The interpretation timeline

Isa 49:19

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

1 Patristic · 2 Jewish · 1 Catholic

Isa 49:19 · Douay-Rheims
“For thy deserts, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be chased far away.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
444
A.D.
Cyril of Alexandria Patristic
A.D. 376–444
“This means that he is teaching here about the ones who were swarming and absorbing it, those who had taken it over. For almost like wild beasts they had reduced and absorbed it. He shows here that the number of those called are so many that they are without number. For his children, it says, that you have lost have pleaded in your ear, "Make room for me."”
Source
661 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
Rashi Jewish
1040–1105
“you shall be crowded by the inhabitants You shall be crowded by the multitude of inhabitants that shall come into your midst. The place shall be too narrow for them to build houses for themselves.”
1167
A.D.
Ibn Ezra Jewish
1089–1167
“תחת חרבותיך ═ חרבותיך Instead of Thy waste places. Comp. פשעי for my transgressions (Mic. 6:7); פרים instead of calves (Hos. 14:31.) The verse can also be explained thus: They were thy waste places before, but now, Thou shalt be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, by reason of the multitude of inhabitants, all of whom are thy children; because they that swallowed them up, will be far away.”
Source
1274
A.D.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic
1225–1274
“And he shows that it will be filled with inhabitants: for your deserts, as to inhabitants, and your desolate places, as to those who cultivate the land, and the land of your destruction, as to the walls that were destroyed: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls (Zech 2:4); and he shows that it will be emptied of enemies: they that swallowed you up shall be chased far away.”
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.