The interpretation timeline

Sir 9:13

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Sir 9:13 · Douay-Rheims
“And strive not with her over wine, lest thy heart decline towards her, and by thy blood thou fall into destruction.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“"Know that you are walking in the midst of snares and that you are going about on the city battlements." Everything is full of nets; the devil has filled up everything with snares. But if the Word of God comes to you and begins to appear through the nets, you will say, "Our soul has been freed like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters; the snare has been broken, and we have been freed. We are blessed by the Lord who has made heaven and earth." The bridegroom "appears" then "through the nets." Jesus has prepared the way for you. He descended to earth and submitted himself to the nets of the world. Seeing the great flock of humanity imprisoned in the nets and seeing that only he could tear them, he came to the nets and assumed a human body and subjected it to the snares of the powerful enemy and tore them apart for you. Thus, you can say, "See. He is at the back, behind our wall, watching through the windows, appearing through the nets."”
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.