The interpretation timeline

Num 24:5

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Num 24:5 · Douay-Rheims

“How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel!”

Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500

1274

A.D.

Bonaventure Medieval

c. A.D. 1221–1274

“Concerning the production of foliage, it is said in the Book of Numbers: "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel! They are like gardens beside a stream." These are the mysteries of Scripture. Who can conceive the charm of the mysteries of Sacred Scriptures?”

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.