The interpretation timeline

1Sam 2:15

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

3 Patristic · 1 Catholic

1Sam 2:15 · Douay-Rheims
“Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came, and said to the man that sacrificed: Give me flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take of thee sodden flesh, but raw.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
604
A.D.
Gregory the Great Patristic
c. A.D. 540–604
“6. He would give raw meat to the boy, who before the persecutors would assert the pure humanity of Christ, and the boy would cook it for the priest, because through the fire of malice the Jewish people would think this: that their leaders would willingly receive it in the refreshment of their mind. Therefore the priest's boy came and demanded raw meat, when the Jewish people, serving the letter of the law, urged the faithful to deny the divinity of the Redeemer. Coming therefore he says: "I will not accept cooked meat from you, but raw." Because the one whom the faithful person was compelled to confess as a mere man, he did not even wish to hear was God. The importunity of this people is indeed shown when sacrilegious words are doubled in wicked exaction. For it follows: "I will not accept cooked meat from you, but raw." Because he greatly desired to hear that Jesus our Lord and Redeemer was not Lord and man, but only a mere man. But those whom he tested as if imperfect in the flesh, he found perfect. For those who were compelled to deny the divinity of the Redeemer not only refused to deny the Redeemer, but took care to draw their very compellers to life. ...”
Source
735
A.D.
Bede Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“But whoever had sacrificed a victim, the priest's boy would come, etc. Whoever at that time had decided to consecrate his life to the Lord, the disciples of the scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests would come, as his carnal customs began to be boiled away by the fire of heavenly devotion, and they had the rapacious desire of the world in their works; whose three-pronged bite the Apostle John describes, saying: For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2). And they would send examples or even teachings of earthly desires into whatever heart of the listener, whether it be teachable, or of slower and narrower intellect, whether weak and fragile, or patient of adversity, whether effective in speaking, or rustic and less eloquent, which is distinguished by the variety of larger and smaller iron, bronze, or earthen vessels; and they would pollute the small flame of divine love that someone had recently conceived by their worst touch, not expecting the reward of preaching as the law decreed, but rather compelling what was due to God to be made an offering to themselves in obedience; by which most crooked staff they also now defile sacred offerings in the church, whoever, having received the mystery of faith or even the ministry of the word, seek their own benefit, not that of Jesus Christ.”
Source
735
A.D.
Bede Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“Even before they burned the fat, etc. The wickedness of Pharisaic deception progressed so far that even before they taught that the rich offering of love, most pleasing to God, should be made, which should be offered singularly on the altar of the heart before other sacrifices of virtues, they would put their own service before divine worship; telling their wretched listeners that each should not consume the enticements of carnal lust with a flame of heavenly charity worthy of God, but should spend these less chastised in the injury to the Creator according to the whim of carnal commands. However, these wicked ones said this to their listeners not with words, but with the deeds themselves. We wish we did not know that very similar things are being done today by teachers and priests of the Church.”
Source
1,114 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1849
A.D.
1774–1849
“Raw. Here are two other abuses. The fat ought first to have been burnt, in honour of the Lord; and the meat should have been boiled, in order that the priest might not be taken off from his sacred functions; as custom, it seems, had determined, though the law be silent on this head.”
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.