De mansionibus quadraginta duobus.
The Forty-Two Resting Places
The forty-two Israelite wilderness stations are listed in order, with a note on how the final two are positioned in the second dwelling place of the ark.
The stopping places are these: first, Rameseschot; third, Etham; fourth, Siaroch; fifth, Mara; sixth, Helim; seventh, the Red Sea; eighth, the wilderness of Sin; ninth, Descath; tenth, Alis; eleventh, Raphidim; twelfth, Sina; thirteenth, the graves of lust; fourteenth, Ascereth; fifteenth, Rethma; sixteenth, Ramoth; seventeenth, Lemna; eighteenth, Redsa; nineteenth, Caltha; twentieth, Rapher; twenty-first, Arada; twenty-second, Marcloth; twenty-third, Thaath; twenty-fourth, Thare; twenty-fifth, Mercha; twenty-sixth, Asmona; twenty-seventh, Maceroth; twenty-eighth, Maveiachan; twenty-ninth, Galath; thirtieth, Gethabatha; thirty-first, Ebrona; thirty-second, Asiongaber; thirty-third, Sin, which is Cades; thirty-fourth, Mount Hor; thirty-fifth, Selmona; thirty-sixth, Finon; thirty-seventh, Oboth; thirty-eighth, Gebarin; thirty-ninth, Dibungath; fortieth, Solmon of Deblathain. And because one of the six small chambers is situated on the bank of the Jordan, on the side of the first dwelling place on this side, therefore when one has reached the fortieth stopping place, the next two are written above, in the second dwelling place, as far as the bank of the Jordan. These are the last two: the forty-first, Mount Abarim opposite Nobo; the forty-second, the plains of Moab across the Jordan near Jericho.✦
A Promise of Deeper Interpretation
The author defers a fuller mystical interpretation of the stations to a future work on the ark, while affirming that what is given here suffices for the reader.
On the interpretation and mystery of these stopping places, and on other matters that must be treated more fully, we will follow through in another work, which we intend to compose on this same ark; and why the natural law is compared to Egypt, the written law to the wilderness, and grace to the land of promise, and what kind of passage there is from the one to the other through this ark. These things, for the building of the ark, can suffice for those who are able to do more, or who are not able, or who are unwilling.
The Ark and the Circle of the Earth
An oblong circle drawn around the completed ark represents the circle of the earth, with a world map depicted inside it so that spatial order mirrors the order of times and ages.
Still, we have added certain things, which we will mention briefly. In this way, once the ark is completed, an oblong circle is drawn around it, touching it at each end, and the space enclosed by its circumference is the circle of the earth. In this space a map of the world is depicted, so that the head of the ark is turned toward the east and its end reaches the west, and by a wonderful ordering the arrangement of places runs together with the order of times from the same beginning, and the end of the world is the same as the end of the age.
Paradise, Judgment, and Hell
The eastern cone of the circle is Paradise and the western cone holds the resurrection judgment of the elect and reprobate, with hell in the northern corner of the west.
But that cone of the circle which projects toward the east at the head of the ark is Paradise, like the bosom of Abraham, just as it will afterward appear depicted in majesty. The other cone, which projects toward the west, holds the judgment of the universal resurrection: the elect at the right hand, the reprobate at the left. In the northern corner of that cone is hell, where those to be damned will be thrust down along with apostate spirits.
The Circle of Air and the Four Seasons
A second, wider circle forms the belt of air in which the four seasons are arranged by compass direction, each personified from the waist up according to age and activity.
After this, another circle is drawn around the first one, a little wider, so that it seems to form a belt, and this space is air. In this space the four seasons of the year are arranged according to the four directions of the world, so that spring is toward the east, summer toward the south, autumn toward the west, and winter toward the north. Spring is painted from the waist up as a boy holding a pipe in his hand and singing. Summer, as a youth, looks at flowers. Autumn, portrayed in the vigor of manhood, brings fruits to his nose and smells them. Winter takes the form of an old man, bearing fruit and eating. And all are painted from the loins upward, each in his own beginnings.
Read the original Latin
Mansiones autem hae sunt: Prima Rameses, secunda Sochot, tertia Etham, quarta Siaroch, quinta Mara, sexta Helim, septima mare Rubrum, octava solitudo Sin, nona Descath, decima Alis, undecima Raphidim, duodecima Sina, decima tertia sepulchra concupiscentiae, decima quarta Ascereth, decima quinta Rethma, decima sexta Ramoth, decima septima Lemna, decima octava Redsa, decima nona Caltha, vicesima Rapher, vicesima prima Arada, vicesima secunda Marcloth, vicesima tertia Thaath, vicesima quarta Thare, vicisima quinta Mercha, vicesima sexta Asmona, vicesima septima Maceroth, vicesima octava Maveiachan, vicesima nona Galath, trigesima Gethabatha, trigesima prima Ebrona, trigesima secunda Asiongaber, trigesima tertia Sin, quae est Cades, trigesima quarta mons Hor, trigesima quinta Selmona, trigesima sexta Finon, tricesima septima Oboth, tricesima octava Gebarin, tricesima nona Dibungath, quadragesima Solmon deblathain. Et quia una de sex mansiunculis super ripam Jordanis in latere primae mansionis ex hac parte sita est, propterea cum in quadragesima mansione ad eam ventum fuerit, duae sequentes desuper scribuntur in secunda mansione usque itidem ad ripam Jordanis. Sunt autem hae: quadragesima prima mons Abarim contra Nobo, quadragesima secunda campestria Moab super Jordanem juxta Jericho. De interpretatione autem, et mysterio istarum mansionum in alio fortassis opere, quod de hac eadem arca facere cogitamus, latius quae dicenda sunt exsequemur; et quare naturalis lex Aegypto, scripta lex deserto, gratia vero terrae promissionis comparetur, et qualis de illa per hanc ad istam transitus habeatur. Haec ad constructionem arcae, his qui plura facere aut non valent, aut nolunt sufficere possunt. Adjecimus tamen quaedam, quae breviter commemorabimus. Hoc modo arca perfecta, circumducitur et circulus oblongus, qui ad singula cornua eam contingat, et spatium quod circumferentia ejus includit, est orbis terrae. In hoc spatio mappa mundi depingitur ita ut caput arcae ad orientem convertatur, et finis ejus occidentem contingat, ut mirabili dispositione ab eodem principe decurrat situs locorum cum ordine temporum, et idem sit finis mundi, qui est finis saeculi.
Conus autem ille circuli, qui in capite arcae prominet ad orientem, Paradisus est, quasi sinus Abrahae, ut postea apparebit majestate depicta. Conus alter, qui prominet ad occidentem, habet universalis resurrectionis judicium in dextra electos, in sinistra reprobos. In cujus coni angulo Aquilonari est infernus, quo damnandi cum apostatis spiritibus detrudentur. Post haec supradicto circulo alter paulo laxior circumducitur, ut quasi zonam videatur efficere, et hoc spatium aer est. In quo spatio secundum quatuor partes mundi quatuor anni tempora disponuntur, ita ut ver sit ad orientem, ad austrum aestas, ad occidentem autumnus, ad aquilonem hiems. Ver pingitur a lumbis sursum puer fistulam manu tenens et cantans. Aestas juvenis flores aspicit. Autumnus in virili aetate expressus fructus naribus admovet et olfacit.
Hiems formam senis gestans fructus comedit. Et omnes a lumbis sursum pinguntur singuli in principiis suis.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Num.33.47-Num.33.48 — They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. Num.33.48 — They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
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