The interpretation timeline

Num 23:5

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Num 23:5 · Douay-Rheims
“And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
220
A.D.
Tertullian Patristic
c. A.D. 150–220
“The prophet Balaam, in Numbers, was sent forth by king Balak to curse Israel, with whom he was commencing war. But at the same moment he was filled with the spirit. Instead of the curse which he came to pronounce, he uttered the blessing which the spirit at that very hour inspired him with. This is he who had previously declared to the king's messengers, and then to the king himself, that he could only speak forth that which God should put into his mouth. The novel [heretical] doctrines of the new Christ are such as the Creator's servants initiated long before!”
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.