The interpretation timeline

Ezek 18:32

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Ezek 18:32 · Douay-Rheims
“For I desire not the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God, return ye and live.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
379
A.D.
Basil of Caesarea Patristic
c. A.D. 330–379
“Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not want the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Do not be contemptuous like one who has fallen into the depths of sins.”
Source
420
A.D.
Jerome Patristic
c. A.D. 347–420
“"I do not want you to die." He did not say "turn," unless those who were once with God and afterwards deserted his company and "live" through penitence, you who are dead through sin. Therefore Israel is believed to be dead because it does not turn back to its original state.”
420
A.D.
Jerome Patristic
c. A.D. 347–420
“(Verse 32) Because I do not want the death of the one dying (or, the sinner), says the Lord God: return and live. I do not want, he says, for you to die, whom I have begotten for salvation. For I have begotten sons, and I have exalted them, but they have rejected me (Isaiah 1:2). Therefore, return and live. It is said to return, only to those who were previously with God and have later abandoned his company. And live through repentance, who are dead through sin. Therefore, Israel, because it does not return to its former state, is believed to be dead.”
Source
450
A.D.
Eznik of Kolb Patristic
c. A.D. 380–450
“God knows everything beforehand. But there is that which he wills, and there is that which he does not. He willed to bring the flood, but it was not his will that by means of the flood humans and animals alike would be exterminated. He was brought to do what he did not will by the unworthy, arrogant couplings of the race.”
Source
542
A.D.
Caesarius of Arles Patristic
c. A.D. 470–542
“As we shudder at the wounds of our sins as at deadly poisons, let us apply ourselves to almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Above all, by a charity that loves not only friends but even enemies, let us have recourse to the mercy of that heavenly physician to recover the health of our souls as if by spiritual remedies. For he said, "I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner but rather in the wicked person's conversion, that he may live."”
Source
583
A.D.
Cassiodorus Patristic
c. A.D. 487–583
“The prayer that frees us from faults wins the heart of the judge and wipes away sins; mercy cannot be withheld from the one who asks for it, as humility fires us to pray unceasingly for forgiveness. All this is achieved by the devoted Lord, for he does not wish to condemn those whom he forewarns.”
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.