The interpretation timeline

Exod 19:16

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Exod 19:16 · Douay-Rheims
“And now the third day was come, and the morning appeared: and behold thunders began to be heard, and lightning to flash, and a very thick cloud to cover the mount, and the noise of the trumpet sounded exceeding loud, and the people that was in the camp, feared.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“The third day, however, is always applied to mysteries. For when the people had departed from Egypt, they offer sacrifice to God on the third day and are purified on the third day. And the third day is the day of the Lord's resurrection. Many other mysteries also are anticipated in this day.”
176 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
430
A.D.
Augustine of Hippo Patristic
A.D. 354–430
“The law then was obviously given on the third day of the third month. Now count the days from the fourteenth of the first month, when the pasch was kept, to the third day of the third month. You will have seventeen of the first month, thirty of the second, three of the third, which makes fifty.”
430
A.D.
Augustine of Hippo Patristic
A.D. 354–430
“Again God produces the ordinary lightnings and thunders. But because they were done in an unusual manner on Mt. Sinai, and those voices were spoken there without a confused noise but in such a manner that it was evident from the most unmistakable proofs, … certain significant meanings were attached to them. Then they were miracles.”
Source
542
A.D.
Caesarius of Arles Patristic
c. A.D. 470–542
“When Abraham offered his son Isaac, he was a type of God the Father, while Isaac prefigured our Lord and Savior. The fact that he arrived at the place of sacrifice on the third day is shown to represent the mystery of the Trinity. That the third day should be accepted in the sense of a promise or mystery of the Trinity is found frequently in the sacred books. In Exodus we read, "We will go a three days' journey into the wilderness." Again, upon arriving at Mt. Sinai it is said to the people, "Be sanctified, and be ready for the third day." When Joshua was about to cross the Jordan, he admonished the people to be ready on the third day. Moreover, our Lord rose on the third day. We have mentioned all this because blessed Abraham on the third day came to the place which the Lord had shown him.”
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.