Rashi
Jewish
1040–1105
“than pearls Heb. מפנינים, pearls. cannot be compared to it They will not equal its value.”
The interpretation timeline
Prov 8:11
How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.
From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 2 Reformed
Prov 8:11 · Douay-Rheims
“For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it.”
Scholastic
c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
666 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation
c. 1650 – 1900
1771
A.D.
John Gill
Reformed
1697–1771
“For wisdom is better than rubies,.... A sort of precious stones: or, "than precious stones" (z) in general; so the Targum and Septuagint, Arabic and Syriac versions; even than all of them, as the Vulgate Latin version; or, than "pearls" (a), or "carbuncles" (b): there are none equal to it, nor is it to be procured by them; see Job 28:16; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it; See Gill on Pro 3:15. (z) "gemmis", Baynus; "prae gemmis politis", Schultens. (a) "Margaritas", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis; "unionibus", Cocceius. (b) "Carbunculis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.”
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.