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The interpretation timeline

Prov 26:3

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Prov 26:3 · Douay-Rheims
“A whip for a horse, and a snaffle for an ass, and a rod for the back of fools.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
373
A.D.
Ephrem the Syrian Patristic
c. A.D. 306–373
“The nations confess you because your word became a mirror before them in which they might see hidden death devouring their lives. Idols are ornamented by those who craft them, but they disfigure their crafters with their ornamentation. [The mirror] brought [the nations] directly to your cross, where physical beauty is disfigured but spiritual beauty is resplendent. The one who was God pursued the nations who were pursuing gods that were not gods at all. And [using] words like bridles, he turned them away from many gods [and brought them] to one.This is the mighty one whose proclamation [of the gospel] became a bridle in the jaws of the nations, turning them away from idols to the one who sent him.”
Source
Modern · 1953 →

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.