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Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder (Biblical Hebrew: סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב, romanized: Sūllām Yaʿăqōḇ) is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28).
The significance of the dream has been debated, but most interpretations agree that it identified Jacob with the obligations and inheritance of the people chosen by God, as understood in Abrahamic religions.
The description of Jacob's Ladder appears in Genesis 28:10–19:
And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon the place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: 'Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.' And he was afraid, and said: 'How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
— Genesis 28:10–19
The classic Torah commentaries offer several interpretations of Jacob's Ladder. In Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer 35:6-10, the ladder signified the four exiles the Jewish people would suffer before the coming of the messiah. First, the angel representing the Neo-Babylonian Empire climbed "up" 70 rungs and then fell "down": a reference to the 70-year Babylonian exile. Then, the angel representing the exile of the Achaemenid Empire went up several steps and fell, as did the angel representing the exile of Greece (the Hellenistic period, Ptolemaic Kingdom, and the Seleucid Empire). Only the fourth angel, who represented the final exile of the Roman Empire, called "Edom" (whose guardian angel was Esau himself), kept climbing higher and higher into the clouds. Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would fall.
Another interpretation[citation needed] of the ladder keys into the fact that the angels first "ascended" and then "descended". The Midrash explains that Jacob, as a holy man, was always accompanied by angels. When he reached the border of the land of Canaan (the future Land of Israel), the angels who were assigned to the Holy Land returned to Heaven and the angels assigned to other lands came down to meet Jacob. When Jacob returned to Canaan, he was greeted by the angels who were assigned to the Holy Land.
Yet another interpretation[citation needed] is that the place at which Jacob stopped for the night was, in reality, Moriah, the future home of the Temple in Jerusalem, which was considered to be the "bridge" between Heaven and Earth. The ladder therefore signifies the "bridge" between Heaven and Earth. Moreover, the ladder alludes to the giving of the Torah as another connection between Heaven and Earth. In this interpretation, it is also significant that the word for ladder (Hebrew: סלם, romanized: sullām) and the name for the mountain on which the Torah was given, Sinai (סיני) have the same Gematria.
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Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder (Biblical Hebrew: סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב, romanized: Sūllām Yaʿăqōḇ) is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28).
The significance of the dream has been debated, but most interpretations agree that it identified Jacob with the obligations and inheritance of the people chosen by God, as understood in Abrahamic religions.
The description of Jacob's Ladder appears in Genesis 28:10–19:
And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon the place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: 'Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.' And he was afraid, and said: 'How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
— Genesis 28:10–19
The classic Torah commentaries offer several interpretations of Jacob's Ladder. In Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer 35:6-10, the ladder signified the four exiles the Jewish people would suffer before the coming of the messiah. First, the angel representing the Neo-Babylonian Empire climbed "up" 70 rungs and then fell "down": a reference to the 70-year Babylonian exile. Then, the angel representing the exile of the Achaemenid Empire went up several steps and fell, as did the angel representing the exile of Greece (the Hellenistic period, Ptolemaic Kingdom, and the Seleucid Empire). Only the fourth angel, who represented the final exile of the Roman Empire, called "Edom" (whose guardian angel was Esau himself), kept climbing higher and higher into the clouds. Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would fall.
Another interpretation[citation needed] of the ladder keys into the fact that the angels first "ascended" and then "descended". The Midrash explains that Jacob, as a holy man, was always accompanied by angels. When he reached the border of the land of Canaan (the future Land of Israel), the angels who were assigned to the Holy Land returned to Heaven and the angels assigned to other lands came down to meet Jacob. When Jacob returned to Canaan, he was greeted by the angels who were assigned to the Holy Land.
Yet another interpretation[citation needed] is that the place at which Jacob stopped for the night was, in reality, Moriah, the future home of the Temple in Jerusalem, which was considered to be the "bridge" between Heaven and Earth. The ladder therefore signifies the "bridge" between Heaven and Earth. Moreover, the ladder alludes to the giving of the Torah as another connection between Heaven and Earth. In this interpretation, it is also significant that the word for ladder (Hebrew: סלם, romanized: sullām) and the name for the mountain on which the Torah was given, Sinai (סיני) have the same Gematria.