The interpretation timeline

Sir 6:6

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Sir 6:6 · Douay-Rheims

“Be in peace with many, but let one of a thousand be thy counsellor.”

Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500

1274

A.D.

Bonaventure Medieval

c. A.D. 1221–1274

“But who is the good counselor? Certainly that one of whom Ecclesiasticus says: 'Let many be at peace with you, but let one out of a thousand be your counselor.' One counselor, that is, Christ, of whom Isaiah says: 'His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.' He is the Angel of great counsel: this is he to whom we ought to attend with a pure heart.”

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.