Bede
Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“Iron sharpens iron, etc. The consultation and advice of the wise is quite good, where they instruct each other by consulting, iron sharpens iron.”
The interpretation timeline
Prov 27:17
How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.
From the early Church Fathers to now.
Prov 27:17 · Douay-Rheims
“Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
Patristic
before A.D. 750
735
A.D.
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.