The interpretation timeline

Neh 8:12

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Neh 8:12 · Douay-Rheims
“So all the people went to eat and drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth: because they understood the words that he had taught them.”
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1771
A.D.
John Gill Reformed
1697–1771
“And all the people went their way to eat and to drink,.... Freely and cheerfully: and to send portions; to the poor, who had nothing to eat and drink: and to make great mirth; with music, vocal and instrumental: because they had understood the words that were declared unto them; the meaning of the several laws read and explained unto them, whereby they better understood their duty, and in what instances and in what manner it was to be performed; how much more reason is there for joy and gladness, when the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, are clearly known and understood? Psa 89:15.”
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.