From the early Church Fathers to now.
5 Patristic · 1 Medieval
“Behold I have described it to thee three manner of ways, in thoughts and knowledge:”
“Solomon counsels that what we read "be transcribed in the heart in a threefold manner." I shall make known to your ears that which occurs to my mind, even beyond the things that we have said, and you yourself [should] do what is written: "Let one speak and the rest judge." Therefore, as I speak what I perceive, you consider and judge if it is correct or not correct.”
“He who has opened his heart through purity, contemplates the words of God in their practical, physical and theological sense. Accordingly, the whole corpus of Scripture may be divided into three parts: ethical, physical and theological. Consequently, Proverbs corresponds to the first part, Ecclesiastes to the second, and Song of Songs to the third.”
“As human beings consist of body, soul and spirit, so also Scripture consists of the body of letters, by which the ignorant man is benefited; and that is called "manual instruction." Second, it consists of soul, that is, a higher meaning, which the one who is higher in learning understands. It also consists of spirit, that is, a more sublime and spiritual contemplation which those who are perfect understand and speak.”
“There are three kinds of spiritual knowledge—tropological, allegorical, anagogical—of which we read as follows in Proverbs: "But you describe these things to yourself in three ways according to the largeness of your heart."”
“Behold, I have described it to you in three ways, etc. He delineated his doctrine to the listener in three ways: thinking, speaking, and executing it in works. With this threefold description, the whole little book shines richly if considered well.”
“Philosophical knowledge is a certain knowledge of truth as investigable. Concerning this knowledge it is said in Proverbs: "Behold, I have described it for you in a threefold manner, in thoughts and knowledge, that I might show you the firmness and the words of truth." That word can be the word of Solomon and the word of God. I say that it can be the word of God. For He Himself describes philosophical knowledge in a threefold manner, that is, He describes it according to a threefold account: as natural, as rational, and as moral, namely insofar as it is the "cause of being, the ground of understanding," and the "order of living." Insofar as it is the cause of being, it designates natural science; insofar as it is the ground of understanding, it signifies rational science; insofar as it is the order of living, it describes moral science. Nor is that word only of God, indeed it is also of Solomon, who disputed from the cedar of Lebanon down to the hyssop. He himself says: "Behold, I have described it to you in a threefold manner, that I might show you firmness," that is, solid and firm truth, "and the words of truth": he himself describes it in a threefold manner, namely insofar as it is the truth of things, the truth of words and the truth of morals, according as it is the undividedness of being from existence, and the undividedness of being in relation to existence, and of being from its end. The truth of things is the undividedness of being from existence: the truth of words is the undividedness of being in relation to existence: the truth of morals is the undividedness of being from its end. The truth of morals is rectitude, according to which a man lives well within and without according to the dictate of law, because law is the rule of rectitude; the truth of words is the adequation of voice and intellect; the truth of things is "the adequation of intellect and thing." And because philosophical science teaches the words of truth; and truth is threefold: therefore he says that he described it in a threefold manner.”
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.