The interpretation timeline

Sir 41:5

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Sir 41:5 · Douay-Rheims

“Fear not the sentence of death. Remember what things have been before thee, and what shall come after thee: this sentence is from the Lord upon all flesh.”

Medieval c. 750 – 1100

856

A.D.

Rabanus Maurus Medieval

c. A.D. 780–856

“The children of sinners are detestable in the eyes of the Lord, not because they are born of sinful parents (since many righteous people had wicked fathers, like Hezekiah son of Ahaz and Josiah son of Amon), but because they imitated the wicked actions of their fathers. For this reason he added, "One who stays in the dwelling of the ungodly," speaking of those who imitated the crimes of their reprobate parents, whose conduct was wicked and who consequently will miss the inheritance of the heavenly homeland, forever ashamed.”

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.