The interpretation timeline

Jdt 3:2

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Jdt 3:2 · Douay-Rheims
“Let thy indignation towards us cease: for it is better for us to live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee, than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery.”
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1849
A.D.
1774–1849
“Great. This was his usual title, Daniel ii. 30., and 4 Kings xviii. 19. (Calmet) — Slavery. Yet they make an unconditional submission. (Haydock) — It is better for us to submit to servitude than to be slaughtered like our brethren. (Menochius)”
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.