THEOSISJerome of Stridon
The following describes the city’s exits: on the northern front, the measurement is four thousand five hundred, featuring gates corresponding to the tribes of Israel. There are three gates on the north side: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi. To the east, the measurement remains four thousand five hundred, with three gates as well: the gates of Joseph, the gates of Benjamin, and the gates of Dan. On the southern side, the measure is also four thousand five hundred, comprising three gates: the gates of Simeon, the gates of Issachar, and the gates of Zebulun. Finally, on the western front, there are again four thousand five hundred, with three gates: one gate for Gad, one for Asher, and one for Naphtali. Thus, the total perimeter is eighteen thousand.
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The city’s name, from that day forward, will be: The Lord is there. Regarding the city’s dimensions, it was previously indicated that each side measures four thousand five hundred reeds, amounting to a total of eighteen thousand reeds, which corresponds to forty-four thousand and three hundred paces. It is noted that at intervals of eleven thousand paces and eighty-five paces along each side, there are three gates, referred to by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion as διεξο'διυς, and in the Septuagint as διεκβολα'ς (passages), which we interpret as exits of the city.
It is worth remembering that these same tribes encamped around the tabernacle, with Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun to the east, sons of Leah; to the south Reuben, Simeon, Gad, comprising two sons of Leah and one son of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; to the west were Ephraim and Manasseh, as well as Benjamin, representing Rachel’s two sons, with the tribe of Joseph divided into Ephraim and Manasseh for priestly duties, rather than Levi. To the north were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. These tribes, particularly the first and the third, descended from Rachel’s handmaid Bilhah and Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, were designated to the north due to their less noble birth. This arrangement aligns with the book of Numbers and the account of the tabernacle, as dictated by God through Moses.
However, our city, the city of the great King, which God constructs and shapes, and of which the Psalmist observes, "Is not Zion, says the man, and a man is born in it, and that is the foundation and the Most High” (Psalm 86:5), has a different allocation of the tribes within the holy land, a distinct city layout, and a unique distribution of each tribe's possessions and regions. To the north are set three gates or exits, belonging to the firstborn Reuben, Judah—the progenitor of the royal lineage—and Levi, whose name is not mentioned in the description of the tabernacle and sanctuary, indicating that we, as possessors of the firstborn lineage, which is royal and priestly, disregard the chill from the north. To the east, we find Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan, with two sons from Rachel and one from her handmaid. To the south are Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun, all sons of Leah. To the west reside Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, the first two being sons of Zilpah and the third being a son of Bilhah.
Who possesses the wisdom to grasp these insights? For the ways of the Lord are established, and the righteous shall tread therein, yet the wicked shall find them burdensome (Hosea 14:10). These twelve gates or exits are believed to be assigned based on merit and virtue to each tribe, designated under the names of the apostles and patriarchs, as elucidated in the Revelation of John, which reveals many mysteries of the divine Scriptures (Rev. 21). It is essential that such a city encompasses a circumference of eighteen thousand reeds, a number also reflected in Psalm eighteen, referencing the natural law and the grace of the Gospel, upon which the Church—the city of the Savior—was established. The name of this city will remain Jerusalem, signifying the vision of peace, but translated as Adonai sama, or "The Lord is there," who will never forsake it, unlike when He left the previous people, saying to the disciples, "Arise, let us go from here” (John 14:31) and to the Jews, “Let your house be left to you” (Matt. 23:38). Yet He shall possess eternal dominion within it and be its Sovereign, fulfilling His promise to the same disciples, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).