The interpretation timeline

Num 9:8

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Num 9:8 · Douay-Rheims
“And Moses answered them: Stay that I may consult the Lord what he will ordain concerning you.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
390
A.D.
Pacian of Barcelona Patristic
c. A.D. 310–390
“To leave the crowds and return to the tabernacle means to leave the tumult of external things behind and enter the hidden places of the mind. For the Lord is consulted there, and one hears, silently and within, what should be done outside and publicly. Good pastors do this every day. When they do not know how to decide about doubtful matters, they return to the hidden place of the mind as if to some tabernacle. They ponder the divine law, as if they were seeking advice from the Lord at the ark of the covenant. What they first hear silently within, they later make known when they act publicly. To fulfill their external offices without blame, they have recourse unceasingly to the secret places of the heart, and thus they hear the voice of God through his hidden inspiration, as they withdraw from carnal sensations in spiritual meditation. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Numbers”
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.