The promised land is not Judaea
If, then, the whole “earth” is itself “cursed in the works” (Genesis 3:17) of Adam and of those who died in him (1 Corinthians 15:22), it is clear that all its parts share in the curse as well. Among them is the land of Judaea, so that the words “into a good and large land, into a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8) cannot be fitted to it. This holds even if Judaea and Jerusalem are shown to be, in a symbolic way, a shadow of the good and large land, pure and lying in a pure heaven, in which is the heavenly Jerusalem. Of this Jerusalem the apostle speaks as one who had been raised together with Christ and was seeking the things above (Colossians 3:1), and who had found a meaning bound to no Jewish fable. He says: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal gathering” (Hebrews 12:22).
So that anyone may be persuaded that what we say about the good and large land in Moses is not contrary to the intention of the divine Spirit, let him give his attention to all the prophets. They teach the return to Jerusalem of those who have wandered and fallen away from it, and, in a word, of those who are being restored to what is called the place and city of God in the words of the one who said, “His place is in holy peace” (Psalm 76:2), and who also says, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, on his holy mountain, well rooted, with the joy of the whole earth” (Psalm 48:1–2).
But for the present it is enough to set out the words of the thirty-sixth Psalm (Psalm 37), which speak thus about the land of the righteous: “But those who wait for the Lord, they shall inherit the land” (Psalm 37:9); and a little after, “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight in abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:11); and a little after, “Those who bless him shall inherit the land” (Psalm 37:22); and again, “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it for ever and ever” (Psalm 37:29). And see whether, to those who are able to hear these words in the same Psalm, it is not made plain that the earth is pure in the pure heaven: “Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land” (Psalm 37:34).
Greek
Εἴπερ οὖν „ἡ“ πᾶσα „γῆ“ αὐτὴ „ἐπικατάρατος ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις“ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀποθανόντων, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ πάντα τὰ μόρια αὐτῆς μετέχει τῆς ἀρᾶς. ἐν οἷς ἐστι καὶ ἡ Ἰουδαία γῆ· ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἐφαρμόζειν αὐτῇ τὸ „εἰς γῆν ἀγαθὴν καὶ πολλὴν. εἰς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι,“ κἂν συμβολικῶς σκιὰ εἶναι ἀποδεικνύηται ἡ Ἰουδαία καὶ ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῆς καθαρᾶς ἐν καθαρῷ κειμένης οὐρανῷ γῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ πολλῆς, ἐν ᾗ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπουράνιος Ἱερουσαλήμ· περὶ ἧς διαλαβὼν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ὡς συνεγερθεὶς „Χριστῷ“ καὶ „τὰ ἄνω“ ζητῶν καὶ νοῦν εὑρὼν οὐδεμιᾶς ἐχόμενον Ἰουδαϊκῆς μυθολογίας φησίν· „ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει θεοῦ ζῶντος Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει.“ ἵνα δέ τις πεισθῇ μὴ παρὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἡμᾶς λέγειν περὶ τῆς παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ γῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ πολλῆς, ἐπιστησάτω πᾶσι μὲν τοῖς προφήταις, διδάσκουσι τὴν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπάνοδον τῶν πεπλανημένων καὶ ἀποπεπτωκότων ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀποκαθισταμένων εἰς τὸν καλούμενον τόπον καὶ πόλιν τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ τῷ εἰπόντι ὅτι „ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἁγίᾳ ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ,“ λέγοντι δὲ καὶ τό· „μέγας ὁ κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα ἐν πόλει τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ὄρει ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ, εὐρίζονι ἀγαλλιάματι πάσης τῆς γῆς.“ ἀρκεῖ δ᾿ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθέσθαι τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ τριακοστοῦ καὶ ἕκτου ψαλμοῦ, οὕτως ἔχοντα περὶ τῆς τῶν δικαίων γῆς· „οἱ δ᾿ ὑπομένοντες (τὸν) κύριον αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι γῆν“ καὶ μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· „οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν καὶ κατατρυφήσουσιν ἐπὶ πλήθει εἰρήνης“ καὶ μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· „οἱ εὐλογοῦντες αὐτὸν κληρονομήσουσι γῆν“ καὶ πάλιν· „οἱ δίκαιοι κληρονομήσουσι γῆν καὶ κατασκηνώσουσιν εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς.“ ὅρα δ᾿ εἰ μὴ τὸ καθαρὰν εἶναι ἐν καθαρῷ τῷ οὐρανῷ τὴν γῆν δηλοῦται τοῖς ἀκούειν δυναμένοις τῶν οὕτως εἰρημένων ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ψαλμῷ· „ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον καὶ φύλαξον τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ. καὶ ὑψώσει σε τοῦ κατακληρονομῆσαι γῆν.“