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The ''Ladder of Jacob'' (Hebrew: ''Sulam Yaakov'' סולם יעקב) is a
pseudepigraphic Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...
writing of the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
. It is usually considered to be part of the
apocalyptic literature Apocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in post- Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians. '' Apocalypse'' ( grc, , }) is a Greek word meaning "revelation", "an unveiling or unf ...
. The text has been preserved only in Slavonic, and it is clearly a translation from a now lost Greek version. It is not regarded as scripture by
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
or any
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
group.


Manuscript tradition

The text of the ''Ladder of Jacob'' has been preserved only in
Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
; it is found in the '' Tolkovaja Paleja'', a compendium of various Old Testament texts and comments which also preserved the Apocalypse of Abraham. The ''Tolkovaja Paleja'' is a compilation of texts assembled in the 8th or 9th century in Greek and later translated into Slavonic; it is the only translation that has survived. Some plays on words in the ''Ladder of Jacob'' suggest an original
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
text, or a Greek text intended for readers with at least some knowledge of Hebrew. Two recensions of the ''Ladder of Jacob'' have been identified: H.F.D. Sparks ''The Apocryphal Old Testament'' (1984) a longer one, usually denoted ''A'', which survives in three manuscripts, and a shorter one, usually called ''B'', which is represented by the majority of the manuscript tradition (of thirteen manuscripts H. G. Lunt, ''Ladder of Jacob (c. First Century A.D.)(. A New Translation and Introduction'', in James H. Charlesworth (1985), ''The Old Testament Pseudoepigrapha'', Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company Inc., Volume 2, (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2), p. 402.). The chief difference between these is that the shorter recension reduces drastically the prayer of Jacob and omits the name of the angel Sariel (2:2-5:1).


Date and origin

The date and origin of the ''Ladder of Jacob'' are uncertain. It is possible to infer at least three stages: an original work written in a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
context after the Destruction of the Temple, the use in early
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
world and the final translation in Slavonic around the ninth century. In the
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
stages the text was interpolated to form an anti-Jewish
polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
, by adding some comments here and there, omitting some sentences and adding a Christian conclusion: Chapter Seven has Christian origin. The expectation of a delayed warrior Messiah and the similarities with
2 Baruch 2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in CE 70. It is attributed to the biblical Baruch and so is associated with the Old Tes ...
, Apocalypse of Abraham and other
apocalyptic literature Apocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in post- Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians. '' Apocalypse'' ( grc, , }) is a Greek word meaning "revelation", "an unveiling or unf ...
suggest the original text may have been written in the first half of the second century CE.


Content

The ''Ladder of Jacob'' is based on the
Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
dream of
Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
in . * Chapter 1 is an expansion of the narrative of
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
. Jacob falls asleep and sees a ladder set up on the Earth; the top of it reaches to heaven with
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
s ascending and descending on it. Many details are added to the Genesis narrative: the ladder is made of twelve steps, and on each step there are two human forms, one on each side of the step, visible as far as their breasts. On the top of the ladder there was a "face", "as of a man", carved in the fire and much more terrifying than the twenty-four other busts. The Lord is over this central "face". * Chapter 2 includes a prayer by Jacob, surely abbreviated by the Slavonic copyist, asking the Lord the meaning of the vision. The prayer describes God sitting on a fire throne, surrounded by
Cherub A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
im and Seraphim, a vision that is a classic example of Merkabah. * In Chapter 3 the angel Sariel is sent by the Lord to Jacob to explain the vision, and the text says Jacob was not terrified by the vision of the angel. * In Chapter 4 Sariel changes the name of Jacob to ''
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
'' in order to have it "to be similar to his own name". * Chapter 5 includes the explanation of the ladder given by Sariel: the ladder is the Age, and the twelve steps are the periods into which the Age is divided (the same division we find in
2 Baruch 2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in CE 70. It is attributed to the biblical Baruch and so is associated with the Old Tes ...
). The twenty-four human busts are the kings of the world who oppose Israel, some more, some less. The fourth step may be the author's picture of his own time; in the last times the Lord will raise a descendant of
Esau Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
(probably the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
) who initially will protect Israel, and later will serve the idols and use violence. The people of Jacob will be exiled, made slaves and wounded. * Chapter 6 is about the coming of the
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
, described as a king who fights against the enemies of Israel and wins; the enemies then repent and the Lord accepts their plea. In the following events the Lord acts directly: there will be earthquakes and destructions followed by the final victory against the Leviathan and the ''Falkon''. The sons of Jacob will walk in the Lord's justice, and the kingdoms of Edom and
Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...
will be destroyed. * Chapter 7 is surely a Christian addition; it predicts the
Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...
of the Savior.


Theology

The ''Ladder of Jacob'', as well as the Apocalypse of Abraham, interpret the experience of Patriarchs in the context of merkabah
mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
.Timo Eskola ''Messiah and the Throne: Jewish Merkabah Mysticism and Early Christian Exaltation Discourse'' (2001) pag 107 The ''Ladder of Jacob'' takes a stand on the main issues debated in apocalyptic literature: the role of the Messiah is limited to that of a warrior, the final victory against the evil and the
last judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
are carried out directly by God himself, and it is possible to repent on the last day.


See also

* Jacob's Ladder


Notes


Sources

* H.F.D. Sparks ''The Apocryphal Old Testament'' (1984) pag 453-464 * H.G.Lunt ''Ladder of Jacob, a new translation and introduction'' in ed. James H. Charlesworth ''The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 2'' (1985) pag 401-412. * P.Sacchi M.Enrietti ''Apocrifi dell'Antico Testamento Vol 3'' (1999) pag 551-570. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladder of Jabob 2nd-century texts Apocalyptic literature Jacob Jewish messianism Jewish texts Merkabah mysticism Old Testament pseudepigrapha Texts in Slavic languages Christian texts