The interpretation timeline

2Pet 1:4

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

13 Patristic · 1 Orthodox

2Pet 1:4 · Douay-Rheims
“By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature: flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
215
A.D.
Clement of Alexandria Patristic
c. A.D. 150–215
“And as, if one devote himself to Ischomachus, he will make him a farmer; and to Lampis, a mariner; and to Charidemus, a military commander; and to Simon, an equestrian; and to Perdices, a trader; and to Crobytus, a cook; and to Archelaus, a dancer; and to Homer, a poet; and to Pyrrho, a wrangler; and to Demosthenes, an orator; and to Chrysippus, a dialectician; and to Aristotle, a naturalist; and to Plato, a philosopher: so he who listens to the Lord, and follows the prophecy given by Him, will be formed perfectly in the likeness of the teacher—made a god going about in flesh.”
Source
235
A.D.
Hippolytus of Rome Patristic
c. A.D. 170–235
“But if thou art desirous of also becoming a god, obey Him that has created thee, and resist not now, in order that, being found faithful in that which is small, you may be enabled to have entrusted to you also that which is great. wasted by disease. For thou hast become God:”
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“What is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit? Peter describes this by calling it "sharing in the divine nature."”
258
A.D.
Novatian Patristic
c. A.D. 220–258
“The word of Christ bestows immortality. But immortality is the companion of divinity, because divinity is immortal, and so immortality is the result of partaking in the divine nature.”
367
A.D.
Hilary of Poitiers Patristic
c. A.D. 310–367
“Since the Christian is conscious of having been made a partaker of the divine nature, as blessed Peter says in his second epistle, he must measure the nature of God not by the laws of our own nature, but evaluate the divine truths in accordance with the magnificence of God's testimony concerning himself.”
386
A.D.
Cyril of Jerusalem Patristic
A.D. 313–386
“When Christ's body and blood become the tissue of our members, we become Christ-bearers and "partakers of the divine nature," as the blessed Peter said.”
397
A.D.
Ambrose of Milan Patristic
A.D. 339–397
“Why should I add further, carrying you, as it were, through the whole course, that God made man partaker of the Divine nature, as we read in the Epistle of Peter? Whence one says not improperly, We also are His offspring, for He made us akin to Himself, and we are of a rational nature, that we might seek for that Godhead Which is not far from each one of us, in Whom we live and move and have our being.”
Source
449
A.D.
Hilary of Arles Patristic
c. A.D. 401–449
“Just as God stepped out of his nature to become a partaker of our humanity, so we are called to step out of our nature to become partakers of his divinity.”
461
A.D.
Leo the Great Patristic
c. A.D. 400–461
“Realize your dignity, O Christian! Once you have been made a partaker of the divine nature, do not return to your former baseness by a life unworthy of that dignity. Remember whose head it is and whose body of which you constitute a member!”
176 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
637
A.D.
Andreas of Caesarea Patristic
c. A.D. 563–637
“God has blessed us abundantly—that is the meaning of this passage. We have received thousands of good things as a result of Christ's coming, and through them we can become partakers of the divine nature and be turned toward life and godliness. Therefore we must behave in such a way as to add virtue to faith, and in virtue walk along the way which leads to godliness until we come to the perfection of all good things, which is love.”
Source
735
A.D.
Bede Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“By which He has given us exceedingly great and precious promises. By which means, through the knowledge of Him, because the more perfectly one knows God, the more profoundly one feels the greatness of His promises.”
735
A.D.
Bede Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“That through these things you may become partakers of the divine nature. He suddenly changes the person, and who had previously spoken about himself and his own things: He has given us precious promises, immediately turned to those to whom he was speaking: That through these, he says, you may become partakers of the divine nature. This he does not by chance, but providentially. Therefore (he says) the Lord has revealed to us, who by nature are Jews, who are born under the law, who are even physically instructed by his teaching, all the secrets of his divine power, therefore to us, that is, to his disciples, he has given the greatest and most precious promises of his Spirit, that through these even you who are from the Gentiles, who were not able to see him physically, might be made partakers of his divine nature by us who teach you what we have heard from him, by us consecrating you through his mysteries. Hence, very rightly he said above: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, how all things of his divine power which have been given to us for life and piety, can also be taken as said: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in this, that you may know our Lord Jesus Christ, even you, just as to us through him all the promises or gifts of his divine power, which lead to life and piety, have been given. So that just as we have received the promised gifts from him, or we confidently trust without any doubt that we will receive them, so also may you not doubt about his gifts.”
Source
735
A.D.
Bede Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“Fleeing from the corruption of lust that is in the world. He rightly says that the lust of the world has corruption, and therefore must be fled from, according to him who says: "Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent" (Ecclesiasticus 21), because there is also incorruptible lust, about which it is sung: "My soul has desired and fainted after the courts of the Lord" (Psalm 83). About which also in the book of Wisdom through a figure of speech called in Greek κλῖμαξ, in Latin gradation, it is very beautifully reported: "The beginning," he says, "of wisdom is the most true desire for discipline" (Wisdom 6). Therefore, care for discipline is love, and love is the keeping of its laws. But keeping of the laws is the completion of incorruption. And incorruption makes one to be near to God. Therefore, the desire for wisdom leads to the eternal kingdom.”
Source
391 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1126
A.D.
Theophylact of Ohrid Orthodox
c. 1055–1107
“The connection is as follows: so that you, having escaped from the worldly corruption that is brought about through fleshly lust, might become partakers of the divine nature, for "having escaped" means the same as "having been freed." He calls the consequence of worldly lust "corruption" because it is composed of and revolves around corrupt things.”
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.