The interpretation timeline

Acts 8:23

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

1 Patristic · 1 Orthodox

Acts 8:23 · Douay-Rheims

“For I see thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity.”

Patristic before A.D. 750

735

A.D.

Bede Patristic

A.D. 673–735

“For I see you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Therefore, the Holy Spirit descended in a dove to teach those who would receive Him to be simple. For he who retains the gall of bitterness in his heart, however baptized he may seem to be, is not freed from the bonds of his iniquity, but as if purged for a single moment at the hour of baptism, he is soon oppressed seven times more fiercely by a demon. Therefore, in vain does he attempt to buy the grace of the Spirit, who has taken care to divest himself with a raven's mind.”

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

“"For I see that you are full of bitter gall and in the bond of iniquity." Words full of anger. But Peter does not punish him, so that afterwards his faith would not appear to be compelled by the force of necessity and fear, and so that this matter would not appear cruel.”

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.