The interpretation timeline

2Chr 17:3

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

1 Jewish · 1 Catholic · 1 Reformed

2Chr 17:3 · Douay-Rheims
“And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the first ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim,”
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
Rashi Jewish
1040–1105
“in the first ways of David, his father But not the last ways, when he sinned in the incident of Bathsheba, and when the Adversary enticed him to count Israel. This is the most accurate interpretation, but others explain “first” as meaning superior to Solomon and Rehoboam. Regarding Solomon, it is written (I Kings 11:4): “his wives turned away his heart” at the end of his days, and he built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.” Regarding Rehoboam, it is written (above 12:1): “And when he became strong, he abandoned the Law of the Lord.” [Jehoshaphat was also not] like Abijam, about whom it is written (I Kings 15:2): “and his heart was not complete with the Lord, his God,” or like Asa, who did not rely on the Lord; [Jehoshaphat] resembled his father, David, who had only one heart for his Father in heaven. and did not inquire of the baalim like the practice of Israel in his time, for Ahab, who was in his time, worshipped the baalim, as did Israel in his time.”
Source
744 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1849
A.D.
1774–1849
“First. Before his fall: some copies add, “and last,” (La Haye) as the Gothic manuscript used by Mariana does, agreeably to the Scripture style. (Du Hamel) — David began and ended well. (Haydock)”
1871
A.D.
1871
“he walked in the first ways of his father David--He imitated the piety of his great ancestor in the early part of his reign before he made those unhappy lapses which dishonored his character. and sought not unto Baalim--a term used for idols generally in contradistinction to the Lord God of his father.”
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.