Genesis 28:12
in Genesis 28And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 28
Commentary
19 notes on this verseA commentator
Ambrose of MilanOn Jacob and the Blessed Life, Book 2, Chapter 4, Section 16 · Written before 397.
Jacob set out and slept—evidence of tranquility of spirit—and saw angels of God ascending and descending. This means he foresaw Christ on earth; the band of angels was descending to Christ and ascending to him, so as to render service to their rightful master in loving servitude.
This site's exposition
a ladder that rested on the earth
God's angels go up the ladder before they come down it, and Genesis gives the dream with no explanation attached. At John 1:51 Jesus tells Nathanael he will see angels ascend and descend on the Son of Man, which sets Him where the ladder stands. Ambrose read the descending band as coming to Christ on earth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoTRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.23.3-4 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
But what did he see that time on the ladder? Angels ascending and descending. So also is the church, brothers; the angels of God, good preachers, preaching Christ; that is, they ascend and descend upon the Son of man. How do they ascend, and how do they descend? From one we have an example. Hear the apostle Paul; what we find in him, let us believe also about the rest of the preachers of truth. See Paul ascending: "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven, and heard unutterable words which it is not granted to man to speak." You heard him ascending; hear him descending: "I could not speak to you as spiritual men but only as carnal, as to little ones in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food." Look, he who had ascended descended. Seek where he had ascended: "Up to the third heaven." Seek where he had descended: "I became a little one," he says, "in your midst, as if a nurse were fondling her own children."
Now if Jacob sleeping on the ground prefigured the Lord, why is it that the Lord in heaven rested and leaned upon the ladder? How was Christ the Lord seen on top of the ladder in heaven and in blessed Jacob on the ground?
Listen and see the sublimity of the fact that Jacob asleep and the Lord leaning on the ladder prefigured Christ. Indeed, when our Savior in speaking of Nathanael had named blessed Jacob, he said, "Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile."
"All these things," as the apostle proclaims, brothers, "happened to them as a type, and they were written for us upon whom the final age of the world has come."
This is, I believe, the stairway, the running to and fro of the holy spirits, who "are sent forth to minister for those who shall be the heirs of salvation." Christ is firmly placed on top of the stairway for those holy spirits who can reach him, who have him as their overseer, not as someone who exists among them but as God and Lord. In another passage David says to all people who want to live in the protection of the Most High: "He shall give his angels charge concerning you to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread on the asp and the basilisk, and shall trample on the lion and the dragon." We trod on serpents and scorpions and on every power of the enemy, thanks to the power given to us by Christ. Those who are in Christ are also worthy of the divine look, so that he may promise them that he will be by them and help them, and will save them everywhere and will declare them fruitful. "I am with you always, even to the end of the world." The fact that the blessed disciples were enriched and made the fathers of innumerable nations by their faith in Christ, and as by a spiritual generation, is manifest to everybody. Paul himself said clearly to those who believed through him: "Though you have one thousand teachers in Christ, yet you have not many fathers: For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." Therefore their seed was made as numerous as the grains of sand and was spread to the east and the west, to the left and the right, to the south and the north.
12 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
Our father Jacob too prayed at Bethel and saw the gate of heaven opened, with a ladder going up on high. This is a symbol of our Savior that Jacob saw; the gate of heaven is Christ, in accordance with what he said, "I am the gate of life; every one who enters by me shall live for ever." David too said, "This is the gate of the Lord, by which the righteous enter." Again, the ladder that Jacob saw is a symbol of our Savior, in that by means of him the just ascend from the lower to the upper realm. The ladder is also a symbol of our Savior's cross, which was raised up like a ladder, with the Lord standing above it.
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
Now the Dweller in heaven shewed this ladder aforetime, as in a mystery, to the elect of the Fathers, the blessed Jacob; and also that those who went up and those who came down upon it were angels.
Through the resurrection of Christ the way was opened. Therefore with good reason the patriarch Jacob relates that he had seen in that place a ladder whose end reached heaven and that the Lord leaned on it.
The Medieval Church5 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The hierarchical levels are disposed in the soul in a threefold manner: in relation to ascent, to descent, and to the return to God. Then the soul sees "angels of God ascending and descending" upon it; as Jacob saw in his mind.
A commentator
BonaventureItinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Since therefore one must first ascend before descending on the ladder of Jacob, let us place the first step of ascent at the bottom, setting this entire sensible world before us as a mirror, through which we may pass over to God, the supreme Artificer, …
A commentator
BonaventureItinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
These six considerations having therefore been traversed, as if they were the six steps of the throne of the true Solomon, by which one arrives at peace, where the true peaceful one rests in a peaceful mind as in an interior Jerusalem; and as if …
The spiritual senses denote mental perceptions concerning the truth to be contemplated. This contemplation indeed was in the Prophets through revelation with respect to the threefold vision, namely corporeal, imaginative, and intellectual; in other just persons, however, it is found through speculation, which begins from …
Now when Jacob, wishing to rest in a certain place, put a stone under his head, he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth with its top touching heaven.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
All the intercourse between heaven and earth, since the fall, is by this ladder. Christ is the way; all God's favours come to us, and all our services go to him, by Christ. If God dwell with us, and we with him, it is by Christ.
And he dreamed,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
There can be no doubt that this use of the original term was common among the early Hebrews; as JOSEPHUS, describing the town of Ptolemais (Acre), says it was bounded by a mountain, which, from its projecting sides, was called "the ladder," and the stairs that led down to the city are, in the original, termed a ladder (Ne 3:15) though they were only a flight of steps cut in the side of the rock.
He dreamed, and behold a ladder - A multitude of fanciful things have been spoken of Jacob’s vision of the ladder, and its signification. It might have several designs, as God chooses to accomplish the greatest number of ends by the fewest and simplest means possible. 1. It is very likely that its primary design was to point out the providence of God, by which he watches over and regulates all terrestrial things; for nothing is left to merely natural causes; a heavenly agency pervades, actuates, and directs all.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
[AND HE LIGHTED UPON THE PLACE.] The reason the bet of ba-makom (the place) 10 There is a difference between be-makom and ba-makom.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם | vaiyachalom | and he dreamed | H2492 → | 29 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֤ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| סֻלָּם֙ | sulam | a stairway | H5551 → | |
| מֻצָּ֣ב | mutzav | [was] placed | H5324 → | 75 times |
| אַ֔רְצָה | ʾartzah | [the] earth towards | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ | verosho | and top its | H7218 → | 599 times |
| מַגִּ֣יעַ | magia' | [was] reaching | H5060 → | 150 times |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה | hashamayemah | the heavens towards | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְהִנֵּה֙ | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| מַלְאֲכֵ֣י | malakhei | [the] angels of | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֔ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| עֹלִ֥ים | ʾolim | [were] going up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| וְיֹרְדִ֖ים | veyoredim | and [were] going down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| בּֽוֹ׃ | bo | on <the> it |
וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗םand he dreamed
vaiyachalomH2492 →29 times
וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
סֻלָּם֙a stairway
sulamH5551 →
מֻצָּ֣ב[was] placed
mutzavH5324 →75 times
אַ֔רְצָה[the] earth towards
ʾartzahH776 →2504 times
וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹand top its
veroshoH7218 →599 times
מַגִּ֣יעַ[was] reaching
magia'H5060 →150 times
הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָהthe heavens towards
hashamayemahH8064 →421 times
וְהִנֵּה֙and there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
מַלְאֲכֵ֣י[the] angels of
malakheiH4397 →213 times
אֱלֹהִ֔יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
עֹלִ֥ים[were] going up
ʾolimH5927 →890 times
וְיֹרְדִ֖יםand [were] going down
veyoredimH3381 →381 times
בּֽוֹ׃on <the> it
bo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Psalms 119:114
You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Genesis 26:24
and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your…
- Hebrews 13:5–6
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Isaiah 41:10
Through
Numbers 12:6He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 3:5
One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
- Genesis 46:2
And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob.
- 1 Kings 3:5
Through
John 1:51Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
it leads to
- Acts 7:56
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
- Acts 7:56
Where this verse is studied
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Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 19 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Jacob and the Blessed Life, Book 2, Chapter 4, Section 16; Ambrose of Milan, On Jacob and the Blessed Life; Aphrahat the Persian Sage, ON PRAYER 5; Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.23.3-4; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.17; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22; Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 1; Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7; Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Part 5; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 87.3; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 87.4; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 87.5; Chromatius of Aquileia, SERMON 1.6; Cyril of Alexandria, GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 3.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.