אל plus the future: אל תדחה.
better late than never	מוטב מאוחר מאשר לעולם לא	A set phrase. מוטב… מאשר = 'better… than'.
silence is golden	סייג לחוכמה שתיקה	From Pirkei Avot: literally 'a fence for wisdom is silence'.