Not by birth order: Judah first, and the last made first
Cyril: …Jacob? For in this way the departure from that order in their approach would become very clear.
Palladius: By all means.
Cyril: Reuben, then, is the firstborn, and after him come Simeon, Levi and Judah, all from their mother Leah (Genesis 29:32–35). Bilhah, the servant girl, bore Dan and Naphtali (Genesis 30:4–8), and Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Gad and Asher (Genesis 30:9–13); and Leah, besides her other four, bore Issachar and Zebulun (Genesis 30:17–20). From Rachel, too, came Joseph and Benjamin (Genesis 30:22–24; 35:16–18). So the first are the four from Leah, the free woman: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. From the two servant women, Bilhah and Zilpah, come four: Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. After these come another four: two from Leah, Issachar and Zebulun, and from Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. We must also remember that Joseph’s lot was divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, his sons (Genesis 48:5).
Palladius: I understand the order of the names very well. But it is now for you to make plain what, in all this, we are looking for.
Cyril: When they came forward with their gifts, Palladius, they did not come by age. First came Judah, though he was fourth in time (Numbers 7:12–17); after him Issachar, the ninth son, and with them Zebulun, the tenth (Numbers 7:18–29). After these came a second company, as it were: Reuben the firstborn, and Simeon, the next and second son (Numbers 7:30–41). Dan, a slave woman’s son, was joined to them as well. Next came a third rank, made up of three freeborn sons: Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin (Numbers 7:48–65). The fourth company, at the very end, is made up of those born of the servant women. These again are three, Dan, Asher and Naphtali (Numbers 7:66–83), although in the time of their birth they come before those placed ahead of them in order, I mean Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. Would you not say this calls for close examination?
Palladius: Very much so. Try to tell me, then, what the reason is.
Cyril: The matter is a riddle, I think, once again. It shows that what comes through Christ holds the first rank with God over what belongs to the law, and that the first have been made last and the last first (Matthew 19:30). For those older in time, and for that reason firstborn, that is, Israel, come behind the Gentiles. And those who have the spirit of slavery (Romans 8:15), the sons of the Jerusalem that is in slavery, will yield the first place in glory to the sons of the free woman, who is the mother of us who have been justified in Christ (Galatians 4:25–26) and called to the dignity of the free through the Spirit of freedom. Look, if you will, at how exact these insights are. The tribe of Judah brings its gift first (Numbers 7:12), the tribe from which Christ sprang according to the flesh (Hebrews 7:14). Right after it come Issachar and Zebulun, both free and born of free parents. Then Reuben, the firstborn…
Greek
Ἰακὼβ γεγονότας; Σαφὲς γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο καὶ λίαν ὡδὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ προσόδῳ παρηλλαγμένον.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ μάλα.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἔστι τοίνυν πρωτότοκος μὲν ὁ Ῥουβὴμ, ἐπ' αὐτῷ δὲ Συμεὼν, Λευὶ, καὶ Ἰούδας ἀπό γε μητρὸς τῆς Λείας. Βάλα δὲ αὖ τὸ θεραπαινίδιον τὸν Δάν τε καὶ Νεφθαλεὶμ, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἡ Ζελφὰ παιδίσκη Λείας, τὸν Γὰδ καὶ Ἀσὴρ, Λεία γε μὴν πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις τέσσαρσι, τὸν Ἰσάχαρ καὶ Ζαβουλὼν τίκτει· γενέσθην δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ Ῥαχὴλ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ Βενιαμίν. Οὐκοῦν πρῶτοι μὲν ἐκ Λείας, οἱ ἐξ ἐλευθέρας τέσσαρες, Ῥουβὴμ, καὶ Συμεὼν, Λευὶ καὶ Ἰούδας. Ἐκ δυοῖν δὲ θεραπαίναιν, Βάλας τε καὶ Ζελφᾶς, τέσσαρες, Δὰν καὶ Νεφθαλεὶμ, Γὰδ καὶ Ἀσήρ. Ἕτεροι δὲ αὖ ἐπὶ τούτοις τέσσαρες· δύο μὲν ἐκ Λείας, Ἰσάχαρ τε καὶ Ζαβουλὼν, ἀπὸ δέ γε τῆς Ῥαχὴλ, Ἰωσὴφ καὶ Βενιαμίν. Μεμνῆσθαι δὲ ἀναγκαῖον, ὡς εἰς δύο μεμέρισται φυλὰς ὁ Ἰωσὴφ κλῆρος, εἴς τε τὸν Ἐφραῒμ καὶ μέντοι τὸν Μανασσῆν, τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγονότας.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Συνίημι μὲν εὖ μάλα τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν τάξιν· τί δ' ἂν εἴη λοιπὸν τὸ ζητούμενον ὡς ἔν γε δὴ τούτοις, σὸν ἤδη διατρανοῦν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Προσιόντες, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τοῖς δώροις ἅμα, τοῦτο ἔδρων, οὐ καθ' ἡλικίαν, ἀλλὰ πρῶτος μὲν Ἰούδας, καίτοι τέταρτος ὢν κατὰ χρόνον, ἔννατος δὲ μετ' αὐτὸν Ἰσάχαρ, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς δέκατος Ζαβουλών. Συμμορία δὲ ὥσπερ μετὰ τούτους δευτέρα, Ῥουβὴμ ὁ πρωτότοκος, καὶ ὁ καθεξῆς καὶ δεύτερος, Συμεών. Συνῆπται δὲ καὶ ὁ Δὰν ἐκ δούλης. Καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις, τάγμα τὸ τρίτον διὰ τριῶν ἐλευθέρων, Ἐφραΐμ τε καὶ Μανασσῆ καὶ Βενιαμίν. Συμμορία δὲ τετάρτη ἐν ἐσχάτοις, τῶν ἐκ θεραπαινῶν γεγονότων. Τρεῖς δὲ δὴ οὗτοι πάλιν, Δὰν καὶ Ἀσὴρ, καὶ Νεφθαλεὶμ, καίτοι προὔχοντες τῷ τῆς γενέσεως χρόνῳ, τῶν ὡς τάξει προτεταγμένων, Ἐφραΐμ τε, φημὶ, καὶ Μανασσῆ, καὶ Βενιαμίν. Ἆρ' οὐκ ἀναγκαίαν φῂς τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις βάσανον;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Μάλιστά γε· τίς οὖν ὁ λόγος, πειρῶ μοι λέγειν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Αἴνιγμά που τὸ χρῆμά ἐστι, καθάπερ ἐγᾦμαι πάλιν. Ὅτι τάξιν ἔχει τὴν πρώτην παρὰ Θεῷ τὰ διὰ Χριστοῦ τῶν ἐν νόμῳ· καὶ ὅτι τέθεινται μὲν οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι, οἱ δὲ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι. Οἱ γὰρ ὡς ἐν χρόνῳ πρεσβύτεροι διά τε τοῦτο πρωτότοκοι, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ, κατόπιν ἔρχεται τῶν ἐθνῶν. Καὶ οἱ τὸ δοῦλον ἔχοντες πνεῦμα, καὶ τῆς δουλευούσης Ἱερουσαλὴμ υἱοὶ, τὸ προὔχειν ἐν δόξῃ παραχωρήσουσι τοῖς τῆς ἐλευθέρας, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ δεδικαιωμένων, καὶ εἰς ἐλεύθερον ἀξίωμα κεκλημένων δι' ἐλευθέρου πνεύματος. Ὅρα γὰρ, εἰ δοκεῖ, τῶν θεωρημάτων τὸ ἀκριβές. Πρώτη μὲν γὰρ προσάγει τὸ δῶρον ἡ Ἰούδα φυλή· ἐξ ἧς ἀνέφυ κατὰ σάρκα Χριστός. Καὶ μετὰ ταύτην εὐθὺς ἡ Ἰσάχαρ τε καὶ Ζαβουλών· ἄμφω δὲ ἤσθην ἐλεύθεροι καὶ ἐξ ἐλευθέρων. Εἶτα Ῥουβὴμ ὁ πρω