The interpretation timeline

Num 33:7

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Num 33:7 · Douay-Rheims
“Departing from thence they came over against Phihahiroth, which looketh towards Beelsephon, and they camped before Magdalum.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“Iroth [Pi-hahiroth] means "villages." For the soul has not yet come to the city, nor is what is perfect already held, but first and for the moment some small places are taken. For progress consists in coming to great things from small ones.”
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“Iroth is situated opposite Beelsephon [Baal-zephon] and opposite Magdalum. Beelsephon means "the ascent of the watchtower or citadel." So the soul ascends from small things to great and is not yet placed in that watchtower but opposite the watchtower, that is, in sight of the watchtower. For it begins to watch and to look for the future hope and to contemplate the height of the progresses; little by little it grows, while it is more nourished by hope than worn out by toils.”
Source
254
A.D.
Origen Patristic
c. A.D. 184–253
“This camp or stage is opposite Magdalum [Migdol] but not yet in Magdalum itself. For Magdalum means "grandeur." Thus, since it has in view both the ascent of watching and the grandeur of things to come, the soul, as we have said, is fed and nourished by great hopes. It is now situated in starting places and not in perfection.”
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.