THEOSISJerome of Stridon
It may be suggested that the Promised Land refers to the region detailed in the book of Numbers—a territory that stretches from the southern area of the Salt Sea through Sin and Kadesh-Varni to the river of Egypt, which flows near Rinokorura into the great sea. To the west, it borders the sea that embraces Palestine, Phoenicia, Kelesiria, and Cilicia; to the north, it runs from Mount Taurus and Zephron to Emath, currently recognized as Syria of Epiphanes; and to the east, it passes from Antioch and Lake Henerith, which is now known as Lake Tiberias, extending to the Jordan River that feeds into the Salt Sea, now known as the Dead Sea. Beyond the Jordan lie the territories of two and a half tribes: Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.
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I acknowledge that these possessions were promised to you, yet they were not granted—considered promised contingent upon your adherence to God's commandments and your faithfulness in His ways. However, since you chose to worship Beelphegor and Baal, Beelzebul and Hamos, over the Almighty God, you forfeited what was promised. As for me, the gospel assures a promise of the kingdom of heaven, a concept not mentioned in the Old Testament. If I fail to abide by the directives given, the issue lies not with the One who promises, but with myself, unworthy of receiving the promise. When freedom of choice is assumed, those who refuse to engage earnestly do so in vain if they hope to attain what is assured. Delve into the books of Jesus and Judges to uncover the limited scope of your inheritance. What point is there in speaking of the foreign inhabitants in various cities whom the people of Judah could not displace when even your own capital—initially Jebus, then Salim, later Jerusalem, and finally Elijah—was unable to drive out the Jebusites, coexisting with them as a test and a model for neighboring cities? Thus, your temple was constructed where Orna the Jebusite’s threshing floor stood, and notably, the structure of the temple itself was built amidst a multitude of uncircumcised people, facilitated by Gentiles—seventy thousand stonemasons and eighty thousand laborers, totaling one hundred and fifty thousand men, not including the overseers of the work.