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Whenever dealing with early Christian texts, there is no shortage of hermeneutics pitfalls. For many such assemblies/groups, it is likely their canon was sparse to non-existent. However, for the purposes of this question, let us assume an environment where the authors of the Acts of Peter had (loose) familiarity to Synoptic gospels, Paul, and perhaps Q. This way, there may be something interesting for us to examine.
Hilhorst and van Kooten have laid out an interesting analysis for the Acts of Peter and the Twelve. However, their focus was on the etymology of Lithargoel and the pearl symbolism in what eventually grew into the Oriental orthodoxy.
I would like to unpack what hermeneutic explanations lay behind the city that the ascetics set out for: "The City of Nine Gates." Excerpt:
"What is the name of the place to which you go, your city?" He said to
me, "This is the name of my city, ‘Nine Gates.’ Let us praise God as
we are mindful that the tenth is the head." After this I went away
from him in peace.
Unless something very similar was seen in Q, which remains theoretical, then the lack of symbolism overlap in Paul and the Synoptic gospels makes this passage especially difficult to understand. This is especially so given that the Acts of Peter and the Twelve appears to be a text that greatly upweights symbolic motifs.
Question
What, if any, hermeneutic context can help us make sense of the enigmatic name for the city of the Nine Gates? (i.e. significance of the number nine or wording of allegorical references to heaven)
Thank you