The interpretation timeline

Ezek 16:17

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Ezek 16:17 · Douay-Rheims
“And thou tookest thy beautiful vessels, of my gold, and my silver, which I gave thee, and thou madest thee images of men, and hast committed fornication with them.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“The golden and silver vase, the censers, the cups and the rest of that kind we have in the holy Scriptures. But when we turn the meaning of Scripture into another that is contrary to the truth, we kindle the divine words and turn the things of God into other images.”
166 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
420
A.D.
Jerome Patristic
c. A.D. 347–420
“(Verse 17) And you took the vessels of your adornment from my gold and silver, which I gave to you; and you made for yourself male images, and you committed fornication with them. According to the letter of the Lord's Law, it was commanded that incense burners, vases, candlesticks, the Ark of the Covenant, and all things golden or gilded, and other things made of silver, were to be made. All of these were made in Jerusalem and turned into idols of Baal, Baalim, Chemosh, Ashtaroth, and Milcom. According to spiritual understanding, we make idols out of gold and silver from the Holy Scriptures when we corrupt the grace of perception and eloquence with heretical perversity, and we set our mouth in heaven, while our tongue reaches to the earth. The images in which every heresy commits fornication are called masculine, because each one thinks they are worshipping the most powerful and possessing what they have imagined, and that it cannot be subverted by any attack. These are the images that we have created in our hearts, and which are to be destroyed in the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the Prophet pronounces: Lord, in your city you will scatter their image (Ps. LXXII, 20). For whoever is a man and has lost the name of God, it is said of him: Nevertheless, man walks in an image, nevertheless he is troubled in vain (Ps. XXXVIII, 7). But we have one man, and we worship one image, which is the image of the invisible and omnipotent God.”
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.