18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
(Verse 18) Furthermore, the eastern region stretches from the middle of Auran, and from the middle of Damascus, and from the middle of Gilead, and from the middle of the land of Israel. The Jordan River divides it, extending to the eastern sea. In the Book of Numbers, it is written as follows: From there, the boundaries extend opposite the eastern region, from the town of Enan, also known as Aser Enon, to Sephama. From Sephama, the boundaries go down to Rebla, opposite the spring. From there, they reach the eastern sea, which is the Sea of Chenereth, and continue all the way to the Jordan River, finally closing at the sea. He had said above: And the boundary shall be from the sea to Aser Enon, the boundary of Damascus (Num. XXXIV, 10, 11). Therefore, at the end of the northern region, that is, at the court of Enan, the boundaries extend according to the Book of Numbers to Sephama, which the Hebrews call Apamea: and from Apamea the boundaries descend to Rebla, which is now called Antioch in Syria. And so that you may know that this Rebla signifies the city, which is now the most noble in Coele-Syria, it follows: Against the spring, which is clearly meant to signify Daphne: from which spring the aforesaid city enjoys very abundant waters. But this place, established by Gnaeus Pompeius, who was the first to conquer Judea under Roman rule, was built with military force; and according to the fable of the poets, it was named Daphne because of the laurels and cypresses, which are very abundant trees in that place. From there, it says, the boundaries extend opposite the eastern region to the Sea of Chinnereth, all the way to the Sea of Tiberias. However, it is called a sea because it has fresh waters, according to the language of the Scriptures, in which collections of water are called seas. And the borders, he says, will stretch as far as the Jordan River, and in the end will be closed off by the sea, either the dead sea or, as others think, the Red Sea, on whose shore Ahila is located, where the legion and the Roman garrison are now stationed. This statement can be found in the book of Numbers. But according to Ezekiel, it refers to the middle of Auran, which is the city of Damascus in the desert, and the middle of Galaad, where Mount Lebanon is connected to the hills and falls into the territory of Ruben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. It is situated behind Phoenicia and Arabia. This is the mountain that Jacob reached after leaving Charran, where he was captured by Laban (Gen. XXXI), and Jeremiah also speaks of it: Galaad, you are the beginning of Lebanon (Jerem. XXII). This region was taken by Galaad, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the Amorite region. The boundary of this region is the Jordan River and the Eastern Sea, which in this place is understood to be the dead sea, not the shore of the Red Sea. Let us speak according to tropology: After the borders of the North, through Ethalon, and Sadada, and Berotha, also Sabarim, Thicon, and Auran, and Damascus, and the atrium of Enon, it reaches as far as Emath in the eastern region: from the midst of anger, that is Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, that is the blood of penance, and from the midst of Gilead, which is interpreted as revelation, or the hill of testimony; in order to show hope of salvation after anger and penance: and from the midst of the land of Israel, which contains the vision of peace, it reaches to the sweetest flow of the Jordan river: which, far from the distant sea, obtains the light of the East, so that it is terminated by the river Jordan, which is interpreted as the stream of judgment, and the boundary of the East. But what is called φοινικῶνος in the Septuagint, which means palmeti in Latin, is not found in Hebrew: for which reason we have translated it as metiemini: And a clear error is evident, that due to the similarity of the letters, they read Thamorru instead of Thamoddu.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 47:18