Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

7:4-8
LEAH: Reuben Gad (from Zilpah)
Simeon
Asher (from Zilpah)
Levi
Issachar
Judah
Zebulun
RACHEL: Dan (from Bilhah) Joseph
Naphtali (from Bilhah) Benjamin
When the prophet Ezekiel set forth his vision of the ideal Jerusalem, he too showed twelve gates, one for each tribe
(Ezek. 48:30-35).
At first glance, it does not seem to have much in
common with St. John’s; yet once we view them
together, they appear very close indeed. Ezekiel’s list is
arranged very symmetrically.
Ezekiel has divided Leah’s sons into two major groups of
three (“senior” and “junior”), balancing each other on
north and south. Rachel’s two sons on the east are set
across from Zilpah’s two sons on the west; and below
each pair is one of Bilhah’s sons. Ezekiel has also
brought Judah (the royal tribe) into the top row of
three by having him change places with Simeon.
Farrer explains St. John’s revision of Ezekiel: “He makes
a genuine three for Rachel, by substituting Manasseh’s
name for Dan’s. In fact, the tribe of Joseph had become
two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. Since Ephraim was
Joseph’s principal heir, Joseph covers Ephraim;
Manasseh is added. A by-product of this improvement
is the disappearance from the list of Dan, one of the
Twelve. Perhaps it will not have displeased St. John; let
Dan be the Judas of the patriarchs. Dan had, in fact, a
dubious reputation (Gen. 49:17; Lev. 24:10-11; 1 Kings
12:28-30; Jer. 4:15 and 8:16). In the end (Rev. 21:12-
14), St. John puts the names of the apostles round the
city, pairing them with the tribes. We cannot suppose
that Iscariot’s name would stand there, any more than
Dan’s.
“Then, as to the artificial promotion of Judah: instead
of exchanging Judah and Simeon, St. John simply puts
Judah up two places. The result is that Levi, not
Simeon, is pushed out of the first three. The alteration
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