The interpretation timeline

Sir 41:1

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Sir 41:1 · Douay-Rheims

“O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions!”

Medieval c. 750 – 1100

856

A.D.

Rabanus Maurus Medieval

c. A.D. 780–856

“The death of the flesh, which is the end of bodily life, is bitter for one who trusts in the prosperity of this world and the pursuit of riches, since he has not learned to love the joys of the future life. But since "the world and its disordered desires are passing away," all those who love it will weep when it is no more.”

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.