From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 1 Catholic · 1 Reformed
“And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer?”
“Can any action of mine compare with yours? How significant were my actions at the beginning in comparison with yours at the end? Do not Ephraim's underripened gleanings surpass. The gleanings which you acquired at the end surpass the early harvest which my family and I gathered, for Adonoy delivered the kings into your hands.”
“What could I, &c. A meek and humble answer appeased them; who otherwise might have come to extremities. So great is the power of humility both with God and man. (Challoner) (Proverbs xv. 1.) — Could. Hebrew and Septuagint, “What have I yet done like you? (Menochius) — Is not the gleaning?” &c. I only commenced the war; you have brought it to a happy termination, by killing the princes of the enemy. (Debrio adag. 157.) At the first siege of Troy, Telamon having entered the city before Hercules, the latter was on the point of killing him, when Telamon, collecting a heap of stones, which he said he intended for an altar in honour of “the victorious Hercules,” the hero’s fury was appeased. (Apol. Bibl. ii. 6.)”
“he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you?--His mild and truly modest answer breathes the spirit of a great as well as good man, who was calm, collected, and self-possessed in the midst of most exciting scenes. It succeeded in throwing oil on the troubled waters (Pro 16:1), and no wonder, for in the height of generous self-denial, it ascribes to his querulous brethren a greater share of merit and glory than belonged to himself (Co1 13:4; Phi 2:3).”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.