The interpretation timeline

Sir 44:21

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Sir 44:21 · Douay-Rheims
“In his flesh he established the covenant, and in temptation he was found faithful.”
Medieval c. 750 – 1100
856
A.D.
Rabanus Maurus Medieval
c. A.D. 780–856
“The inheritance that he was promised symbolizes two things. The comparison with the sand of the sea indicates the Jews, who are sterile. And the comparison with the stars of heaven designates all the people who believe in Christ, who by the light of the resurrection will shine like the stars of heaven. "Every star in fact differs from another in splendor. So also in the resurrection." His descendents will inherit "from one sea to the other, from the river to the ends of the earth," since Christ, born of the descendents of Abraham, rules from one sea to the other and from the river to the ends of the earth, and his church, his very body, fills all the limits of the world. One also notes that Abraham represents in himself three things. In the first place, the Savior, who, leaving his family, came into this world. Second, the Father, when he sacrificed his only Son. Third, by the fact that he had welcomed three men and adored one of them, he symbolized the saints, who joyfully received the coming of Christ in the flesh. This mystery of the incarnation is the work of the entire holy Trinity but was realized only in the Son. "And the Word was made flesh and came to dwell among us."”
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.