The interpretation timeline

Rev 5:4

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

From the early Church Fathers to now.

6 Patristic · 3 Medieval

Patristic before A.D. 750
303
A.D.
Victorinus of Pettau
c. A.D. 250–303
“"There was none found worthy to do this." Neither among the angels of heaven, nor among men in earth, nor among the souls of the saints in rest, save Christ the Son of God alone, whom he says that he saw as a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns. What had not been then announced, and what the law had contemplated for Him by its various oblations and sacrifices, it behoved Himself to fulfil. And because He Himself was the testator, who had overcome death, it was just that Himself should be appointed the Lord's heir, that He should possess the substance of the dying man, that is, the human members.”
250 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
553
A.D.
637
A.D.
735
A.D.
Medieval c. 750 – 1100
804
A.D.
Alcuin of York
c. A.D. 735–804
“And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it. By no means is it believed that John, who wrote this after the opening of this book, wept in his own person, but in that of the Church of before Christ's coming, which, burdened with the weight of sins, was anxiously seeking the presence of its Mediator. It is also in the person of this Church that David says, My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God? [Ps. 41:4] A consolation is directed at it in what is said after that:”
394 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1198
A.D.
151 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
1349
A.D.
Undated date unknown
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.