Augustine of Hippo

The text, "For a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again," means that he will not perish, however often he falls. There is here no question of falling into sins but of afflictions leading to a lower life.

City of God 11.31 ↗

Bede

For the just man falls seven times, etc. But how is he called just, who is remembered to fall, that is, to sin? unless he speaks of the slight and daily sins, without which none of the just could exist in this life? For certainly through ignorance, through forgetfulness, through thought, through speech, through surprise, through necessity, through the frailty of the flesh, each day, either unwillingly or willingly, we frequently incur guilt. …

Commentary on Proverbs ↗

John Cassian

But for those small offences in which, as it is written, "the righteous falls seven times and will rise again" penitence will never cease. For either through ignorance, or forgetfulness, or thought, or word, or surprise, or necessity, or weakness of the flesh, or defilement in a dream, we often fall every day either against our will or voluntarily; offences for which David also prays the Lord, and asks for purification and pardon, and says: "Who can understand sins? …

Conference 20:12 ↗