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The interpretation timeline

Num 24:20

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Num 24:20 · Douay-Rheims
“And when he saw Amalec, he took up his parable, and said: Amalec the beginning of nations, whose latter ends shall be destroyed.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
397
A.D.
Ambrose of Milan Patristic
A.D. 339–397
“In the book also, which is titled On Numbers, Scripture says: 'The beginning of the nations is Amalek, and his seed shall perish' (Num. XXIV, 20). And indeed, Amalek is not the first of all nations; but because by interpretation Amalek is taken to mean the king of the wicked, and the wicked are the nations: beware lest we should take the prince of this world, who commands the nations doing his will, whose seed shall perish. But his seed are the wicked and the unbelievers, to whom the Lord says: 'You are of your father the devil' (John VIII, 24).”
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.